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Thread: Faulty HDD (intermittent)

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    Faulty HDD (intermittent)

    Hi folks

    We purchased an HDD from Scan for use with a Dell Laptop but it has 'crashed' three times now.

    The first time I contacted Scan by phone I received very helpful advice from Scan's tech support people who said it could be an intermittent fault but that I should try to reinstall windows and see if it happens again.

    I followed their advice, reinstalled windows and all was ok for a few weeks, until again the laptop refused to boot. I called Scan tech support again, although they hadn't heard of this problem before they tried to get it to boot into safe mode and also asked me to remove the HDD and make sure it was seated properly. In the end it was only solved by another fresh install of windows.

    Today (several months on) the laptop is again refusing to boot - after being switched on it boots to a black screen with a blinking cursor in the top left. It isn't possible to access BIOS or boot into safe mode.

    There must be an intermittent fault here so I would appreciate your advice on what to do now to get this resolved quickly. The HDD is, from the order sheet: "160 GB Western Digital WD1600BEVE Scorpio Blue, 2.5" IDE (PATA), 5400 rpm, 8MB Cache, 12ms".

    I presume an order number will be needed for whoever is looking into this - if so please let me know who to PM with this info.

    Cheers

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    Re: Faulty HDD (intermittent)

    Have you tried downloading software from WD to test the hard drive for faults? Most HD manufacturers have software like available to download on thier websites.

    You would probably have to make an ISO of the file and then boot with the CD. It would then do a test of your HD and let you know if it was faulty. If so, RMA time and probably to WD.

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    Smasher (02-05-2009)

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    Re: Faulty HDD (intermittent)

    I downloaded the WD tool after it happened last time, but it was only run after I'd reinstalled windows and it claimed there was no error. Yet this boot problem has only happened since replacement of the HDD.

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    Re: Faulty HDD (intermittent)

    Take the hdd out and see if it boots to the bios, if not it's not the hdd.

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    Re: Faulty HDD (intermittent)

    Quote Originally Posted by filbert View Post
    Take the hdd out and see if it boots to the bios, if not it's not the hdd.
    I've never seen a laptop that wouldn't get to the BIOS even without a hard disk?

    The BIOS is needed to even interface with the HD, so I'm not sure how this would troubleshoot anything?

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    Re: Faulty HDD (intermittent)

    Quote Originally Posted by Agent View Post
    I've never seen a laptop that wouldn't get to the BIOS even without a hard disk?

    The BIOS is needed to even interface with the HD, so I'm not sure how this would troubleshoot anything?
    I think you need to read it again, if it doesn't boots to the bios it proves the hdd is not the cause. simples
    Last edited by filbert; 02-05-2009 at 12:53 AM. Reason: I missed doesn't out lol

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    Re: Faulty HDD (intermittent)

    Quote Originally Posted by filbert View Post
    I think you need to read it again, if it boots to the bios it proves the hdd is not the cause. simples
    Ah, missed the line about the black screen - gotya
    Make sense now, wondered how it would have helped otherwise

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    Re: Faulty HDD (intermittent)

    OK folks - further troubleshooting now carried out as the HDD has failed again after a full reinstall.

    Replaced the old HDD and the laptop worked fine. Laptop also booted into BIOS etc. without the HDD present. I've updated the BIOS from version A08 to A09 and still no joy.

    Put the new one back in and after displaying the splash screen it stopped on a blinking horizontal cursor on the top right of the screen.

    Thankfully the first time it happened was just a couple of weeks or so after delivery, so it is something that Scan were notified about reasonably quickly as per the Sale of Goods/Supply of Goods and Services Act.

    There is an issue in that the HDD has a few sensitive files - how would Scan proceed in this instance? I thought about taking the HDD to an independent repair store for this data to be removed (and diagnosis of a problem with the drive).

    I've tried to phone Scan but whenever their recorded message comes up there is an awful lot of static and it's impossible to understand what's being said.

    Advice from any Scan people would be appreciated. Thanks

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    Re: Faulty HDD (intermittent)

    Hi,

    Please PM me with the invoice number you purchased the drive on.

    Regards

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    Smasher (08-06-2009)

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    Scan Computers Technical/Returns Mark@SCAN's Avatar
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    Re: Faulty HDD (intermittent)

    PM Sent

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    Re: Faulty HDD (intermittent)

    I've sent several emails but no response since 18 August, is Mark away from the office?

    Could someone please look into the postage refund that was promised (receipt sent to Mark's email address)?

    Thanks

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    Re: Faulty HDD (intermittent)

    Folks I don't mean to seem impatient but it looks like this is being ignored... look at the date of the original post.

    If Mark is away I can understand, but could one of his colleagues at least reply to confirm, assuming this simple task can't be done by someone else?

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    Scan Computers Technical/Returns Mark@SCAN's Avatar
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      • 1x 512GB Samsung SM951 NVME & 1x 4TB WD Caviar Black
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    Re: Faulty HDD (intermittent)

    PM sent

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