[bubbacluck]

SMART is generally a hardware technology having to do with disk drive health, not contents. It is trying to tell you you have an imminent hardware failure. Your hard drive is ready to go to the recycle bin...

I concur. It can't find an OS because it can't read parts of the hard drive.

[djf]

Some of the newer BIOS’s have log files. He should boot into BIOS setup mode and see if it has any error reports logged. I doubt it’s a virus. I think it’s a real hardware alert.

The drive is hosed.

Just as an fyi, if a drive starts giving failure alerts like this you can sometimes rescue them for long enough to copy important data - put it in a plastic bag and put it IN YOUR FREEZER for an hour or so!

True! It works! Been there!

Bot recommended for very humid climates...

and if it is truly a hardware failure, running a hundred virus scans is just about the worst thing you could do...