windows xp booting/crashing problem....hard drive?

[mowgli]

We've recently been having problems booting up the pc. It gets to the screen that gives you the option to start windows normnally or safemode etc and repeats itself about 20 times. Over the last couple of days the following message has come up 'pri. master disk hdd s.m.a.r.t capability disabled' and we have to re-boot. Also, we are experiencing constant crashing when attempting to print. Has anyone else had this? Is it a symptom of a failing hard drive? Please help!

[qapmoc]

Hi mowgli,  sounds a bit like it probably is the hard drive or maybe a virus but the effect is the same, I strongly suggest that you decide now what files etc... you need from the PC and copy them to CD's before it is too late to get them back.  

After that you should check the hard drive for errors etc.. If the results are OK then maybe you should reformat and reinstall windows, if the results are bad then it's new hard drive time. 

You can use the Error-checking tool to check for file system errors and bad sectors on your hard disk.

Open My Computer, and then select the local disk you want to check.
On the File menu, click Properties.
On the Tools tab, under Error-checking, click Check Now.
Under Check disk options, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box.
 Notes

To open My Computer, click Start, and then click My Computer.
All files must be closed for this process to run. If the volume is currently in use, a message box will appear prompting you to indicate whether or not you want to reschedule the disk checking for the next time you restart your system. Then, the next time you restart your system, disk checking will run. Your volume will not be available to perform other tasks while this process is running.

[fo3nix]

not sure if this is the problem, but the bit 'pri. master disk hdd s.m.a.r.t capability disabled' is something that can be enabled from within the BIOS.

to get to the BIOS, just as your comptuer is turning on, press something like the delete key (it'll tell you what). and somewhere in there is the s.m.a.r.t. option... try enabling it. but whatever you do, don't mess with anything else!!