Sneaky test on OEM hard drives

[Citadel535]

I have no way of knowing if other have done this but I just ordered a 60GB IBM hard drive from newegg.com. This is my first OEM component that I have ever ordered and am a little unsure of it. I have Norton Systemworks and it comes with disks taht allow you to recover files, look at the physical hard drive surface, etc. As soon as I get it I was going to examine the drive surface with this and look to see if there are any file remains on it (this shows it was a new or used drive). Based on people I've dealt with at Gateway, there is no way a used hard drive was treated carefully. I was wondering if anyone else ever did this?

 

[Viper GTS]

What exactly are you trying to say? Are you expecting a new, sealed HD to have files on it?



Viper GTS

 

[bacillus]

seems like he's expecting a refurbished hdd instead of a new one!

 

[MrMilney]

OEM does not equal used or refurbished. The thing that makes OEM products different from retail ones is that OEM is sent to computer makers to build systems with. They don't come with the pretty box or all the extra software or the bundled bells and whistles. But the hardware itself is new. You can run Norton if you like but you won't find anything.

 

[Jiggz]

Based on people I've dealt with at Gateway, there is no way a used hard drive was treated carefully.

How do you treat a HDD carefully aside from using grounding strap when handling them? As far as I know the only thing I do with them is write and read from them using either my KB or my mouse.

I was wondering if anyone else ever did this?

Actually, I haven't and I have been building 'puters since the 386's! HDD do die and it's never been accurately foretold yet. When you buy OEM or Retail the only difference is the box it came with and the price you paid for it. Otherwise, the HDD is exactly the same.

 

[TunaBoo]

Oh my...