Monday, October 5, 2009

Acer Harddisk Failure

Firstly, if the Harddisk came from an integrated OEM System, the warranty is honored by the OEM.
The warranty is not going to be the responsibility of the Disk Manufacturer unless the Harddisk is bought separately in a retail store, so if you run out of warranty you will have to buy a separate harddisk replacement by yourself.

Symptoms of Harddisk Failure:
  • Windows hangs while Booting or takes a unusually long time.
  • Windows hangs while shutting down.
  • BIOS hangs while booting. (To restore normal booting from a normal harddrive simply enter BIOS and set Clear NVRAM to yes, Save and exit)
  • Windows Event log report S.M.A.R.T(Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) Failure. (A S.M.A.R.T Failure report definitely predicts a drive failure while not all drive failure will definitely be detected by S.M.A.R.T)

  • Linux Desktop suddenly colour corrupts and doesn't respond at all.
How to resolve:
  1. Boot from a Linux Live CD and copy all your important data to an external harddisk. (Do not attempt to boot from the failing harddisk, it only makes thing worse)

  2. If you have a desktop and the notebook harddrive uses a SATA connector you can simply plug your notebook harddrive to a connector, boot from the desktop harddrive and copy the data off the notebook harddrive.

  3. If the notebook harddrive uses a PATA connector then you need a bridge.

  4. If the harddisk has failed totally it is impossible to retrieve any data unless you go to a specialized data retrieval centre which usually cost a bomb.

  5. Do not go to those small computer shops that claims they can retrieve data, because they do not have the actually tools to do a platter swap to retrieve the data or recondition the harddisk, they are only out to cheat your money)
Yes I was unlucky enough to encounter a harddisk failure however I managed to salvage all the data I needed to a new Laptop Harddisk.
The new harddisk is considered a upgrade from WD BEVT Scorpio Blue to WD BEKT Scorpio Black.

The new harddisk spins at 7200RPM instead of 5400RPM and has a 16MB Disk Buffer instead of a 8MB disk buffer.
It also comes with a 5year warranty instead of a 3 year warranty.
The slight price difference justified the upgrade purchase.
Oh, and by the way the BEKT reports a 5.9 score in Windows Experience Index.

WD 320GB BEVT


WD 320GB BEKT

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