hdd loud

[Shailesh Humbad]

I have a two year old 120GB WD special edition IDE drive (used for
backups) that recently started whining loudly. There don't seem to be
any other problems with it. Do you think I should replace it? It's
still under limited warranty; do you think WD will replace it?

 

[Nomen Nescio]

I have a two year old 120GB WD special edition IDE drive (used for
backups) that recently started whining loudly. There don't seem to be
any other problems with it.

Well at least you got 2 years b4 the thing started making noise. Mine
got loud after 4 months of use. But then again, you wrote that you only
used it for backups vs. using it as a primary drive. If the noise
bothers you, get an RMA and send it back. They'll replace it. You'll
get a refurb in return which may develop the same problem over time. But
the whine itself isn't going to effect performance or reliability. Just
remember the sound as you decide which brand of drive to purchase next
time. I know I won't be buying Western Digital again. Maxtor sucks
too. They fail a lot. Buy Seagate!

 

[Shailesh Humbad]

Well at least you got 2 years b4 the thing started making noise. Mine
got loud after 4 months of use. But then again, you wrote that you only
used it for backups vs. using it as a primary drive. If the noise
bothers you, get an RMA and send it back. They'll replace it. You'll
get a refurb in return which may develop the same problem over time. But
the whine itself isn't going to effect performance or reliability. Just
remember the sound as you decide which brand of drive to purchase next
time. I know I won't be buying Western Digital again. Maxtor sucks
too. They fail a lot. Buy Seagate!

I previously used it as a system drive, then for large backups.
Recently, I've been using it heavily for recording TV shows. A 1 hour
show in .AVI 640x480 MPEG-4 format takes up over 4 GB of space. I
guess that must really put the drive through its paces. RMA
replacement drive is on the way...