Hard Drive Lifespan

[siyan]

Hi

I've got a pair of Seagate 7200.7 PATA 120GBs (fluid bearing IIRC) that have been chugging along for 3.5 years now, without any issues. Lately, though, I've been getting a little paranoid. Is there any way to tell what kind of shape the drives are in? What kind of lifespan can I generally hope for?

Thanks

 

[lobbyone]

Go to Seagate's site and download their diagnostic tool. Generally though, hard drives lasts anywhere from 4-5 years, maybe even longer if not used 24/7.

 

[corkyg]

Many hard drive manufacturers estimate how many hours or start/stop cycles a drive will survive. They call this estimate the MTBF (mean time between failures), and the higher the number, the better. Most EIDE drives have an MTBF of 400,000 hours, and some SCSI drives go as high as 1.2 million hours. If the drive's MTBF is measured in start/stop cycles, you'll find 40,000 to 50,000 is pretty standard. Of course, it's impossible to predict how long a relatively fragile device like a hard drive will last, which brings us to the topic of warranties.

Manufacturers' warranties vary in what they cover and how long they last. Note whether you would be expected to pay postage when you ship the drive in for repair. As for duration, a one-year warranty is common with EIDE and SATA drives, but some higher-end models get three years. Most SCSI drives come with longer warranties, up to five years.

Seagate drives have a 5-year warranty these days.

 

[BladeVenom]

Just keep the important stuff backed up, and don't worry about it. With the exception of Maxtor hard drives, all my hard drives lasted until they were gotten rid of for being obsolete.

 

[kldtech]

I usually get about 5 years or more out of them. Although I usually upgrade and sell the old PC by then.