Western Digital drives SUCK!

beer

Lifer
Jun 27, 2000
11,169
1
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I'm so f-ucking pissed off right now. I'm a student and at home I have a secondary computer that does all my server tasks, like IIS and ICS. It's a BM6/Celeron 466/128 MB RAM/15 GB HD/otherwise gimp computer.
This morning I woke up and I heard a <click> *grind* <click> *grind* sound coming from it.

This is the THIRD in four WDC drives I have owned that died on me! I have 2 Maxtors and an IBM (that's in Dell) and all of them are fine! Even after years and years. And this drive is like 4 months old.

I'm so pissed now because every time I reboot my main machine, my parents and brother bitch at me for having the Internet break for them.
 

beer

Lifer
Jun 27, 2000
11,169
1
0
Yes, it's still under warrenty, and yes, I have already done the RMA work, but still, these drives shouldn't die like this.
 

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
62,484
8,345
126
I as well experience your woes. I used to work for John Deere who had about 1000+ Gateways on site. RMA'ing the WD caviar drives was a daily ritual.
 

beer

Lifer
Jun 27, 2000
11,169
1
0
No wonder they have &quot;Express RMA Service&quot; on their site.

Ha, tells you what they feel about their products...
 

R2D2

Senior member
Dec 31, 1999
280
0
0
I just bought another Maxtor (Plus 40). I've had just the best experience with these drives.

It's very fast, very quiet, and so far very stable. And the MaxBlast software is a snap to use.

p.s. This week, STAPLES is selling their 40GB for $159 US.
 

billyjak

Platinum Member
Oct 9, 1999
2,869
1
81
I just had a 10 giger die on me friday. It was in my other computer as I only use IBM's now.
I feel the same way. Your not alone.
 

PliotronX

Diamond Member
Oct 17, 1999
8,883
107
106
Wow.. I have a 6.4Gig Western Digital that's been running fine at 41Mhz PCI bus for 3 years 24/7, and a 27Gig 7k RPM drive running 24/7, not a single problem.. should I feel lucky??
 

penclboy

Member
Oct 12, 1999
30
0
0
Yes Plio you should!

I have had 2 WD HD's fail on me and one more appears to be going (an RMA from a former dead WD) I was attacked by the Click of DEATH!!! AHHHHH run!!!
 

beat mania

Platinum Member
Jan 23, 2000
2,451
0
76
Geez you should be happy that yours is still under warranty. I had 2 that I think died within 1 month right after warranty expired...they must've put a time bomb in those things or something.
Anyway no prob if you backup regularly...
 

odog

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
4,059
0
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i've actually converted a local store to maxtors and IBM.. vs WD... he was a only WD guy for years... then he heard(or lack there of) my maxtor, and was impressed with it's speed..



then... and this is a big one... they changed their warranty policy...

check it...

you buy a brand new drive... 2 months later it dies(well within the 3 year warranty)... you RMA it... they give you a refurb...THAT HAS NO WARRANTY AT ALL!


well maybe i didn't convert him... but i sure pointed him in the right direction:)
 

NOSOUP4U

Senior member
Dec 19, 1999
603
0
0
western digital used to be synonymous with reliability. I wonder where all their capital went... probably out the door with their market share.
 

Vegito

Diamond Member
Oct 16, 1999
8,329
0
0
I stop buying IDE crap after my 2.5 month old diamond max 40gig died on me.

So I got myself a raid 5 atlas 10k with 5 year warranty...

RAID is the way to go. Can't do non raid with the size of these hd and the amount of data you own...

SCSI drive still fails but 5 year warranty.. I wouldn't mind
 

jinsonxu

Golden Member
Aug 19, 2000
1,370
0
0
Good to know i'm not the only one. I'm on my 4th WD harddisk at the moment. Also the Caviar series. The last 2 failed exactly 6 months after i got them. Good thing WD is big on replacement though.

I've learnt my lesson after the first failure. Now i keep all my important stuff in my old IBM 2.1 gig HD.
 

MadRat

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
11,975
294
126
Western Digital - The drive that makes you do all sorts of faces... :eek: :D :| :( :Q :) ;) :p :cool: :disgust: :frown: :confused:
 

Noriaki

Lifer
Jun 3, 2000
13,640
1
71
God damn it those Caviar drives are awful...

The only thing useful to come of of WD in the last 2-3 years is the Expert drives...and guess what...IBM made them. WD woudln't know a hard drive platter from a dinner platter....
 

PliotronX

Diamond Member
Oct 17, 1999
8,883
107
106
Dangit, now you guys got me sweatin it, wondering when these WD drives will poop out :-O

What's a good 7k RPM Maxtor or IBM drive for around $200 ?
 

Noriaki

Lifer
Jun 3, 2000
13,640
1
71
If you've got a WD Expert, you're fine, because IBM made them and sold them to WD. It's just the caviars that WD made themselves that suck. And not all of them fail, but it's startlingly high...

Good 7200rpm drives woud be the IBM 75GXP and DiamondMax40+

A 45Gig IBM 75GXP is $250-300 canadian, so that's like $200 or less US.
 

MSNY

Senior member
Oct 29, 1999
474
0
0
My tally:

2, 6.4 WDC's dead in one year.
1, 8.4 WDC dead in 8 months.

Now...30gig Maxtor Ultra ATA100 7200rpm, Smooth dame play and I don't hear it at all...very nice. Oh ya my replacement 8.4 is now a slave driver. The word &quot;slave&quot; fits it.

NEVER another cheapie WDC crap drive for me.
 

LiekOMG

Golden Member
Jul 5, 2000
1,362
0
0
I've had a WD 20 gig for about a year now, and its still working flawlessly. But even more surprising, i have a 4.3GB quantum bigfoot thats 5 years old now, and its still working perfectly! Yeah, its a little loud and slow, but it makes for a great junk drive!
 

hominid skull

Senior member
Nov 13, 1999
971
0
0
I have an old WD Caviar 1.2Gig drive i bought about 6 years ago, used every day since and still 100% ok - although a bit slow by todays speeds..
 

R2D2

Senior member
Dec 31, 1999
280
0
0
Sure, Nr9. Everybody has a story. I wish I knew of a good Database on repair history.

Plio, Check out Staples.com this week. They are selling the Maxtor 40GB 7200RPM ATA/66 Drive for $159.