HDD Mechanical Problem

[Michael]

I have a Maxtor 80GB HDD which the warranty has expired.
Since a few weeks ago, when I am accessing files on the drive, the drive makes some mechanical ticking noise.
I guess this is a unrecoverable hardware failure.
Since its warranty has expired, what else can I do with it other than just throw it away?

[GX1_Man]

Run the free diagnostics from the Maxtor site and check it for fitness. If it passes keep on using it. If not, it's time for a new drive. How old is it?

[Tinygnome]

i just want to add that any sounds such as clicks coming froma  harddrive is one of the worst

in my store if a Hard drive comes in and is clikcing we immedetly put it as level 3 fixing and ship it to the service center.

I would reccomend a new harddrive they are usally good prices

100 gigs for 100 dollars

180 gigs for about 150 i think

ther are ways to get your data back if you think thats what you want to do i can put up a walkthrough

[Michael]

I could not run the Maxtor Diagnostic tool because I don't have a FDD on my computer.

The HDD is about one-year-old.
Actually I got it from a friend who works in Acer Service Center.
However, I realize that there is no warranty sticker on the HDD and in fact he didn't give me the receipt when he sent me the drive last year.
When I contacted him saying that I want to send him back the HDD, he said that the warranty is expired.
Anyway, I see that the Mfg Date stated on the HDD is 15Nov2005, and from Maxtor warranty site, the warranty is actually until 01/19/2009.
So, I guess he tried to fool me?

Tinygnome, I have backup all the files on the drive.  Thanks.

[GX1_Man]

If the warranty is imprinted onthe drive that may be enough. I would contact Maxtor ( now owned by Seagate).  

[street1 (RIP)]

You know on occasion a power plug(molex) from your PSU can be faulty,
also the IDE ribbon cable can be faulty.

Even though it is working that doesn't mean it's getting proper connections.

We have had this happen twice in our household.One time was the 4 pin
power plug and the other time was the IDE Cable.

I did not notice that GX1-Man had posted back again.
He is correct Seagate has almost bet the farm on their
5 year waranty.They will probably be glad to give you
another hard drive.

      Enjoy Thanksgiving people.

[Michael]

GX1_Man, there is no imprint regarding the warranty on the drive.
But I guess from the SN they can check out the warranty status like I did on their website?
I actually planned to contact Maxtor directly, but unfortunately, as I am in the AP region, the RMA should be issued by the distributor...so I guess if the friend of mine refuse to do so, I may need to contact the regional service center? But consider that I don't have a receipt and the warranty sticker, they are unlikely to entertain me.  

Street1, the noise is there whether I connect the HDD direct to the IDE or on external USB case.

[GX1_Man]

Nothing to lose, but I think if you could try that drive on a machine that can run the diagnostics you would have better information to give them. "It clicks" is a lot less compelling than "Your diagnostic program says it is failing".  

[street1 (RIP)]

Can you do the Bootable cd iso image file?


http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Maxtor/menuitem.3c67e325e0a6b1f6294198b091346068/?channelpath=%2Fen_us%2FSupport%2FSoftware+Downloads%2FView+By+Category%2FDesktop+Storage%2FMaxtor+Other%2FDiagnostics&downloadID=113


Have you looked at the below site?Maybe the serial number is enough.

http://service.maxtor.com/rightnow/Flash/gtla_locater/sn_gtla_rev11a.swf