WD Caviar Black 2TB Stop Working

[LdGallifreyan]

Hi,
I am here to tell you my WD Caviar Black 2TB died a few weeks ago.
And I bought it in 2012, but only has 2 year warranty...

Is there anything better out there for me.. or can I get it replaced for free from WD?

[Saracen]

Define "better"?

Faster! Probably, compared to a 4-year-old drive. SSDs certainly will be, but at a price if you need 2TB.

Bigger capacity? For sure, as 2TB is more or kess entry level these days.

Bigger and faster? At a price. Maybe a NAS with an array of fast drives or SSDs.

More or lsss a direct replacement, for size, capacity and budget? Maybe, but probably not radically do. What's the usage? If it's on permanently, and accessed constantly, maybe WD Red?


Free replacement? Well, it's possible. Companies can, if they wish, and some do, in certain circumstances. But I think you answered ylu own question with "I bought it in 2012, but only has 2 year warranty...".

They certainly are under no obligation to do so, and after 2 YEARS out of warranty, I'd say it's a tad cheeky.

But by all means ask. The worse they can do is say no. Which, to be honest, is what I'd expect them to say.

[LdGallifreyan]

Well, I need it for Gaming.. capacity isn't really needed for 2TB as I never really filled it all..

Only used it to house most of the steam games I currently play..Binky really ever total's to about 300+GB at most.

[DanceswithUnix]

Go on the WD website, and try and do an RMA for it. Black drives should have a 5 year warranty, have yet to see one that didn't.

[LdGallifreyan]

Go on the WD website, and try and do an RMA for it. Black drives should have a 5 year warranty, have yet to see one that didn't.

Alright will try but, I don't think I can get a replacement.
Kind of sucks though. I guess that's life right guys?

[Saracen]

Well yeah, really. Sadly, things wear out, and break. Depending on how much it's been used, and bearing in mind that drives are highly mechanical with both motors fir the pkatrers and the heads/actuator, I think 4 yeaes isn't an unreasonable lifesoan. That said, I've drives that lasted a LOT longer .... and had drives that lasred nowhere near as long.

So yeah, that's life. Pay your money and take your chance.

It's worth that RMA check, though.

[peterb]

Thing about hard drives (well, most things really) is that they will fail, the only question is when.

Which is why (in the case of hard drives) you take some precautions to cope with that event such as keeping a hot spare of taking backups.

Remember that if the disk,is replaced under warranty, you need to return it, so if it contains any sensitive data, that might not be something you would want to do.

[LdGallifreyan]

Well, I put in for a RMA request.
Had to answer the usual stuff I should imagine, like:
Name, Address, Date of Purchase, Where I Bought From(WD Online Store), Invoice and Serial Number/Model..

They told me my Serial Number and Date of Purchase is under the 2 Year Warranty But, they told me a year later after I bought it they brought out the 5 Year Warranty from all Caviar Black Drives. So they had to talk with WD Headquarters to see if I am illegible.

Got a Email at about 9:10am today and it seems I am Illegible.
So they are sorting out a RMA NUMBER and such.
Perhaps good news?

[LdGallifreyan]

Yes, just got another Email,
And its confirmed, I can send it back to WD Service Center. in Swindon.
So, that is a bit of goodish news!

[DanceswithUnix]

Yes, just got another Email,
And its confirmed, I can send it back to WD Service Center. in Swindon.
So, that is a bit of goodish news!

Only good-ish?

All drives have a chance of failing, you were unlucky.

Package it well (the WD website has strict guidelines) and you will get a replacement WD Black, still one of the better drives out there.

You might want to invest in an SSD for main use, I find I can get enough games on a 500GB SSD. But even if you do that a spare 2TB of spinning rust has to be useful?

[LdGallifreyan]

Only good-ish?

All drives have a chance of failing, you were unlucky.

Package it well (the WD website has strict guidelines) and you will get a replacement WD Black, still one of the better drives out there.

You might want to invest in an SSD for main use, I find I can get enough games on a 500GB SSD. But even if you do that a spare 2TB of spinning rust has to be useful?

Only Saying Goodish Because, I didn't expect to get a RMA, just something else for the local electronic recycling store..

As I already have a SSD and SSHD. This particular one was the one that I use to keep most of my Steam Games on.

Because I couldn't be bothered to put them all on my SSHD yet. But had no choice since it went down.

[Dashers]

Double check you have sufficient cooling by your hard-drives. I've seen plenty drives have paddies when they got too warm - and they can get very warm when active. I always make sure they have a dedicated fan (just a low-speed/quiet one) on the drive cage area.

[Bonebreaker777]

If I recall correctly, most regular HDDs life expectancy rapidly falls once they been for a prolonged period of time above 40 degrees.