My hard drive has fallen off the desk !!!

Cov

Cov

Gawd
Joined
Dec 3, 2007
Messages
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Hi, I have pushed my WD10EACS off the desk by accident.
It fell onto a soft carpet though.

Connected it and booted up, I can her an intermittent frequent clicking noise.
Sometimes it's quiet, sometimes you can hear it clear.
First it appears to work fine, but going through some folders, some take ages to open and sometimes the system even freezes.

Even when I just open a browser, the system can freeze out of the blue.

The 1TB is over 90% full and I don't have a backup.

  • Downloaded HDD Health 3.3 which shows all ok.
  • Downloaded Data Lifeguard Diagnostic, which failed and the system froze.
I am so devastated ... will order another 1TB drive asap.
Should I get the WD10EADS or the Samsung F2 HD103SI ?

All I can do is trying to copy my data (or what is still left for access) to a new HDD, right ?

Besides this, is there another tool that can handle defective HDDs please ?

Thanks
 
Seems like it's dying, I'd fill out an advanced RMA with Western Digital (free) or order a new drive (not free) and copy your data over. Other than that, there's really nothing else if it's physical damage, which it sounds like it is.
 
Yeah, try to copy over as much data as you can (should have done that right away, or even before that with a regular backup), and prepare to say farewell to this HDD. Not sure if this case would qualify for an RMA.
 
Hi Syntax and Elledan, yeah ... a hard drive is not a SSD.
The drop was too much for the delicate mechanical parts I guess.

I'm running the CHK DSK right now. 4 hours have passed and only 18 percent (91058 of 351792) files have been processed !
Guess it will take approx another 16 hours !?

The screen is full of messages like:

windows replaced bad clusters in file xxxxx
of name \progra\cov\music\ect ect
Click to expand...
By the way, I have checked the warranty cover on the WD site by entering the s/n, and it showed up: covered until Dec 2010.
They calculate this by the date the HDD was manufactured, but you could apply correction by sending them "proof of purchase" via email attachment.

There seem to be two types of RMA:

1. Advanced Replacement _ WD will send a replacement immediately, and I need to send back the defective HDD within 30 days.
For this, they'd need my credit card details.

2. Standard Replacement _ WD will send me a replacement after they have received the defective HDD.
I'm gonna order a new HDD from somewhere and choose option 2. for the time being.
If they replace it, lucky me ...
 
I suggest unplugging the drive until the replacement arrives. Every moment it's running will increase the chance of failure.
 
Hi Yoda, I feel like interrupting the CHKDSK utility, but I read somewhere that it must not be aborted.

Well, it seems to fix something when saying "windows replaced bad cluster in file xxxxx" ... don't know if that's any good..
It takes ages though, it's on "96166 of 351792 files processed" right now ... and still at 18%.
The temperature seems hot(ter) too.

:( Disaster !
 
Personally I'd unleash a file recovery tool on it right away. It should copy files a lot faster too.

Oh, and SSDs aren't indestructible either... a hard enough drop can dislodge chips on them and since their enclosure isn't that tough, they're easily crushed/burned :) I don't expect many miracle data recovery stories from SSDs :p
 
Syntax Error said:
Seems like it's dying, I'd fill out an advanced RMA with Western Digital (free) or order a new drive (not free) and copy your data over. Other than that, there's really nothing else if it's physical damage, which it sounds like it is.
Click to expand...

An advanced RMA with WD is the exact opposite of free... they put a hold on your credit card until they receive the bad drive.
 
TheGamerZ said:
An advanced RMA with WD is the exact opposite of free... they put a hold on your credit card until they receive the bad drive.
Click to expand...

They do that so if the 'bad' one never shows up to be refurb, they're not out $$$.
 
Yeah I did an Advance RMA once, they charged my credit card (so be sure you have room) and then reversed the charge when they got the bad drive.
 
When I did an Advance RMA recently, they didn't 'charge' the credit card. Just a hold that is released as soon as they receive the drive.

I would go with the WD10EADS. I've got 2 of them...excellent drives.
 
i belive their policy is that if you give them a debit card they will charge it and then reverse.

if you give them a credit card they will only put a $1 charge to verify the card and that is it...
 
Hey, thanks for your replies !!

Remember, I was running WD Data Life Guard Diagnostic (DLG) which always made the system freeze.
CHKDSK has finished now earlier than expected and Vista has loaded fine.
First thing I did was to uninstall everything possible, resulting in a decrease of used space from 865 GB to 783 GB.
Running CCleaner & registry cleaner did their bits.

Running WD DLG Diagnostic again, resulted in scanning forever, but this time I was able to abort the scan.
The clicking noise still happens intermittent, I have the feeling that it even depends on the position of the HDD ??

Anyway, next thing I do, I'm gonna order the WD10EADS to see how much data I can save.

The Samsung F2 (1TB) is said to have only two platters, each 500GB, hence why it runs cooler & quieter.
But having digged through a lot info, I'm going to stick with WD now ... thanks PC_User !

One remark about WD.
About 2 years ago, I connected a 100GB HDD (WD1000BB) after it was stored under my bed for at least three years !!
Resulting in problems, similar to my HDD from above.
Anyway, I contacted WD and expressed my disapointment and guess what ..... they extendet my warranty for one more month, so that I could RMA it.
Note that the HDD was approx. 5 years old !!
Within a few weeks I had a brand new 100GB HDD ... WD FTW
 
I just remember another problem I have since I bought the WD10EACS in March 2008.
It happens intermittent that in the beginning of the boot up sequence, the following message showed up:

Booting GRLDR
Resetting the boot drive ...
Click to expand...
followed by either Vista loading up fine (7 out of 10 times) ... or ... in the following message:

The file is possibly corrupt. the file header checksum does not match the computed checksum.
Click to expand...
When that happens, I just press CTRL, ALT & DEL ... the system either boots up ok, or the message appears again.

That's somethings I have never figured, but since it's gonna be RMA'd anyway ...
 
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