When you send a drive in for warranty repair... how safe is your data?

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deadfish

deadfish

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Aug 5, 2009
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I have a drive that needs repair... way too many bad sectors and software telling me its going to die. ( only a few months old.)
I didnt do any credit card purchases or financial stuff... but I definetly have . some password/logins to some sites Im not proud of: warez, pron, etc.

Anyway... what is WD - code of ethics say about this.. are they going to poke around or will they just test the drive up to snuff and ship it back?
I can get on the drive and delete but.... laziness.
 
Solution
SuperSoph_WD
Hello there, deadfish!

You've sent your HDD under warranty for replacement.
WD will ship you back a replacement product, not your defective drive.
As you can see in the link below, customer confidentiality is a priority to our company. When a defective drive is received, it goes through several testing processes only for analysis. So we can estimate what went wrong with that drive. During this process all the data on the drive is erased and irrecoverable. If you want the data from the HDD back you must send the drive to a Data recovery company BEFORE returning the drive for RMA. Western Digital does not perform data recovery anyway, let alone poke around your files.
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1545...
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guanyu210379

guanyu210379

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Mar 30, 2007
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I dunno, I have never handed over my HDD/SSD to anyone.
I have never sent them to repair and never sold or given them away.
Yes! I am a paranoid!
e.g.
I always destroy the HDD physically before throwing it away.
For HDD, I open up everything until I can disassemble the plates and then wack all the plates with hammer.
 
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

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Jul 30, 2014
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Hello there, deadfish!

You've sent your HDD under warranty for replacement.
WD will ship you back a replacement product, not your defective drive.
As you can see in the link below, customer confidentiality is a priority to our company. When a defective drive is received, it goes through several testing processes only for analysis. So we can estimate what went wrong with that drive. During this process all the data on the drive is erased and irrecoverable. If you want the data from the HDD back you must send the drive to a Data recovery company BEFORE returning the drive for RMA. Western Digital does not perform data recovery anyway, let alone poke around your files.
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1545
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/997
So don't worry your secret is safe with us. By us I mean you, me and Tom's Hardware community! :)

Hope this answers your question!
SuperSoph_WD
 
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Solution
DelroyMonjo

DelroyMonjo

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Mar 18, 2011
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Q for SuperSoph_WD: Does your above answer mean that if one were to send in a WD hard drive for warranty repair they can at least attempt to recover any data contained thereon and attempt to overwrite said data and still return it to you for warranty?
 
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

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Jul 30, 2014
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Hey, DelroyMonjo!

So if you want to recover your data from a faulty WD HDD under warranty, the first thing you need to do is send it to a Data Recovery company, preferably one that we work with. You can check those out here: http://support.wdc.com/recovery/index.asp?lang=en
If the data recovery company successfully recovers any files, they will send the drive back with another drive/media containing the retrieved data. Afterwards you send the faulty drive to WD, where we analyze the fault and ship you back a working replacement product. Here's a link that explains how to return a product under warranty back for RMA:
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8

Hope this clears things out. :)
SuperSoph_WD
 
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deadfish

deadfish

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Thanks everyone, Im going to recover what I can, then use some software ( DBAN) to overwrite the drive, then send it out.

WD Rep... what is the average turn around on getting a drive fixed?
 
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

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Jul 30, 2014
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Hi again!

I suggest you register on our website: https://westerndigital.secure.force.com/ind/?lang=en
This way you will be able to track your RMA status online where the following information is available:
- The model and serial numbers of the replacement products
- Shipping courier tracking number
- Shipping and receiving information - what was received, shipped, and when
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/10

Here's another useful link about RMA policy, packing instructions, etc.:
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1222

Hope this helps. Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD
 
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