thx for the response and suggestion. its not an option to replace it with anything but the same make and model
its a file/media server setup with over 6tb, and all sorts of other junk, so i would just have to drop it in, change a few bios settings and i would be exactly back wehre i was before it went bad (saving me hours of work) but even on top of that the win7 thats on it, is OEM, so i have to jump through hoops to get it to activate since it will only activate if i replace with the exact same make and model
i've searched everywhere the past 2yrs and have come up with nuthing. i bought mine last year for 45$ as a first replacement since 2004, and the only one i can find on the net now is ridiculous at like 230$ plus the sales reviews... i wouldn't trust them 1% and not willing to pay that rediciouls price when the 2 NOS ones i bought were 40 and 45$ each.