Quantum HD, bad sectors. Am I screwed?

[Danzego]

Hey! Bad things. Problem is I turned on the 'puter today and I got scandisk telling me I've have bad sectors on my E partition (6.4 GB Fireball ST, 3 partitions; 2GB apiece). By the time I got to 80% complete, I had about 20 bad sectors and a new one popping up in each section of sectors scanned. I could see where this was going, so I exited scandisk. I've only had the drive 10 months, but it wasnt boxed; I got it OEM through Krex computers. Am I screwed or can I do something about this? I know there is no Krex warranty and I haven't emailed Quantum yet (I will right after this post), but is there any possibilty of doing anything myself? At this point I'm afraid in two weeks, the whole drive will be dead. Any advice will be thanked and duly noted. I'll also post any replies from Quantum so everyone can see their customer service response. TIA!!
BTW, I'm running W98 with Fat32
Danzego

[Danzego]

Just went to Quantum online and saw that it looks like I'm pretty much screwed. It says that OEM parts are warrantied only by the OEM store themselves, yet when I got the drive, Krex told me there was no warranty. I was told at the time of purchase that if the drive was bad, I had to go to Quantum to get a new drive, even if I just took it home and it didn't work right at the outset. Sound like a screw to you? Me too!!! I guess if your not buying retail, DON'T BUY FROM KREX!!!!!! Unless I'm just misunderstanding this whole setup, it sounds like conflicting views here between OEM and company or outright lies by Krex themselves. Again if anyone has any ideas or past experience in these matters, please post. Also, any advice on fast new drives would be appreciated as that looks like the route I'll have to go. At least maybe I can find some consolation that I work at a computer store and as of right now USED to recommend Quantum HD's (they're fine if you plan on using them for only a few months!!!)
Danzego

[kwai]

as long as you're not overclocking, it looks like there's not much you can do at this point. call quantum, i've heard good things from almost all the companies except western digital. they might even cross ship you a drive even though its oem. just don't break the seal on the drive.

on the side, why are you using 2GB partitions if you're using fat32?

[kwai]

wow looks like i just missed your post with the last one.

i would still call quantum and don't tell them you bought it oem. just say it came in your computer or something and act dumb.

i've always had good luck with maxtor drives and their price and performance are tops. they have a 4.3 GB from the 4320 family at both NECX and onsale.com for about $120, but since you work at a store...

it sounds like that krex place is just selling **** "as is". you might even be able to bring a case against them for misinformation, but it'll probably take a lot of time and effort. you could at least call better business bureau and blacklist them so others know too.

[dh]

I would be ware of Krex. They are close to me so I use them, but I have also had problems with the stuff that I have got there. They have always been good on returns, usualy just handing me the replacement over the counter.
But I would never mail order from them.
The people that I have delt with there do not seem to be the sharpest on the block. The last time I was in there the person at the counter could not have been over 12. I'm not joking! Granted he seemed pretty sharp for 12, but still. Krex is good for me because buy the time I lay down the cash, I know what I'm buying and krex has some of the best price's on the net.

[Danzego]

Yeah, I went to Krex because it's close and I don't have to deal with the hassle of ordering online. But things seem to be looking up in the Quantum sector. I looked up my serial number of the drive in question and it seems that the drive IS under warranty until March 2001. Only problem now is shipping it and waiting waiting waiting for a new one. They said that it would only take 3-7 business days to get a new one to me once they get my old one. I'm worried cuz the dudes I work with claim sometimes it could take 6 months (EEEEEK). Oh well, I guess Krex is only looked at with a cautious eye now and I just probably won't buy Quantum again if this happens after 10 months (yes I know it happens, but still). BTW, kwai: I partition because for some reason or another I always end up reinstalling windows, so i keep valuable stuff in the other partitions that take too much room to back up.

[spdsk8r]

You might not be screwed... your HD stores information in blocks (or sectors) if one goes bad you lose info. in only that sector. I believe there's a way to block a sector so your computer doesn't try to save info. in that area of your hard drive. Also, try running Defrag then scandisk in windows. (not through dos) This can sometimes fix some errors if they aren't too bad.

[kwai]

that won't help at all -- if a sector is marked as bad, it automatically won't be used to read/write files.

the prob is that he's getting increasing no.s of bad sectors which is a sign of a failing disk. it's not worth it to keep using such a disk since you have to run scandisk everyday and you still keep losing info.

[Danzego]

Exactly. if it was one or two bad sectors and i knew that it wouldnt get worse, i could really give a care. problem is that every time i run scandisk it keeps finding new ones. not to mention that i havent even gone through scan disk one entire time through because it takes almost an hour to get one percent complete (keep in mind that this is only a percent of a 2 gig partition) and it seems thats where the motherload of bad sectors reside. im already up to over 200 bad sectors without even getting to 91 percent. the tech at quantum said it was really odd that theyre only popping up in one partition, so my guess is that its a bad platter. i also had a dude come into work yesterday and he said he had the same problem and in no time the entire drive went bad. best to get rid of it now and get a new hd in my hands ASAP. well, gotta go; i have to mail this thing out today!!
Danzego

[SpiNDriFT]

beware of quantum fireball drives. i've been through several myself and so have some of my buds who have chosen the fireball route. they die slow and painful deaths. just FYI.

[kwai]

yo danzego! did quantum offer to replace the drive for free (minus shipping)? keep us updated so we know how quantum support is, ok?

[Danzego]

Hey gennamen, here to give a post on the state of Quantum service (with a little coaxing from kwai)!! Well, so far everything is kosher in Danzegoland except for the fact that I have to run a 1GB HD until I get the **** thing back from Quantum. Hopefully it won't take too long as I'm not sure if I can keep from going nuts running a HD this size. Looks like it's the old days revisited for a time ("****, how the hell can I clear up 40 megs for this program?). As for Quantum, shipping notwithstanding (only $5.55- UPS Ground Service), they are replacing the drive for free, so YAY for me! The drive should get to them by Tuesday (hey, I only had so much bread for shipping; I wanted to buy a new case!!) and the dude at customer service said it should be shipped out within 3-7 business days after they get my drive. Then we had a nice little chat about hockey and blah blah blah!! So I will keep it posted as to how things are going with the Quantum situation. Stay tuned folks!!
Eagerly (and painfully) waiting,
Danzego