My Windows 11 laptop, an HP Victus 16.1-inch gaming model purchased in 2022, recently started showing a storage health check failure along with a "SMART predicted failure" warning during startup. I'm not sure whether this indicates a hardware or software problem. How seriously should I take it, and does it mean the laptop itself is failing or just the storage drive? Should I replace anything or can the warning be ignored? I usually close the lid and leave the laptop in sleep mode for weeks rather than shutting it down completely—could that have caused the issue? I'm not very experienced with computer hardware.
3 Answers
Leaving the laptop in sleep mode for a long time probably didn’t directly cause the SMART warning. Drive failures are usually related to wear, defects, or plain bad luck. Still, shutting down or restarting occasionally is a sensible habit, especially on a work computer, but it won’t repair a drive that is already reporting failure symptoms.
“SMART predicted failure” usually means the drive’s self-monitoring system has detected signs that the storage device may fail soon. Treat it as a hardware warning, not a software glitch. Back up important files immediately, then replace the drive as soon as practical. The laptop itself probably isn’t ruined; the storage drive is the part that’s at risk.
Replacing the SSD or hard drive is generally much cheaper than replacing the entire laptop. After backing up your files, check which type of drive the Victus uses and get a compatible replacement. You may then need to reinstall Windows or clone the old drive while it still functions.
That’s a relief—I thought the warning meant I needed a completely new laptop. I’ll back everything up and look into replacing the drive.
There’s no reliable way to predict how long it will keep working. It might last weeks or fail during the next startup, so don’t wait before making a backup.