# Is my HDD faulty?



## Troy210 (Jun 4, 2011)

2 weeks ago I bought a brand new WD VelociRaptor 1600 HFLS off of Ebay. Up until a few days ago, everything was fine. I tried accessing a game I had stored on it, and it didn't load. Windows Explorer's progress bar when double clicking the drive would go so slowwwww, then stop. I downloaded WD's Data Lifeguard utility and it didn't recognize the drive. I rebooted the pc, and it ran a 20 min long CHKDSK and finally said it passed. 

Opened up the Lifeguard utility again, and it recognized it. Ran some tests, everything appeared to be fine. I went and played my game, fine as well. Rebooted my pc again...read the first paragraph again, cause that's what happened AGAIN. 

Do I have a dead drive? Might it be something else on my pc? Yes I checked the SATA cables and power cables.

Signed,
Frustrated in SA.


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## cheesy999 (Jun 4, 2011)

Try reformatting,  If that doesn't work you may be able to rma anyway if they don't ask where you got It from


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## claylomax (Jun 4, 2011)

You don't say which model you have.


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## Troy210 (Jun 4, 2011)

Opps, forgot that part. My mind is slipping after being awake for 23 hours. 

WD 1600 HFLS

As for the formatting, did that several times. No Go.

I tried registering it, it's an OEM and doesn't qualify for RMA.


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## micropage7 (Jun 4, 2011)

yep if it cant be formatted
your drive must be in trouble, although its oem you could rma it. try to return it to the shop where you bought it


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## Troy210 (Jun 4, 2011)

Bought it off of Ebay and the douche won't take it back or gimme a refund.


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## Law-II (Jun 4, 2011)

Hi 

Sorry to see you are have issues; 

Could be a broken wire in your power lead to your hdd, a failing power supply and or the HDD controller 

Are you able to check your hdd in another PC? this will rule out the hdd controller

If you have access to another power supply or you are able to swap out the power cable feeding your HDD; would be a good move

(wires become brittle over the course of time in a hot and dry enviroment "a PC" when moved they break on occasions and can course these issues)

hope this helps

atb

Law-II


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## Troy210 (Jun 4, 2011)

I had pondered the PSU as well, thx for the advice.


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## Jetster (Jun 4, 2011)

Never buy drives off E-bay.  Unless they will e-mail you a HDtune report for the drive. I bet 80% of the drive on ther are bad. And drives now are so cheep. New


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## Troy210 (Jun 4, 2011)

Jetster said:


> Never buy drives off E-bay.  Unless they will e-mail you a HDtune report for the drive. I bet 80% of the drive on ther are bad. And drives now are so cheep. New



Yeah..thx for kicking me when I'm down. Jerk.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jun 4, 2011)

File a despute with Ebay regarding the trade/trader, and also contact paypal CC if you used them with the hard drive. If ebay doesnt want to refund you. paypal may give you your money back.


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## Frick (Jun 4, 2011)

Did they seller said it would work or did he mention any possible defects?


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## FreedomEclipse (Jun 4, 2011)

Frick said:


> Did they seller said it would work or did he mention any possible defects?



If he mentioned defects, i dont think ANYONE would have bought the drive. like someone said earlier. the seller probably knew the drive was on its way out


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## micropage7 (Jun 4, 2011)

i guess for next time better buy from shop than online. it maybe err from mishandling on delivery, or the hdd it self, many aspect that could lead to it


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## Frick (Jun 4, 2011)

FreedomEclipse said:


> If he mentioned defects, i dont think ANYONE would have bought the drive. like someone said earlier. the seller probably knew the drive was on its way out



Yeah, but he might have mentioned other system instabilities.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jun 4, 2011)

Frick said:


> Yeah, but he might have mentioned other system instabilities.



the hard drive went south not long after he bought it and plugged it in. 

what 'other' system instabilities do you need?


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## Frick (Jun 4, 2011)

I mean the seller. 

You know, "computer didn't work properly so I'm getting a new one and getting rid of the old one bargain bargain BARGAIN!!!"

Nevermind though, now I saw the "brand new" think in the OP.


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## Jetster (Jun 4, 2011)

If he sold it as "brand New" then you should win the dispute.


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## Troy210 (Jun 4, 2011)

It was sold BRAND NEW, it was even in a sealed factory bag from WD. I've already contacted paypal with a claim.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jun 4, 2011)

llllllllllll said:


> It was sold BRAND NEW, it was even in a sealed factory bag from WD. I've already contacted paypal with a claim.



file a claim with Ebay as well. the seller shafted you good and proper by not accepting the drive back

tell them the seller is breaching the sale of goods act. this what i pulled from it and i have highlighted what i think applies to you.



> *Your legal rights when you buy goods*
> 
> When you buy goods (including goods supplied as part of a service), the law gives you certain rights as a consumer. The law says that the goods must:
> 
> ...




The faulty hard drive is clearly not fit for purpose and thus not of satisfactory quality. unless the seller swaps his hard drives every 2 weeks.

Dont let him fob you off. If it was a second hand part then id understand about no returns. but the hard drive is brand new.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jun 6, 2011)

and dont forget -- ANYTHING that dies within the first 6months is normally deemed faulty to begin with.

its shit that your drive isnt covered by WD's warranty. I know its OEM but it should at least carry a short warranty (6months - 1yr) If paypal or ebay is not willing to help you then get in touch with WD again. see if you can speak to someone like a customer relations manager or (or a service manager of some sort) and explain your case to them and see if they are willing to send out a one off replacement due to your circumstances.

they most likely wouldnt as your drive is not under warranty. but then again, its not gonna kill you to ask. 

you'd be suprised how far you can get just by asking sometimes.

worst case scenario is the service rep whose dealing with your claim could just stonewall you and block you from progressing any further. in which case you can either keep trying until you get to someone whose willing to listen and escalate your claim to the people who can make a difference. If it does all go to shit then just pull out a .44 like dirty harry and put a few holes in it for better ventilation.

Or better... make a youtube video. explaining whats happened and then put a bullet through it. WD would probably try to get in touch with you after that to resolve the matter (as no-one likes bad press)

one guy from the army done the same with a printer from HP after it stopped working and they refused to fix it or send out a replacement unless they paid for it. 

that printer got filled with hot lead from a 50.cal Heavy MG.

and of course HP sent them out a new printer after seeing that video.

so youtube can be a very powerful medium if used correctly.


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## yogurt_21 (Jun 6, 2011)

bummer, looks like WD is like EVGA when it comes to ebay sales and warranty.

Hopefully ebay/paypal will be able to resolve this.


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## cheesy999 (Jun 6, 2011)

yogurt_21 said:


> bummer, looks like WD is like EVGA when it comes to ebay sales and warranty.
> 
> Hopefully ebay/paypal will be able to resolve this.



hopefully, if not then i'd say he is royally screwed (with reference to both the thread title and a youtube video)


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## PaulieG (Jun 6, 2011)

yogurt_21 said:


> bummer, looks like WD is like EVGA when it comes to ebay sales and warranty.
> 
> Hopefully ebay/paypal will be able to resolve this.



I've RMA'd 2 WD VR's that were purchased on ebay. They were replaced, no questions asked.


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## Troy210 (Jun 9, 2011)

I got my money back and the seller said " I wasn't aware it was OEM, my bad". Little shit bird.


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## Jetster (Jun 9, 2011)

Nice


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## slyfox2151 (Jun 9, 2011)

to answer your question,

no your not screwed


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## xBruce88x (Jun 9, 2011)

what % feedback does the seller have?


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## Troy210 (Jun 9, 2011)

*HAD* 100%. Keyword here is HAD.

Anyone want to gimme an idea of the kinda letter to compose to WD to try and get a replacement?


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## timta2 (Jun 10, 2011)

You should send it back to the seller right? That's probably going to prevent you from doing anything with it warranty wise. Unless I'm missing something.


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## Troy210 (Jun 10, 2011)

The seller didn't ask for it back. He just refunded the $ and said he didn't know the drive was OEM.


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## NdMk2o1o (Jun 10, 2011)

llllllllllll said:


> The seller didn't ask for it back. He just refunded the $ and said he didn't know the drive was OEM.



Well he was a douche to start with but you should return it to him instead of trying to get another from Wd and having the refund, tbh you're lucky he even did that, I know a lot of people wouldn't have.


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## Troy210 (Jun 11, 2011)

I was left hanging for 2 weeks with a fucked up drive and no money..so this process was going on before he gave me the $ back.


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## RejZoR (Jun 13, 2011)

The very reason why i prefer not to buy second hand goods. You never know what they've done with the product.

Also when i sell the stuff i always try to sell it with a still valid warranty so even if something does go wrong for some reason, the buyer just has to use the warranty and it's done. Such thing happened years ago when i sold a Gainward 7600GT. It was fulyl working when i rmeoved it from PC but then the buyer contacted me that the card is rendering just patterns on the screen. Since i knew i was honest i really couldn't help him much so i directed him to the store where i bought the card. Like a week later he notifies me that he got a brand new replacement card through the warranty. So i was happy and he was as well. The extra work to get the new one was sort of inconvenient but he got a new one in the end.
But that's how it is in our country since most RMA stuff goes through stores where we buy the goods. Unlike in bigger countries where it all goes directly through vendor RMA process. Usually.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jun 13, 2011)

RejZoR said:


> The very reason why i prefer not to buy second hand goods. You never know what they've done with the product.



Ummm.. the hard drive was sold as new, still in its anti-static bag from the factory


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