Can you tell if a hard drive has been replaced?

Louiseyd · Oct 10, 2014

Hi
My PC wasn't starting up, no power at all when pressing button, so I took it to a local computer shop where they told me it was the starter switch. They said they would replace it but when I got it back it powered on but my hard drive was totally empty and I think they may have swapped my hard drive for a smaller one!! Is there any way to tell that a hard drive has been changed out?

terry4536 · Oct 10, 2014

Sure. If the model, brand, capacity, manufactured date, or serial number of the hard drive is different, then it has been replaced.

USAFRet · Oct 10, 2014

If they diagnosed the issue as being a faulty switch, and they replaced the switch, and now there is 'nothing' on the HDD......that is not right.

Define 'nothing'.
None of your preexisting data, or no OS...nada ?

Louiseyd · Oct 10, 2014

If I knew what it was before then I would know if it was different but I don't know what the hard drive was before. I'm not very technical I just wondered if there was anything stored somewhere other than the hard drive that would contain details of changes to hardware. By "nothing" I mean none of my stuff, only windows is there now.

USAFRet · Oct 10, 2014

By "nothing" I mean none of my stuff, only windows is there now.

That shop screwed you over. Badly.
Replacing the power switch has nothing to do with whatever is on the hard drive.
Size of the drive is merely one aspect. Why did they need to change it?
Hint...they didn't.

If I brought my car in for a bad ignition switch replacement, I'd expect to find the contents of the trunk untouched.

terry4536 · Oct 10, 2014

If there is a manufactured date on the drive and it is after the purchase date then that is evidence. The same would apply to driver release dates.

Louiseyd · Oct 10, 2014

I thought the same. I couldn't understand why they would need to do anything to hard drive at all. So is there any way to see a record of hardware changes on my pc? Or will I just never know and only suspect this is what happened?

USAFRet · Oct 10, 2014

Louiseyd :

As above, look at the manufactured date on the drive.
Possibly look at the SMART data for 'running hours'.

But if your data is gone. ask them why.

And never, ever do business with them again.

terry4536 · Oct 10, 2014

There is an error event log, if it hasn't been deleted.

USAFRet · Oct 10, 2014

Another question....when you turned it on for the first time, was your log in there?

fzabkar · Oct 12, 2014

It could be that the original HDD was faulty (eg a shorted TVS diode) and was causing the PSU to shutdown (did the PSU fan kick?). IMHO a faulty power switch is rare.

BTW, a shorted TVS diode can simply be removed. In most cases you will then have access to your data. Furthermore, a shorted diode would point to an overvoltage from the PSU, in which case you could experience the same problem again.

Louiseyd · Oct 13, 2014

fzabkar :

Hi,

Nope no kick from fan. It did nothing at all when pressing the power button - totally dead, like the button wasn't pressing in enough to reach the switch.

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Can you tell if a hard drive has been replaced?

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terry4536

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