WD Hard drive dead after 6 month break?!?!?!

navi310 · Member Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: Ireland

Hi, all.

Just a little question here: I have VAIO Desktop PC which is about 3.5 years old and I used it for about 3 years and then I built myself a new system and that one just tucked away. Now, in 6 month time, I switched it on and heard some clicking sound and it wouldn't boot

But, since I added WD hard drive myself I thought that maybe, somehow the VAIO didn't like an extra drive (although I had been using it before tucking away for almost 2 years with no problems).

Anyway, I disconnected the extra drive and tried again, and bam, it worked - a little relief. So, I then tried to connect only that WD drive and got the message "Cannot find hard drive. Confirm if hard drive is correctly connected" and the hard drive light is constantly lit.

Now, the question, is that hard drive dead or is there anything that can be done or how do I check what's wrong with it? (I've never had a hard drive die on me so I don't have a clue what it looks like).

Any input is greatly appreciated and thank you in advance.

filmboss80 · Member Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Location: United States

Was the drive the same age as the PC? You say 3.5 years old? If so, it may indeed be a dead drive. In my experience -- which may not be the same as others -- my WD drives had the shortest lifespans, compared to Seagate and Maxtor drives.

You still should check and make sure the jumpers are in the correct position for the cable connection.

navi310 · Member Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: Ireland

No, that was the newer drive. The original that came with the VAIO is Seagate Barracuda 160GB and it still works perfectly. The WD is about 2 years old or maybe even less.

But, I wonder why did it happen, I mean it was just sitting quietly in a box and then - stopped working?

aedipuss · aBigMeanie Joined: 25 Oct 2005 Location: 666th portal

all kinds of mechanical things can go wrong sitting in a box. moisture enters the drive with rapid temp. changes. bearing lube settles to the bottom, rust occurs on the spindle and pivot points. you are less likely to have one fail in service with constant use. they are like a car. if you park a car for years moisture condenses in the oil and converts to an acid and can eat delicate bearings.

check the wd website. enter the serial number of the drive to check if it's still under warranty. it's possible.
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"a lot of people are better dead" - prisoner KSC2-303

navi310 · Member Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: Ireland

Thanks, aedipuss.

I know what you mean, and indeed it was in a bit dump environment, and it was the first thing that came to mind, but I just refused to believe it

I will check their website, thanks again.

bevills1 · Member Joined: 25 Jan 2006 Location: United States

Are drive jumpers set correctly, i.e. set to master or slave corresponding to how it's connected? Is an 80 wire IDE cable being used? Most newer drives require 80 wire IDE cable which can be bought for $2 to $3 if you don't have one. You might try unplugging and replugging IDE cable. Recently I had a drive that stopped being detected, and unplugging and replugging IDE cable fixed it. You might also try another IDE cable to see if it could be a bad cable. Once I had a bad cable, replaced it with another bad cable and finally fixed the problem with a third cable that was a good one. The only hard drives I've ever had fail were Maxtor, and I've used several Western Digital, Maxtor and Seagate drives plus a very old 240 MB Connors drive that was still working when I replaced it due to its very small capacity.

The drive should still be under warranty because all drives I'm aware of have at least 1 year warranty. I got a Western Digital drive replaced with a simple phone call when I mistakenly thought the drive was the cause of a problem that was later determined to be a BIOS update issue. Western Digital support is excellent.

navi310 · Member Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: Ireland

Thanks for your reply, bevills1.

The thing is that I've tried every possible jumper position and I've done it on the drive on its own, i.e. disconnected Seagate one, and tried different cables as well. So, jumpers or cable doesn't seem to be the problem, and I guess it's just gone - lesson learnt - never leave your PC unattended for a long time

P.S.
Considering I bought it about 3 years ago I don't suppose it's still under warranty. I'm just glad it was empty without any valuable files on it!!!

KBeee · Member Joined: 17 Jun 2003 Location: United Kingdom

Some WD drives have a 5 year warranty

bendixG15 · Member Joined: 24 Aug 2004 Location: United States

Check out the warranty on WD's site, only take a few minutes and the model name.