To all of those that keep on searching for "S.M.A.R.T. ( Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Tool) status bad" and land on my blog, looking for answers on what your hard disk drive (HDD) actually tries to tell you with this message – let me just mention this:
When my 160 GB Samsung SP1614N HDD came up with that message some time ago, I did a longer surface scan using Samsungs HDD tool / Diagnostic Program (as required by Samsungs RMA service/Warranty) which said that the HDD has bad sectors. I then printed the log file on paper, made a copy of the receipt and returned the HDD together with those papers to the dealer where I bought it. After about 4 weeks time, I got a brand new 160 GB HDD by Samsung in exchange.
Since Samsung’s P80 series seems to have some problems, it might be wiser to use those HDDs as external back-up drives only (that is, mine failed after only 7 months and I’m not a power-user). However, I still went for another Samsung HDD because they offer a good cost-performance value.
