What does the 3rd Master Hard Disk:SMART Status BAD error mean?

Question

Hard disks

msi ex610 laptop. The following appears when the system boots:
AMIBIOS(C)2006 American Megatrends, Inc.
EX610, BIOS Version: A163DAMS VER 3.05
CPU Type: AMD Turion(tm) 64x2
DRAM Clocking=667 MHz
Press F11 key for boot menu
1 AMD North Bridge, Rev G1
Initializing USB controllers..Done
2048Mb OK
Auto-Detecting 3rd Master.. IDE Hard Disk
3rd Master:WDC WD1600BEVS-00RST0 04.01G04
Ultra DMA Mode-6,SMART Capable
Auto-detecting USB Mass Storage Devices..
00 USB mass storage devices found and configured
3rd Master Hard Disk:SMART Status BAD
CMOS Settings Wrong
CMOS Date /Time not set
Press F1 to Run SETUR
Press F2 to continue with fail-safe setting

Answer 1

Your BIOS at startup, among other things, polls the disks for health according to SMART.
The BIOS was dissatisfied with the response of the WD1600BEVS disk and considered the status to be critical, which is what the error says. Luckily, disks often just die quietly, and do not warn.
Next, you need to look at the SMART report itself, check the relevance of backups, and, most likely, look for a new drive to replace it.