2nd WD Raptor to fail in under 2 years

[my_space]

I purchased a 150gb WD Raptor in 2008 based on the WD Promise of exceptional performance and reliability with the Raptor series having higher performance at a premium price. The hard drive failed after less than 2 years use. This disk was replaced under the WD warranty; however the replaced drive has now failed in under 7 months of use and I have lost my data again. I feel very disappointed and let down as the hard disk has not lived up to the WD Promise of exceptional reliability.

Western Digital’s failure to uphold their promise has lead to me losing my data not once, but twice from my primary hard disk. WD slogan of “Put Your Life On it” is not justified in this case.

I feel let down by WD, is there any way you can help me recover my data?

[ThePizzaMatrix]

Hi there… Not to scold you but most of us in here would tell you that having a backup is your responsability, no matter what the manufacturer is to promise… Still, what if you try a data recovery software such as TestDisk, which is free?

Best of luck!

[my_space]

Hmm, ok I’ll see what happens.

You just don’t expect a failure to happen with no warning.

Also if this drive is to be sent back to WD again, will it be reconditioned or will I be sent a brand new one?

I think the 2nd one they sent me was reconditioned, hence the short lifetime.

EDIT::::

Ok, after some googling and reading, I downloaded ultimate boot cd and launched parted magic.

Using “Smart Control”, the program has told me that the “Reallocated Sector Count” is too high at 2533.

Some of my key data has been recovered using PhotoRec.

As a bonus can someone aid me in making the drive bootable?

I previously had winows 7 x64 installed. I get to the “Windows boot manager” screen and  then booting halts.

Thank you

[DavidSucesso]

do not use that drive until you have another one to boot the system first

you can still recover your data

[Mabkay]

Use another Win7 PC and open Backup & Restore under Maintenance (Start Menu). There you can create a Startup Repair CD. Booting from that CD, you can repair almost all the booting issues. And if you had created system image using same Backup & Restore, you could have restore it using same CD at this time. You don’t need third party utilities to recover a system if you use Windows 7 utilities.

Just a thought… If you use Raptor, make sure it is cooled bellow 50C. May need to use HDD cooling fan.

[my_space]

Thanks guys for your help. I’ve spoken to WD Support and they have offered to replace my 150gb Raptor with a 300gb VelociRaptor, which is more than what I could have asked for.

I’ve also pulled the data I needed using PhotoRec booted through PartedMagic Live CD.