PCA Forums

My aunt bought a HP desktop a little less than two years ago. The HD bit the dust a couple days ago. HP admitted they had problems with this specific drive, but the warranty ran out after the first year. Just my luck. So, I installed a new 50GB drive.

My question is: Would it be possible to get an RMA from Western Digital for the old drive?

DEPENDS. Usually HP (or whoever the vendor is) buys the drives in bulk as OEM resales. They get a VERY GOOD discount for them because they're sold to the OEM with NO WARRANTY. The OEM assumes the warranty.

You can usually tell if the warranty is with the OEM by looking at the drive - if HP put their own serial and part number stickers over the original ones, then that means that HP holds the warranty and not the manufacturer.

Worth a shot, though, to go to Western Digital's website and enter the serial number into their online warranty lookup database. Sometimes (especially if it's a couple of years old) the manufacturer's warranty is still valid, and any drive that old would likely have a 3 year warranty with the manufacturer.

Nothing to lose. It'll tell you immediately whether it qualifies for an RMA or not.

If they accept it you can fill out the form online - no need to talk to anyone. NEVER answer bad sectors as the problem on the form, believe it or not that's not a valid RMA qualification by itself unless the drive won't boot. If nothing else seems to fit the description, select NOISY.

Print the RMA form and pack it in the box. You MUST pack the drive the way they specify - if you don't have the proper packing materials, then select Advanced RMA and they'll ship the replacement first and you can use the same box to send the old one back (you'll need to give them a credit card to guarantee it). Use UPS or Fedex to ship it so you have a tracking number (if you go to a place that charges UPS counter rates like Office Depot or the UPS store it should cost around $7 - I ship them all the time).

Go to http://www.wdc.com and run the serial #. Chances are it will say no because it is an OEM drive.

*Edit* Direct link to the warranty check : http://websupport.wdc.com/warranty/seri ... ty&lang=en

Thanks guys.