HDD failing SMART

[nkn1983]

Okay so here is how it went - my computer hung up because the CD I was trying to access was a bad one. Anyway after restarting my computer it appeared that my system drive's boot sector got corrupted - no problem easy fix, but the other problem was that 1 of my drive failed the SMART. It was a Seagate drive so I went to Seagate's site and got the diagnosing tool and ran all the test available (plus running chkdsk on it of course) - the tests couldn't find anything wrong with the drive. The SMART test that kept getting failed was the Spin Retry Count btw.
My question is simple - is there anyway to fix it, and if it's not possible is it safe to keep it running?

[Menace]

Backup your stuff ASAP. Your drive can go anytime.

[sxz]

I have a WD hard drive that's giving me failing Spin Retry Count values as well. It's been about 3 months since it started occuring now and I've still been using it fine. The only problem is, everything is slower to access since it has to re-read many of files again. If it's only your Spin Retry Count that's failing the SMART test then I wouldn't worry too much. Although you should back up anything onto a CD, DVD or second hard drive just in case it does go.

[Siefer999]

:arrowu: smart failed means its most likely going to die soon. could die tomorrow or after a few weeks but its going to die eventually in the near future. back it up for sure

[Hodge]

I agree - back your data up while you still can and replace the drive...

been there, done that...

[Madcatmk2]

After you do your backup check your voltage values if it fluctuates much.

[nkn1983]

Hmm alright I'm gonna back it up, need to go get a new drive first though (180 gb of data ain't easy to be backed up ;)).
One more thing I'm pretty sure the drive is still under warranty, I don't have any receipt or proof of purchase though. Is it still possible to RMA it?

[ShadowVlican]

try shoving ur drive in the fridge overnight

it cured a drive of mine that couldn't successfully format

[Amourek]

One more thing I'm pretty sure the drive is still under warranty, I don't have any receipt or proof of purchase though. Is it still possible to RMA it?

Don't need one. Just need the serial number.

[nkn1983]

try shoving ur drive in the fridge overnight

it cured a drive of mine that couldn't successfully format

Well I know that solution, but it's for drives that have already failed, mine is still working fine, nothing wrong with it not even 1 bad sector either, it's just 1 of the SMART tests fails, I plugged it out though until I can find a drive to copy it over.

Don't need one. Just need the serial number.

Cool to hear that, thanks a lot.

[SupraRzTT]

yeah my WD drive had this problem during december.
first it failed the SMART test and made some wierd clicking sounds.
then after a few days it would work fine and pass the SMART. once again after that it failed smart so i just sent it in to WD. they gave me a 160gig when i sent in 120gig. and extra 4year warranty :)