X40 hdd dead -- clickings

[reikochii]

Hi all.

I found the forum too late.. so I wasn't aware of the issue on HD clicking: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=15769
I became one of the victims... after my hd died out.
Unfortunately, I did not back up my important files.. due to the fact that my X40 was bought in july 2005.. so I didn't expect such a quick failure.

My original hd was 40gb, hitachi C4K40 model HTC424040F9AT00.
Manufactured in Dec10.2004 (the stamp on the side was 2004.11.4 though).

I've noticed the following issues during my usage:
1) hd clicking sounds occur often, even when no apps running (the same as posted in the previous thread)
2) tray icons delay showing up upon xp booting..
3) jerky mouse when hd clicks...

Prior to hd death, I had 2 sudden crashes.
Both was blue screen of "dumping..memory" (although I had 512mb ram onboard, and was only using mpc to watch movie)

Upon my last boot up, I had an error message of some dll not found, windows cannot run.

I restarted, and this time on, BIOS does not detect my hdd..
and it tries to run Intel boot agent (from network..)
I still hear weird clicking sound from the hdd...

I've tried hdd regenerator, win boot disk, etc...
All of them says HDD NOT FOUND.

I called IBM support, got a replacement hd.
This new one is manufactured aug3.2005 ..
Haven't checked it on hd test, hopefully it's not a defective one.. So far I've noticed it being quieter, and less clicking sounds..
I still have my doubts though.. hopefully there'll be alternative brands..?


I'm still worried about the files I have in the dead hd.
Would someone advise me the best way I could recover my files?
How much do IBM service center charge for data recovery?
Will USB hd enclosure or 2.5"->3.5" adaptor work?

This is really horrible..
I spent that much $ on the x40, but ended up with a defective hd without being noticed... The hard drive died within 4 months of usage, and their warranty doesn't cover fixing it!

[gerdh]

Dear reikochii,

I try to give you an honest answer at the risk of appearing to be blunt, however, I have no intention or reason to offend you, I tryto be as honest as can be and give you the best advice possible in your situation:

HDD's are devices with a limited life time are devices with a limited life time are devices with a limited life time.

That being said, the number to measure the life time is called MTBF (mean time between failures) but is a STATISTICAL value. In a population of hard drives, this value gives a measure of the number of devices likely to fail per observed time period. The true likeliness of failured depends on the application environment, a good explanation is given here :http://www-03.ibm.com/support/techdocs/ ... enDocument

This means that any hard drive can crash (head crash, media fail, electric interface fail) any minute. There is no such thing like a secure data repository in form of a hard drive. Consider HDD's to be a consumable with a pretty long life (statistically, at least).

The only conclusion for any PC user is that there must not be any unsecured (not backed up) data - ever, point.

As a result of my lengthy explanation, don't blame anybody for lack of your own obligation to have backups handy in case the unlikely but still possible event of an early HDD death happens to you. Blame yourself instead.

IBM got you a new HDD free of charge but can of course not be held liable for damages by data loss - if this would be the case, nobody could use a hard drive, as the cost of damages for teh manufacturer would increase the device price to "not affordable".

What to do?
- Obtain recovery media CDs from IBM for USD 40 - I think that is an ok price because otherwise IBM would have to produce and ship and charge every single client. SO, an "on request" policy is fine with me.

- consider using a data recovery service for HDDs. You can send in your HDD and get a quote. Somtimes, even a few hundred dollars are well spent. (I went through this by myself and was ignorant to crashing HDDs until I lost an entire 3 year old data repository with no backup... used a recovery service and paid 400 USD to get it all back, the best decision for me in that situation)

- to your question: as your computer is unable to detect your HDD; a USB adapter will not get you any further. No, not an option.

Truely

Gerd

[reikochii]

Thank you gerdh.

I do understand that it is mainly my responsibility and my fault that I didn't back up my data.
In my own experience, such early hd crash was totally unexpected. My hdds mostly lasted more than 5 yrs.
I guess I've learned my lesson this time..

However, please do consider the fact that many users are aware of the Travelstar being defective.
Not only does it make annoying clicking noises from time to time, it also shows up 0 cache in different hdd tests.
I'm not saying this is certainly the cause of my hd crash, but there's a high possibility that the x40 came with a hdd that had problems.

I'm glad their warranty covers it to be replaced.
Although I wished they could have warned about the clicking noises so that users are aware of it being a sign prior to failure.
4 months was just too soon to die out .. it doesn't justify the price of it.

I appreciate your advice.
I'll try to get a quote and decide if it's worth it.

[gerdh]

Dear Reikochii,

I was in your shoes and learned that HDDs are consumables although I believe that the Hitachi Travelstar line is not too bad. I feel with you in this painful experience.

I use SyncbackSE from www.2brightsparcs.com for backup but have also used the free Windows backup tool (works very good), and a USB HDD and a server for backup. The incremental backup runs every day or so after work so that I have only little to loose in case of crash. As I also have images (by Snapshot) of the base installation, I am not too dependent on recovery discs or such any longer.

If you choose a similar strategy, you will see that defective HDDs will cause just a smile for you - as my heads up! Good luck with data recovery.

Gerd