So do they really refurb hard drives?

[busmaster11]

When my WD1200JB crashed WD sent me a "refurb" one. Prior to that, I called up some data recovery companies who told me it would be a couple grand to recover the data on the crashed drive.

They said that even companies like WD don't take drives apart because of the cost and the need for a clean room and stuff...

So knowing that, do they really spend the money to "refurb" defective drives? I mean, 120 gig drives go for 100 bucks or so these days, so do they really bother refurbing? And if not, does that mean they send you a brand new drive when you think you're getting a refurb?

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: busmaster11
When my WD1200JB crashed WD sent me a "refurb" one. Prior to that, I called up some data recovery companies who told me it would be a couple grand to recover the data on the crashed drive.

They said that even companies like WD don't take drives apart because of the cost and the need for a clean room and stuff...

So knowing that, do they really spend the money to "refurb" defective drives? I mean, 120 gig drives go for 100 bucks or so these days, so do they really bother refurbing? And if not, does that mean they send you a brand new drive when you think you're getting a refurb?

Yes, they send you refurbished drives.

What you're saying really makes no sense. What do you mean the cost and need for a clean room? They make the flippin' drives, don't you think they have cleam rooms?

Just think of it as free parts. If there are working parts in the drive, it saves them money to salvage them.

 

[busmaster11]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: busmaster11
When my WD1200JB crashed WD sent me a "refurb" one. Prior to that, I called up some data recovery companies who told me it would be a couple grand to recover the data on the crashed drive.

They said that even companies like WD don't take drives apart because of the cost and the need for a clean room and stuff...

So knowing that, do they really spend the money to "refurb" defective drives? I mean, 120 gig drives go for 100 bucks or so these days, so do they really bother refurbing? And if not, does that mean they send you a brand new drive when you think you're getting a refurb?

Yes, they send you refurbished drives.

What you're saying really makes no sense. What do you mean the cost and need for a clean room? They make the flippin' drives, don't you think they have cleam rooms?

Okay. Then why don't companies like Seagate or WD have their own data recovery services? Or, why is the cost of producing a new hdd negligible compared to the cost of data recovery?

I know they have clean rooms, I guess I'm just wondering why data recovery is so expensive and if that supports the theory that refurb drives are either new or never had an mechanical problems to begin with. I mean, lets say your drive had a head crash. If you had a clean room, some tools and a spare drive, you can just take the data platters out of the dead drive and put them in the good one. Should be fairly cheap, Right?

 

[yoda291]

prolly cuz data recovery is a slow, time consuming process that they could better use to design better drives?

 

[theNEOone]

Originally posted by: busmaster11

Okay. Then why don't companies like Seagate or WD have their own data recovery services? Or, why is the cost of producing a new hdd negligible compared to the cost of data recovery?

I know they have clean rooms, I guess I'm just wondering why data recovery is so expensive and if that supports the theory that refurb drives are either new or never had an mechanical problems to begin with. I mean, lets say your drive had a head crash. If you had a clean room, some tools and a spare drive, you can just take the data platters out of the dead drive and put them in the good one. Should be fairly cheap, Right?

because the data itself can be extremely valuable to whoever wants it back. it's not only that the process of digging out lost data is lengthy and intricate, sometimes people have NO OTHER OPTION but to opt for data recovery, thus they are willing to pay an arm and a leg just to get their sensitive data back.

 

[brxndxn]

I know they have clean rooms, I guess I'm just wondering why data recovery is so expensive and if that supports the theory that refurb drives are either new or never had an mechanical problems to begin with. I mean, lets say your drive had a head crash. If you had a clean room, some tools and a spare drive, you can just take the data platters out of the dead drive and put them in the good one. Should be fairly cheap, Right?

No, you cannot just take the data platters out of the dead drive.. They have to be aligned perfectly and from what I've read about it, no hard drive has a mechanism made to align them built-in. Instead, it's aligned once at the factory and that is it.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: theNEOone

Originally posted by: busmaster11

Okay. Then why don't companies like Seagate or WD have their own data recovery services? Or, why is the cost of producing a new hdd negligible compared to the cost of data recovery?

I know they have clean rooms, I guess I'm just wondering why data recovery is so expensive and if that supports the theory that refurb drives are either new or never had an mechanical problems to begin with. I mean, lets say your drive had a head crash. If you had a clean room, some tools and a spare drive, you can just take the data platters out of the dead drive and put them in the good one. Should be fairly cheap, Right?

because the data itself can be extremely valuable to whoever wants it back. it's not only that the process of digging out lost data is lengthy and intricate, sometimes people have NO OTHER OPTION but to opt for data recovery, thus they are willing to pay an arm and a leg just to get their sensitive data back.

Yep, pretty much nailed it.

Refurbishing a drive has nothing to do with data recovery. They're two different concepts and procees.

When they get a "dead" drive, they most likely know what is wrong with it and how to fix it. If it's truely dead, it'll go into the trash.

Of course they're going to try and cut their losses on warrantee claims by sending you refurbished drives, if they can.

That's a good question, as to why the HDD companies themselves don't offer data recovery. Just isn't in their business model, I guess.

 

[busmaster11]

Thanks for the info guys...

I'll understand refurbing a drive with a dead circuitboard, but would they spend the money to refurb drives with dead mechanical parts that require opening the interan compartment?

 

[wfbberzerker]

Originally posted by: busmaster11
Thanks for the info guys...

I'll understand refurbing a drive with a dead circuitboard, but would they spend the money to refurb drives with dead mechanical parts that require opening the interan compartment?

if a drive is dead, that doesn't mean that every single component of it is dead. as others said, they can salvage some of the parts. (i.e. the drive heads are screwed, but the controller still works, or the platters are ok) when you get a refurbed drive, you are getting a drive that has been put together with working parts of other dead drives.

they can take apart the drive because they do have the clean rooms, and if it's cheaper than just getting a whole new drive, its worth it.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: busmaster11
Thanks for the info guys...

I'll understand refurbing a drive with a dead circuitboard, but would they spend the money to refurb drives with dead mechanical parts that require opening the interan compartment?

It probably totally depends. If it's a known failure, and they know how to fix it, then I would imagine there is no problem with opening the drive..