Is it just me....or...

[no_pulse]

Is it just me or does it seem lately there have been a lot of manufactured HD's that are DOA in a matter of weeks? Seems like an epidemic. I've bought some Western Digital and Seagates that are making a clicking sound every so offen and even a hard click. And I've only had them a few weeks. Seems like there is a bad batch going around. Either that or its the high capacity (500gb). I still have some old 10 and 40gb HD drives from these manufacturers that are at least 5 to 10yrs old and still kicking in my acient systems.

The clicking noise has me worried. I've ran the diagnostic test from both manufacturers on each drive and they pass. But I doubt the clicking sound is a good sign. I had one that started to do that and progressively got worse until it just died.

Is there a third party software that does extensive test on HD to determine if they are dying?

[Nodscene]

I haven't noticed that problem myself so I can't comment on that. As for HDD utilities there is a program called Spinrite which is supposedly a great little utility (not free). I've only had a chance to use it once but the drive was too far gone at that point. Alternately you can look for Hiren's Boot cd (I think they are at 9.5 right now) which is free and has a ton of utilities from Memtest to HDD stuff etc.

Hope that helps.

[bushwhacker]

Originally Posted by no_pulse

The clicking noise has me worried. I've ran the diagnostic test from both manufacturers on each drive and they pass. But I doubt the clicking sound is a good sign. I had one that started to do that and progressively got worse until it just died.

I'd RMA without further analysis. WD, for example, has an online RMA form that only allows for 38 characters to explain the problem (if I remember correctly - it is a very low number for sure). The manufacturers recommendation is only an 800 number away at worst.

Is there a third party software that does extensive test on HD to determine if they are dying?

not for physical malfunctioning like you describe - afaik.

[MAC]

The average DOA and 'failure within the first month' rate is between 13-17% for all manufacturers. Certain models fare much better, some models fare much worse, but you must expect at least one bad drive in a batch of ten.

[no_pulse]

I understand that I'm going to get a lemon or two in a batch. Just seems that lately I've had bad luck with new drives. I bought a Seagate because my Western Digital died after a week and then the Seagate I bought to replace the WD is making a lot of clicking noises. Also when I turn on the external with the Seagate it will boot up and freeze. I have to turn it off and on again for it to be functional. As bushwacker suggested, I'm going to RMA the drive. I bought a new WD and once it arrives, I'm hoping I can transfer all the data over to the new drive and not lose anything. I read on some sites that some people blame poor packing of the drives for the failures.

[MAC]

Originally Posted by no_pulse

I read on some sites that some people blame poor packing of the drives for the failures.

I have read that (too) many times as well, I don't necessary believe it.

Hard drives are way more rugged than people give them credit for, especially when they aren't operating. The amount of force required to damage a HDD would most certainly be visible on the shipping box.

[skiing00]

hmm thats weird, i havent bought an HDD since last year.

has for the force, my b/f already give a punch to his father computer while he was playing CS, the computer did a bluescreen and it have never boot back up.
he had to change the HDD, but yeah, the force need to domage a non-operating HDD is enought to domage the bax and even more

[Nodscene]

If you are having that many problems with the drives I'd be concerned that it may actually be your hard drive enclosure causing the problems. I've never experienced an enclosure killing drives but I believe I've read on here where a couple people had this issue. It may be worthwhile buying a second enclosure to test the new drive when it comes in and see if it works properly. You can always return the enclosure later on, just keep your receipt.

[no_pulse]

Originally Posted by Nodscene

If you are having that many problems with the drives I'd be concerned that it may actually be your hard drive enclosure causing the problems. I've never experienced an enclosure killing drives but I believe I've read on here where a couple people had this issue. It may be worthwhile buying a second enclosure to test the new drive when it comes in and see if it works properly. You can always return the enclosure later on, just keep your receipt.

Funny you should mention that. I noticed that TigerDirect.ca doesn't carry the Ultra HD enclosures anymore. Mabye they were faultly. I bought the Ultra HD enclosures because they are stackable. Although I'm not sure how a HD enclosure could kill a drive, but you never know.

I appreciate everyones input :) In retrospect, I probably should have bought a NAS. I have 5 external HD's :P Its too bad they don't have 4 bay HD enclosures lol. A good NAS is a wee bit out of my price range at the moment. I like the Data Robotics DroboShare.

[Empty_Quarter]

I have this problem with my external HDD, its a nexstar3 enclosure with an old WD 300GB CaviarSE. I do get the clicking sound, at first it was bothering me, but I dont see it causing any problems. So far so good, I notice however the clicking sound is very frequent while playing CSS. Odd, but its not that bad in my case at least.