One day I started up my computer and got this message. "SMART Failure predicted on Primary Master: Maxtor Warning: Immediately back-up your data and replace your hard disk drive. A failure may be imminent. Press F1 to continue..." Well I went with F1, it continued fine. I've done scan disk (fine), defrag, did the Maxtor manufactor's scan disk (PowerMax), with a Pass for the Advanced Test. BUT, the Installation Confirmation test, all but one aspect passed, and that is the: SMART Attribute Check. I've also disabled SMART in the bios (I have Award Bios), but I still get the SMART error after all of this. Now my questions: 1) What is and how important is the SMART Attribute Check part of the test and what the blazed do I do now? I can't afford to continue with this drive if it has a good chance of dying soon. My drive is less than 2 years old. But I don't want to buy a new drive unless absolutely necessary. (can't find the reciept for the warranty).

Smart is usually right . Backup now , HD failure may be soon . After backup , you can check that all your power connections & ribbon cables are in tight .

Hi, If i am correct in thinking u don't acctually need ur recipt to take the drive back, just get the serial number and the model number off the drive and visit the site to obtain a return number. http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/products/index.htm Jon