User manual HP PAVILION ZE5531EA HARD DRIVE WHITE PAPER

[. . . ] The hard drive in the notebook is in some respects a very fragile device. In each new generation of hard drives, the manufacturers have made significant improvements to the drive's susceptibility to shock events. However, if the drive is exposed to shock events beyond the set specifications, the hard drive can fail. Shock events can cause read/write head misalignment, or contact between the read/write heads and the media, resulting in symptoms such as a clicking noise, the failure to complete servo, and/or an inaccessible boot device. [. . . ] Therefore HP has released a utility, the HP Notebook LidSwitch Policy, that works in conjunction with the Microsoft Windows API for power management. This enhancement allows the notebook to go into Standby mode when the display lid is closed while the notebook is operating from the internal battery pack, e. g. , on DC power, away from a docking device or external power supply running on AC power. HP recommends use of this SoftPaq on all currently shipping notebooks. The HP Notebook LidSwitch Policy is available from the following URL: http://welcome. hp. com/country/us/en/support. html After installing the application, access the HP Notebook LidSwitch Policy by selecting Start > Programs > HP Notebook LidSwitch Policy. The following options are displayed: · Display status · Enable HP Notebook LidSwitch Policy Note 1: The HP Notebook LidSwitch Policy utility will not invoke Standby on an AC-powered notebook having the display lid closed that subsequently transitions to DC power. The notebook must first be undocked or removed from AC power before the display lid is closed. Note 2: The Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems provide a feature called Lid Switch Standby. However, it operates whether the notebook is operating on AC power or on DC power. Since the purpose of docking is to allow the user to connect to AC power, close the notebook display, and use an external keyboard and monitor, activating Standby upon lid closure in this scenario is not an acceptable option. Notebook F10 Setup Hard Drive Self-Test HP has enhanced the Hard Drive Self-Test routine which is accessible via the notebook's F10 Setup Tools menu. The new routine of the hard drive self-test increases its ability to detect a fault and fail the hard drive. The short and long versions of the hard drive self-test have been combined as one test option. Initiating the enhanced hard drive self-test includes the following: 1. If no errors occur, the long test automatically runs. If no errors occur, SMART attribute checking automatically runs. If a failure is detected in either of the tests, the process halts and failure occurs. Note: Either test may be aborted at any time by pressing the esc key. The F10 Setup Hard Drive Self-Test enhancement is available as a commercial notebook system BIOS upgrade. Please visit the HP Web site at http://welcome. hp. com/country/us/en/support. html to download the latest BIOS update. HP recommends the latest system BIOS upgrade be applied to all currently shipping notebooks, in addition to the Evo N400 and Evo N600 series. Refer to the following table for the absolute minimum system BIOS required by each platform. 3 Minimum System BIOS Required Notebook Platform HP Compaq Business nc8000 HP Compaq Business nw8000 HP Compaq Business nc6000 HP Compaq Business nc4000 Series HP Compaq Business nx9000 Series HP Compaq Business nx5000 Compaq Evo N620c Compaq Evo N610c/v Compaq Evo N600c Compaq Evo N800c Compaq Evo N410c Compaq Evo N400c BIOS Version F. 0A F. 0A F. 09 F. 25 KG. M1. 15 F. 05 F. 0E F. 18 686DF F. 14 F. 14 686AW_2004. 03. 8A BIOS Date 12 Dec 03 12 Dec 03 09 Feb 04 06 Feb 04 19 Dec 03 04 Feb 04 21 Nov 03 09 Dec 03 31 Dec 03 08 Mar 04 15 Dec 03 08 Mar 04 Hard Drive Mounting Screw All HP and Compaq branded commercial and SMB notebooks come equipped with one or more hard drive mounting screws, which are designed to reliably support the installed hard drive. [. . . ] As a result, movement of the hard drive reading/writing heads is decreased. Please refer to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles for information on how to defragment your hard drive: ­ Windows XP: http://support. microsoft. com/default. aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;314848 ­ Windows XP command line: http://support. microsoft. com/default. aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;283080 ­ Windows 2000: http://support. microsoft. com/default. aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;227463 · Periodically use the Microsoft Recovery Console to run, at a minimum, the chkdsk /p /r commands to check your hard drive for any errors, bad sectors and/or recovery of readable information. Please refer to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles for information: ­ Windows XP: http://support. microsoft. com/default. aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314058&Product=winxp ­ Windows 2000: http://support. microsoft. com/default. aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;229716 · Install and maintain a virus protection program to prevent failures due to viruses. · Regularly back up critical email and documents to removable media. [. . . ]