Chosen Solution
I was in the middle of playing a game on the laptop when what I assume was the drive making a noise similar to those musical floppy drive videos (Floppotron) The computer soon crashed and directed me to a black screen that said: “SMART Hard Disk Error The SMART Hard Disk check has detected an imminent failure. To ensure not data loss, please backup the content immediately and run the Hard Disk Test in system diagnostics.” The problem is that when I attempt to run the test it tells me: “No hard drive installed. Please check that the power and data cables are connected properly.” I have no idea how to do that, and if it will help at all. I need step-by-step instructions.
It appears your hard drive has failed. you can try to boot into windows and backup your data onto a separate drive, but your hard drive may be dead. You will need a new one. if you can include more details we can probably give you a link to where you can buy it. If you are sure your hard drive is broken and AFTER replacing it: On the upside, after replacing your hard drive you can disassemble the old one since it’s broken! Teardown maybe?
It would appear that the drive is dying. Stop trying to power up the computer and force the drive to do more. You should clone the failing drive to another drive ASAP especially if you want to keep your data. Using the failing more will only lead to bigger disasters especially if you want to keep your data. BTW keep the drive powered off as much as possible until you are ready to clone it, physically disconnect from the machine if you have to.
Just push f2 button on the key board then wait till a menu pops up, then click hard disk test then click start test
Are you experiencing the dreaded I/O Device Error on your external hard drive? This error means that your hard drive is failing, and if you don’t act fast, you could lose all of your data. This guide will show you How to Fix External Hard Disk I/O Error in Windows.
