***hard Drive Issue***

[Puter Padowan]

Hey all. This morning at the office we noticed the WIN Server 2003 pc was off for some reason. When we powered it back on we got this message:

NOTICE: The primary IDE hard drive SELF MONITORING SYSTEM has reported that a parameter has exceeded its normal operating range.

A parameter out of range may or may not indicate a potential hard drive problem.

It says to strike F1 to continue. At times Windows will boot up, other times nothing will happen and the system will lock up at the command prompt. Anyone happen to have any idea what the issue may be?

[saphalline]

Reseating the cables would be my first idea. After that, run the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostics.

[Puter Padowan]

Hey Saphalline. Nice, to hear from you.

I reseated the cables earlier and now the system works fine. Although now and then I still get that error message I posted but the unit will boot up.

In your unending knowledge, would you have the slightest idea what would cause that? I ask because when I went to look at the cables, everything was tightly fitted correctly and it didn't appear that anything had come loose or moved.

[saphalline]

Dust and/or a dying mobo battery. Replace the battery, and reseat all cables several more times.