Troubleshooting Guide
www.hp.com
C–1
C
Drive Protection System (DPS)
The Drive Protection System (DPS) is a diagnostic tool built into the
hard drives installed in select computers. DPS is designed to help
diagnose problems that might result in unwarranted hard drive
replacement.
When these systems are built, each installed hard drive is tested using
DPS, and a permanent record of key information is written onto the
drive. Each time DPS is run, test results are written to the hard drive.
Your service provider can use this information to help diagnose
conditions that caused you to run the DPS software.
Running DPS will not affect any programs or data stored on the hard
drive. The test resides in the hard drive firmware and can be executed
even if the computer will not boot to an operating system. The time
required to execute the test depends on the manufacturer and size
of the hard drive; in most cases, the test will take approximately
two minutes per gigabyte.
Use DPS when you suspect a hard drive problem. If the computer
reports a SMART Hard Drive Detect Imminent Failure message, there
is no need to run DPS; instead, back up the information on the hard
drive and contact a service provider for a replacement hard drive.
