WD RMA Question

RubberDuckie · Post by **RubberDuckie** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 12:58 am

I have a WD 160Gig HDD that windows will not read nor format. It shows up in Device manager but everytime I try and open My Computer it hangs. If I try and reformat the HDD it takes 12 hours to get to 90% then I get an error saying it can not format the drive. It is still under warranty and I should be able to RMA the drive. I had data on the drive that I do not want to get out (MP3s and programs). Since I have tried to Format the drive (unsuccefully) I think the data is unreadable. However should I try harder to remove the data? Going to WD website it looks like I can RMA the drive and I want to. Any suggestions? Thanks,

Post by **TonyH** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 1:59 am

You'll probably be required to run their diagnostic software before you can RMA the drive. The diagnostic software does have a program that lets you "zero write" the drive. If you cn successfully do that a few times you should be able to eliminate most of the data from the drive.

You'll find the diagnostic software here. http://support.wdc.com/download/#diagutils

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 9:19 am

Actually if you do the RMA form online you won't need to run their diagnostic. WD is good about RMAs.

No one is going to care what's on the drive. If you're paranoid then try downloadign their diagnostic and run the low level format. Even if it doesn't finish it should wip some of the drive.