acethebear Posted October 8, 2014 Posted October 8, 2014 Over the 5 years I've had this computer, I have had 4 different HDDs and one SSD. The SSD has never failed, and has always been purely for OS. Originally I had a 1 TB Seagate barracuda, it lasted for a year and a half, then failed. The refurbished one they sent lasted 6 months, then failed. After 6 months of the second refurbished HDD I purchased another more recent version of a 1 TB Seagate barracuda and set them up in RAID 1 to try and protect my data because I was tired of all the failures. 3/4 year into the RAID 1 setup, the second refurbished drive went out, and somehow took out a chunk of data with it despite being in RAID 1. I attributed the loss to non identical hard drives, and moved on. I did not purchase another barracuda to rebuild the RAID 1 array, so for the last 3/4 year I've been using just the newer barracuda expecting it to last. (Timeline included in case this is hard to follow) Today I was let down again. My computer froze and on reboot, my intel rapid store told me that there was hard drive failure. The odd part is that I can hear the drive start just as it normally does, and hear it run fine. No odd clicking, or data loss immediately prior to the crash and failure. (screenshot included) It is really upsetting to lose data so often, I'm not sure about anyone else, but I tend to store plenty of small things that are meaningful, as well as tons of video games and media. I have two questions, one, is there anything on my end that could be causing such frequent failure? And two, should I give up on this drive now and start over, or is there hope that its not actually a complete failure? because of the lack of warning and familiar HDD sounds. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
acethebear Posted October 8, 2014 Posted October 8, 2014 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
acethebear Posted October 8, 2014 Posted October 8, 2014 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black64 Posted October 8, 2014 Posted October 8, 2014 (edited) 1. Refub drives fail and they fail a lot 2. I am guessing these are power related failures, what PSU are running, do you have any surge protection? 3. Do you move this PC a lot? Movement could explain why everything but the SSD failed. Edited October 8, 2014 by Black64 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
l1il Posted October 8, 2014 Posted October 8, 2014 I agree with Black64 on every point Refurb'd drives are drives that have had problems but then were repaired, then sold without the root failure identified. There is no way to guarantee how long it will survive. Power losses are what got me the most hard drives killed, they will go silently as well. Drive overheating (sandwiched in between two drives, with no airflow) could be another reason. Also, Seagate bought the Maxtor company a while ago, and they kept the same drive with a different name. Maxtor were notorious for hard drive failures. A low-cost power supply could also be a cause, as feeding unstable voltage or sending dirty power to sensitive electronics. The worse the power supply, the higher the peaks will be. The following image is one taken fron an actual power supply. It cannot be measured with a multimetre, but it can still damage electronic components. Since you have posted no specs, we cannot determine the culprit just yet. The other thing would be a possible hit on the case, if it was knocked or fell even from a small height. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted October 9, 2014 Posted October 9, 2014 Sometimes you have bad luck. I lost five 4 TB drives out of 24 IN A SINGLE BOX at work on Monday all within 4 hours of each other. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
acethebear Posted October 9, 2014 Posted October 9, 2014 (edited) Sorry about no specs, my case is a cooler master storm sniper, so plenty of airflow. My PSU is an 800W silent pro gold from cooler master. Everything plugged into an outlet goes through a strip that claims surge protection, but I don't know much about surge protection, so that may be a reason. I rarely ever move the case, only to clean or work on the inside. I know it could all just be coincidental but there's still a nag that it is my fault. I learned the refurnished ones are awful, and I don't really know what I expected, but they were free because of the warranty on the first one I bought, and its hard to pass up free when you don't have a lot of spending money. Lesson learned though, what brands have you had luck with HDD wise? I don't think I can do Seagate again. Edited October 9, 2014 by acethebear Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted October 9, 2014 Posted October 9, 2014 I love Seagate drives for the most part. If you're buying new, they're all good regardless of brand. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpikeSoprano Posted October 9, 2014 Posted October 9, 2014 I don't have much luck with Seagate either, never had a problem with WD. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted October 9, 2014 Posted October 9, 2014 I have > 1200 Seagate 4 TB drives in use at work. Average failure rate so far is ~3% which is what is expected. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccokeman Posted October 9, 2014 Posted October 9, 2014 I don't have much luck with Seagate either, never had a problem with WD. I have > 1200 Seagate 4 TB drives in use at work. Average failure rate so far is ~3% which is what is expected. The only drive I have ever fail on me was a WD. I have had great luck with Seagate across the board. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bp9801 Posted October 9, 2014 Posted October 9, 2014 I finally had my Seagate in an external enclosure fail on me after ~7 years of constant use (and about four moves). However, I did have a Seagate 2.5" drive fail on me after two years and took all my PS3 data with it. Still have one other Seagate and a WD running fine, and that is with ~4 years of use each. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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