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New PC One Week Ago.....

C

Carbo

Diamond Member
So, the five year old Gateway finally goes south on me three weeks ago. I'm thinking this is the excuse I need to pick up a new rig. Go online and order a new Dell Dimension 4600, with a Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9, 80GB disk.
Go to fire up the PC tonight and what happens? Nothing, basically! The hard drive can't be detected no matter what I try. I run Maxtor's PowerMax hard drive utility and this shiny new disk fails every test. I then get a fun screen warning me about pending hard drive failure. A little late for that, I'm thinking.
Anyone else have a drive go so young and so unexpectedly? And how cool is Dell going to be about RMA'ing this thing immediately?
 
Originally posted by: newParadime
RMA it rite to maxtor
Click to expand...
Already tried. But when I input the serial number of the drive in their online RMA form, I was told I needed to contact the PC manufacturer.
 
what?

This is a 3 week old system. You'll have yo call Dell, and walk through their houir long idiot test. Then they'll overnite you a new one, and you have to pack up the bad one and send it back.
 
Originally posted by: NewBlackDak
what?

This is a 3 week old system. You'll have yo call Dell, and walk through their houir long idiot test. Then they'll overnite you a new one, and you have to pack up the bad one and send it back.
Click to expand...
It's that hour long idiot test I'm trying to avoid. It's obvious the disk is defective. Once I pulled it out of the case and booted off my spare, all is well.
I'm hoping I can get an RMA code through the email support they offer. Can't blame a guy for trying.
 
I had an RMA from WD die within a few days. Incidently backing up my stuff from the dead WD to the rma one 😛.

Koing
 
Originally posted by: WackyDan
Seven out of ten "hard drive" failures are software related.

Are you certain it's a hardware malfunction?
Click to expand...
True. But, this time it sure appears to be the hard drive itself. The disk is not being recognized in the BIOS. Every reboot is getting the "Hit F1 to retry boot, F2 to enter setup utility" error. And when I pulled out that drive and replaced it with a spare I had, the machine booted right up. So, yes, I'd say it was the hard drive.
Anyway, Dell support emailed me back. They have arranged for a replacement unit to be shipped out on Monday morning via overnight delivery. Nice. I didn't even have to go through a lengthy telephone conversation and idiot test.
 
Originally posted by: Carbo
Originally posted by: WackyDan
Seven out of ten "hard drive" failures are software related.

Are you certain it's a hardware malfunction?
Click to expand...
True. But, this time it sure appears to be the hard drive itself. The disk is not being recognized in the BIOS. Every reboot is getting the "Hit F1 to retry boot, F2 to enter setup utility" error. And when I pulled out that drive and replaced it with a spare I had, the machine booted right up. So, yes, I'd say it was the hard drive.
Anyway, Dell support emailed me back. They have arranged for a replacement unit to be shipped out on Monday morning via overnight delivery. Nice. I didn't even have to go through a lengthy telephone conversation and idiot test.
Click to expand...

Its dead ok
 
the spare drive worked. Did you try putting the new drive back in and booting it one more time? connections, connections, connections, especially on a new, or recently upgraded system. Just mentioning it, seeing that you didn't say anything about reseating cables.

D.
 
Originally posted by: Danzilla
the spare drive worked. Did you try putting the new drive back in and booting it one more time? connections, connections, connections, especially on a new, or recently upgraded system. Just mentioning it, seeing that you didn't say anything about reseating cables.

D.
Click to expand...
Yes, I did reseat the power supply and ribbon cables. Didn't make any difference.
 
WTF??

Mine failed too. Allz I could think is that my a$$hole friend who always buys $3,000 Dells is going to laugh at me hardcore. I guess there's no real way to be safe.

I don't think it's going to take a whole hour for them to declare your drive dead.
 
Originally posted by: Polishwonder74
WTF??

Mine failed too. Allz I could think is that my a$$hole friend who always buys $3,000 Dells is going to laugh at me hardcore. I guess there's no real way to be safe.

I don't think it's going to take a whole hour for them to declare your drive dead.
Click to expand...
That's just the way it is with hard drives, I guess. Any brand disk can go bad in five days or five years. It's the luck of the draw. It happens to all of us and it's a pain in the ass. Fortunately for me, I had just done a complete backup of my data earlier in the day. So this turns out to to be more of an inconvenience than a disaster.
And I like the way Dell handled it, too. I haven't had to speak to one person about it. Resolved strictly through three emails.
 
Trust me. I've done it twice in as many months, and this is calling for corporate support.

You'll get someone in India who you can barely understand, and has static in the line. He/she will be reading off screens slower than what it takes to do the "tests".
 
Originally posted by: Carbo
Originally posted by: WackyDan
Seven out of ten "hard drive" failures are software related.

Are you certain it's a hardware malfunction?
Click to expand...
True. But, this time it sure appears to be the hard drive itself. The disk is not being recognized in the BIOS. Every reboot is getting the "Hit F1 to retry boot, F2 to enter setup utility" error. And when I pulled out that drive and replaced it with a spare I had, the machine booted right up. So, yes, I'd say it was the hard drive.
Anyway, Dell support emailed me back. They have arranged for a replacement unit to be shipped out on Monday morning via overnight delivery. Nice. I didn't even have to go through a lengthy telephone conversation and idiot test.
Click to expand...

Cool, what did you tell them? how was their customer support?
 
I figured if I called, I would be going through their first level of tech support. That is, someone with a heavy accent, reading from a script, telling me to try all the things I have already tried, and telling me things I already know. So, I emailed tech support instead.
I wrote this: "Hard drive is not being recognized when I boot up. Checked all cables and connections.
Ran Maxtor's PowerMax hard drive diagnostic utility. Drive failed every test, (code: deaca861).
Placed spare hard drive in this PC and it booted fine and I am running it right now. All signs point to a defective hard drive."
I then received a form letter back with some usual suggestions about checking cables and rebooting, etc.
I replied again with "I have tried various fixes already, including those your email suggests and Maxtor's own diagnostic tool. I'm sure it's just a defective disk. Can we quickly do something about this? Thank you."
Dell's response: "As the hard drive is failing we need to replace the hard drive, please provide the information requested below so I can setup your service......." Then, they just verified my address, customer number, etc. My hard drive should be on it's way as we speak.
I'd call that excellent customer service. 😎
 
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