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WD HDD developing bad sectors

Last response: in Storage
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Hi, I've an old P4 2.4 + Intel 865GBF + 512 DDR based system with a Seagate 80GB HDD. I've Windows XP SP3 (Installation CD is of XP SP2, system was upgraded to SP3) installed alongside openSUSE 11.1.

I purchased a WD 320 SATA drive about 7-8 month ago and installed it alongside the older hdd. The newer hdd worked fine (apparently) for about 2-3 months and then started giving read errors. After checking through the WD Disc Diagnostic tool, bad sectors were detected and the disc was sent to WD and a new disc received. The newer disc again looked to work fine for a few weeks but developed bad sectors. It was sent to WD and a new 500GB drive was received which has again developed bad sectors after usage of a few weeks (I installed it after a gap of about 1 month) - have still not sent it to WD yet.

On my part, I've made sure every time that I set-up the disc with WD tool. I've also changed the SATA cable (got with m/b), just to be sure.

What can you advice on this issue?

EDIT:
1. The HDD under question: WD3200AAJS-00RYA0 / WD5000AAJS-00TKA0
2. I tried registering for RMA (India) but the drive status is being given as "Out of Limited Warranty". How can this be possible? :??: 

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I don't get it, are you telling me WD cancels the warranty after you send a defective unit back to them?

In any case, bad sectors showing up immediately are a sign of a faulty hard disk. Insist on a replacement!

r_manic said:
I don't get it, are you telling me WD cancels the warranty after you send a defective unit back to them?

In any case, bad sectors showing up immediately are a sign of a faulty hard disk. Insist on a replacement!

I've not sent the drive yet. When I go to create a RMA for replacement (on wd support site), first of all it asks for serial no. After entering sr. no., a page shows up informing warranty status as "Out of Limited Warranty" and then no option is offered to create an RMA. I've still not made a call to them but have sent an e-mail yesterday regarding the malfunctioning drive.

One more (may be silly) question: Do they replace the faulty drive with a brand new one (i.e. not a repaired drive or such)?
I've three malfunctioning WD drives in a span of 4-5 months; just confused, what to do now?

Change the molex to Sata power connector. If it's making a bad contact, the hard drive will suffer from loss of power on 12v, 5V or both. Also check that your power supply is up to the task. One of my secondary desktops had this problem
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A replacement under warranty could be either new or refurbished - WD's choice. In this situation it almost looks like WD decided NOT to include any warranty with the second replacement HDD. That is unreasonable to me, and you certainly should have warranty coverage. They might, however, claim that the total warranty time available to you started with the first unit you bought, but that was 7-8 months ago. Should still be good! This will take discussion by e-mail or phone - their website obviously can't handle anything more complex that a first return of a new unit.

vladtepes said:
Change the molex to Sata power connector. If it's making a bad contact, the hard drive will suffer from loss of power on 12v, 5V or both. Also check that your power supply is up to the task. One of my secondary desktops had this problem

My power supply does not has sata power connector; I'm using an adapter for that. Would replace it too if/when I get a new drive.
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