SMART bad, backup & replace

Hi folks,
I have 3 year old gericom notebook that has a 40 gig Toshiba harddisk. At startup i get this "SMART bad, backup & replace" message(&it doesn't go any further). Not that I probably lost the data on the disk, I also can't work...
Anyway, it looks like I got to change the harddisk(I'm also not sure whether this will help).
So,
1. Can I change it on my own & if so, how(do I have to be careful about smt. etc.)? (this may sound a bit silly but I really haven't had any problems with any hdd before...)
2. Do I have to buy the same harddisk in my old configuration? (for space/functional compatibility etc.)
3. Have any suggestions about the situation?

Any help/suggestion is really appreciated!
Thanks,
Ogulcan

 

Does your notebook allow easy removal? Look in owners manual for a small access panel held by one or two screws. If so it's easy unless you have to disassemble whole notebook. Just be very careful of the drive pins (40) and note the small gap in one row of the pins for orientation. It's not hard at all but use care.

You can order new IDE drive from newegg. You also have the option of buying $20 USB case to try to salvage some of your files off the old drive, some files may be hosed.

No need to buy a big drive for an old notebook but would suggest a 40gig hitachi drive. You would have to check on what the max drive is supported by gericom. Your gericon imaging software, if supplied, may expect at least a 40 gig drive so check if you can.

 

Try to get a 5400 rpm drive. It has the best price to performance ratio. Hitachi, Seagate and Western Digital make good drives.

 

If you have to do the disk replace (which I have painfully done many times) here is a procedure that I documented that involves as few as possible whip-stings hitting the body -- it has been used by about a half-dozen people besides myself very successfully but I make no warrenty and your mileage may vary...comments, however would be appreciated as I may, at the suggestion of others, submit it for publication after adding some commentary...

(and yes, to all others, I am de-cloaking to a certain degree -- disk swaps are too painful not to help someone)...

 

Thank you for all the responses.
Yesterday I have removed the harddisk, was pretty easy. It is a 40 gig toshiba ATA ultra 100 4200rpm device. As I was not planning to buy a new notebook till 2007, it looks like I'll order a new hdd.
Actually the question is how far can I go? (I cauldn't find any manual or guides from gericom, but I requested info with a mail-although he sounded like he is not interested )
I mean would it make any problem if I upgrade it with a 5400rpm device? Or would it be ok if I replace it with a 30 or 60 gig one?
Again thank you all!

 

You shouldn't have any problems with any notebook ATA drive but I would stay away from the latest 100GB+ drives. Sometimes there are compatibility issues (due to your old-ish laptop) which is normally rectified by a bios update.

It doesn't matter if its 5400rpm/7200rpm. Personally I would go for the Hitachi 5400rpm/7200rpm drives because I know these has been out for a very long time (at least 2 years ago) so compatibility shouldn't be a problem at all.