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HD - To return or not to return?

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  • HD - To return or not to return?

    Hi all, I'm new to these forums and I'm just hoping for a bit of advice.

    I have a Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB drive which recently fell over. I used the Samsung hdutils to peform a full surface scan and it showed a ton of ECC errors.

    As suggested by the Samsung hdutils I then performed a full disk wipe (which I presume performs a low-level format) and then ran the full surface scan again. This time there were no errors.

    So now I'm not sure whether or not I should return this drive? The fact it had the errors initially makes me nervous - this drive only has about 6 months left on the warranty, so it it fell over again -more permanently- in 7 months I'd be kicking myself.

    Any thoughts?

    Thanks,

    cjp

  • #2
    Return it. Wiping the drive likely just reallocated the bad sectors (a true "low-level format" can only be done at the factory on modern drives). More errors will probably pop up in a few weeks/months. It's possible that it will be fine, but it's unlikely.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by cosmicvibes View Post
      Hi all, I'm new to these forums and I'm just hoping for a bit of advice.

      I have a Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB drive which recently fell over. I used the Samsung hdutils to peform a full surface scan and it showed a ton of ECC errors.

      As suggested by the Samsung hdutils I then performed a full disk wipe (which I presume performs a low-level format) and then ran the full surface scan again. This time there were no errors.

      So now I'm not sure whether or not I should return this drive? The fact it had the errors initially makes me nervous - this drive only has about 6 months left on the warranty, so it it fell over again -more permanently- in 7 months I'd be kicking myself.

      Any thoughts?

      Thanks,

      cjp
      **YOU** dropped the drive and want the manufacturer to replace it for free? Obviously you aren't going to TELL them that the damage was YOUR FAULT. You realize that this is called FRAUD and can end with you in jail? You also realize that most disks have things on them to detect and record SHOCK?

      You might also find it useful to know that 1TB disks only cost about $75.

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      • #4
        I suspect "fell over" in this case means "malfunctioned", not "was dropped"...
        Test signature

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        • #5
          I was sort of in a similar situation a year ago with a Maxtor drive. But decided not to RMA it after googling a bit. I don't know about Samsung's RMA procedures but there's a good chance they will replace your drive with a refurbished one. Not sure if you want that.

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          • #6
            You basically get what you have got now. A refurbished hd is a hd that was tested with the tool you used and showed no errors.

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            • #7
              droidhacker - no I did not physically drop the drive in anyway. I merely used a bad turn of phrase so don't make such quick assumptions. As a man once said: "assume" makes an ass of you and me.

              I also know that 1TB drives "only" cost $75 dollars, but if my drive is not working within it's warranty period I might think to return it - for $75 dollars I can pay for a lot of other useful things - such as food & rent! Which is why I came here looking for advice.

              No intention of starting an argument here, but I do feel that given the constrains of text-based communications we need to be a little careful about how we read meaning into things. In which case we are both a little at fault here - me for not being clear enough in the first place, and you for being so quick to jump onto the shift key. But frankly? Let's forget it.

              Thankfully I have also been given some other opinions. I will take them on board, so thanks to those that posted.

              cjp

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              • #8
                Originally posted by monraaf View Post
                I was sort of in a similar situation a year ago with a Maxtor drive. But decided not to RMA it after googling a bit. I don't know about Samsung's RMA procedures but there's a good chance they will replace your drive with a refurbished one. Not sure if you want that.
                Maxtor is seagate's "budget" brand. Seagate refurbs are actually NEW DISKS. They strip ALL of the guts out of a returned unit and trash them. They install ALL NEW guts into the same "body", slap on a sticker that says "refurb" and call it used.

                And the reason they do this is so that you don't have a whole bunch of old computer collectors collecting old disks within their 5 year warranty, sending them back, and reselling them as new.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by cosmicvibes View Post
                  droidhacker - no I did not physically drop the drive in anyway. I merely used a bad turn of phrase so don't make such quick assumptions. As a man once said: "assume" makes an ass of you and me.
                  That doesnt apply here. No assumptions were made. YOU ACTUALLY used the word "fell", which, if you meant what you said, means that the thing dropped under the force of gravity.

                  I also know that 1TB drives "only" cost $75 dollars, but if my drive is not working within it's warranty period I might think to return it - for $75 dollars I can pay for a lot of other useful things - such as food & rent! Which is why I came here looking for advice.
                  If you lied and it didn't actually fall as you previously claimed, then go ahead and warranty it. Just beware of SHIPPING COSTS in the event that they don't want to cover shipping.

                  No intention of starting an argument here, but I do feel that given the constrains of text-based communications we need to be a little careful about how we read meaning into things. In which case we are both a little at fault here - me for not being clear enough in the first place, and you for being so quick to jump onto the shift key. But frankly? Let's forget it.
                  Don't try to transfer blame on this to me. You used the word "fell". The word you SHOULD have used is "fail". They may sound similar, but the meaning is VERY different.

                  Be sure to check what their warranty policy is. If they send back refurbs, check if they are *actually* refurbs, or if they are actually new units just LABELED as refurbs. Their customer service people probably won't be able to answer that, you'll need to get information sourced from an insider.

                  Remember: It is CHEAPER for them to replace than to test. Especially if you are dealing with things that can fail intermittently. They put all new guts into old cases because that allows them LEGALLY to call it USED. It needs to be labeled as used/refurb in order that they don't have any significant RESALE VALUE.

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                  • #10
                    @Droidhacker: The phrase "fall/fell over" to indicate something has failed is a very common euphemism in the UK, northern Europe (when speaking English) and Australia. Canada too, I suppose, but I haven't heard it there outside of Nova Scotia.

                    You should get out more.

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