Hard Drive Failures?

[Keebler Elf]

I've now had 2 hard drive failures in the past 6 months. Both are reputable Western Digital Caviar Black drives. Both times the WD SMART status detected failures. The first time I was able to recover almost all my data. The second time, we'll see...

This second time the drive is still under 3 year warranty (it's 2 years old). My question is, should I just send it back or is this a case where formating the drive will fix the problem?

Interestingly, both drives were purchased at the same time (July 2008) so perhaps there was a bad batch (although each is a different size than the other).

 

[Keebler Elf]

Weird. It failed the Quick SMART test but passed the Extended SMART test???

 

[larry]

Once a drive fails, I get rid of it. It's just too much trouble to clean up, rebuild and watch it. I'd rather buy new.

 

[Cassini]

Replace the drive immediately. If it just fails the SMART test, often it is possible to get the data from the drive.

 

[Cobster]

Do a search for the particular model and see what's being said about it.
Seagate had this kind of issue a few years ago with their 7200.11 or something similar to that effect.
Links
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9126280/Complaints_flood_Seagate_over_hard_drive_problems

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1050374/seagate-barracudas-7200-11-failing

I'd freak if I lost all my pictures and videos, but burning them all onto disk is insane and costly.
Unless I use blank BluRays? Anyone have suggestions - no online storage either.

 

[larry]

"Anyone have suggestions"
I keep everything on USB drives. One is my data drive. Another I plug in every few days or so is strictly for backup. Once a month or so, i update an off-site backup. I have about 300 GB of important stuff.

I'm thinking about future requirements and will be going eSATA also. Looking at 2 internal drives (one boot, one scratch) and at least 3 external (one for video stuff, one audio and another for backups). I'll start will 1 TB externals and the backup drive may need to become 2TB in a year or so.

I never erase the pics on my camera until I've updated the backup. Everything important has to be in at lest 2 places.

 

[ready2rock]

I've now had 2 hard drive failures in the past 6 months. Both are reputable Western Digital Caviar Black drives. Both times the WD SMART status detected failures. The first time I was able to recover almost all my data. The second time, we'll see...

This second time the drive is still under 3 year warranty (it's 2 years old). My question is, should I just send it back or is this a case where formating the drive will fix the problem?

Interestingly, both drives were purchased at the same time (July 2008) so perhaps there was a bad batch (although each is a different size than the other).

What lousy luck. Were these installed in a laptop that you travel with or in a desktop unit? Sounds to me like you might have power supply issues

R2R.

 

[Keebler Elf]

Desktop unit.

I replaced my power supply about 6 months ago. The old one burned out.

 

[Cassini]

I replaced my power supply about 6 months ago. The old one burned out.

The SMART failures and power supply failure may be connected.

I would definitely make a backup of the hard drive as soon as possible.

 

[Cobster]

"Anyone have suggestions"
I keep everything on USB drives. One is my data drive. Another I plug in every few days or so is strictly for backup. Once a month or so, i update an off-site backup. I have about 300 GB of important stuff.

I'm thinking about future requirements and will be going eSATA also. Looking at 2 internal drives (one boot, one scratch) and at least 3 external (one for video stuff, one audio and another for backups). I'll start will 1 TB externals and the backup drive may need to become 2TB in a year or so.

I never erase the pics on my camera until I've updated the backup. Everything important has to be in at lest 2 places.

I have about 50gigs in RAW files, so USB is definitely out of the question. =\

 

[larry]

I have about 50gigs in RAW files, so USB is definitely out of the question. =\

Can't imagine why. Depends how you set up your workflow. I copy from the camera to my data drive and then backup to the "backup" drive. Just the new/changed files. It's all start and let-it-run. Nothing to it.

 

[Cobster]

Why? Because I have taken a ton of pics over the years. lol

 

[larry]

Why? Because I have taken a ton of pics over the years. lol

Can't imagine why you have something against USB. It works. eSata works too. Everything works. If your workflow is good enough for you, then that's that. Enjoy.

 

[Cobster]

I don't have anything against USB drives, it's the matter of cost and quantity in regards to them.
I'm not too keen on having anywhere between 8-10 flash drives or having to spend $150+ just for 64gigs.
How many USB drives do you have and how much have you spent on them?

I think a much better cost effective way is to get the 1TB notebook sized external drives, as opposed to spending a small fortune on a USB stick with less space.
But then, that's my workflow and I should enjoy it right?

 

[larry]

... 8-10 flash drives or having to spend $150+ just for 64gigs.
How many USB drives do you have and how much have you spent on them?
I think a much better cost effective way is to get the 1TB notebook sized external drives..

OK. This makes more sense. We mis-understood each other. When I said USB drives, I meant the 2.5" external USB powered drives. Not USB sticks. We're talking about the same thing. Maybe it's me.

 

[Cobster]

There we go, clarified, definitely a misunderstanding. lol

 

[Keebler Elf]

This is probably a dumb question (but that never stops me! ), but if there is a "bad sector" on a HD, will copying the data over to a new drive cause the "bad sector" to migrate as well?

Interestingly enough, chkdsk comes back with no bad sectors. But when I reboot my computer I get a SMART warning to copy data and replace the drive.

In SMART, the Attribute error is "Re-allocated Sector Count" with a Value of 131 and a Threshold of 140, which presumably means I'm approaching the limits of the safety zone.

UPDATE: Luckily both are still covered under warranty and I've processed RMA's for both so I can replace them. In doing so I learned they are both Caviar Blue drives, which surprised me cuz normally I buy the higher quality Caviar Black drives. And this is a good example why!

 

[WoodPeckr]

UPDATE: Luckily both are still covered under warranty and I've processed RMA's for both so I can replace them. In doing so I learned they are both Caviar Blue drives, which surprised me cuz normally I buy the higher quality Caviar Black drives. And this is a good example why!

Was wondering about that.
Since you got them July 2008, they should still be under warranty.
Just curious: what were their sizes?

 

[Keebler Elf]

750 GB and 500 GB. I'm glad the errors were detected now and not a year from now when the warranties would have expired.

 

[ready2rock]

The SMART failures and power supply failure may be connected.

I would definitely make a backup of the hard drive as soon as possible.

Cassini, that was my thought as well. Very unusual for a power supply to fail, but when they do the resultant volt/amp surges are sufficient to damage hard drives, motherboards, and processors.

Keeb, I'm worried your motherboard is damaged.

R2R