Should I RMA this HDD?

[wildbuffalo]

Today I had to re-partition, format and reinstall OSes. During the surface scan in scandisk, it reports that I have some bad sectors on two of the partitions. Otherwise, everything else seems to working fine. There are two more years of warranty left, my question is should I RMA the HDD? I have all my data backed up.

Wild

[wedor]

Well the bad sectors never go away, and drives with bad sectors seem to develop more as time goes on, I'd look at replacing it.

[Ed_S]

What brand drive??

I'd probably wait, unless there's a LOT of bad sectors. There's still two years remaining, and the replacement drive may be warranted from the date of it's manufacture, not the balance of existing warranty.
That's how WD does it, Quantum also. Can't remember which others.
I had one I almost forgot to deal with, and WD authorized an RMA with 7 days remaining. New drive came with new warranty.
Also, the longer you have it, the more likely they won't have same drive & will upgrade it.

Definately keep all data backed up just in case, but we all do that anyway, right? http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[Bovon]

I guess this is sort of a personal thought, but having been thru one drive that started to develope bad sectors, finally crashed...and I lost everything that wasn't backed up on zip disks (now on cd disks).

In my case, the drive was just about out of warrantee when it started to show bad sectors...and I just put it off thinking I would just get a new, larger drive. I didn't, and about 6 months or maybe less is when it crashed.

My advice?...get a rma now, and let that sucker ride. From what others say, once they start having sector problems...it won't be long.

[randy48]

I'd do it right a way! The way the tech industry is going these days...they might not be around tomorrow!

[wildbuffalo]

Thanks folks for all the suggestions. The HDD is from Maxtor. Downloaded and ran their Powermax diagnostic program. It ran all but one test "Smart Self Test" and the program suggests calling their customer support. I guess I will call on monday. Ed_S; I like your idea of waiting some more before RMA to possibily get newer drive. But, this is my only HDD, and as some have suggested if it crashes I would be without a computer, which at this point in time I do not want to be.

Again Thanks ya' all!

Wild

[Ed_S]

That's probably the wise thing to do with your only drive.

Maxtor's good to deal with (IMO). Most likely, they'll offer an "advance exchange", which means they'll ship you the new one first & pay the return shipping. You'll have to give them a credit card #, but no charge will be made unless you don't return the bad drive in time. Works great!

[Xeroid]

Your drive problem is only going to get worse. I would get it replaced ASAP!
Mike