Hard drive issues

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skitzo_zac

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I have a Samsung Spinpoint F1 750GB (HD753LJ) that is quite new, I only got it on 27 Feb 09.

Okay I am going to try and write exactly what has happened and everything I know so far as to provide as much information in the hope that someone can provide me with some help.

First off windows media player started having some issues playing back my music which is stored on the drive in question. I restarted my PC to try and sort of WMP. After the reboot I launched WMP and tried to play my music but it said that it could not locate the music files in the directories. I then tried to access my D: partition on the drive in question and it said that the hard drive wasn't partitioned.

I ran Check Disk on D: and basically it went through and found lots of errors (lots of 'error in index $130' messages for what seemed to be every single music file I had). Then it tried to 'recover orphaned files' some files it seemed to be a success, but it seemes to fail on every single music file I had, saying that there was 'insufficient disk space to recover lost data'.

After Check Disk was completed I could access my D: partition again and everything seemed intact apart from my Music & Software folders which said they were empty. I could not access these folders. Upon attempting to access the folders it would say that the disk was not formatted and ask if I wanted to format it.

I attempted and succeded in recovery the data from my Music and Software folders by using 'EasyRecover Professional' and saved the data to my F: drive. The data seems to be fine from my initial investigations. But now I am stuck with folders on D: that are said to be empty, but do actually contain data as I was able to recover it. I cannot delete these folders. When I try and delete them I get a message saying 'Cannot delete Music: The directory is not empty.' and if I try and delete it via CMD (command "del d:\music") I get 'Data error <cyclic redundancy check>.

The folders are not infact empty as I have said I could recover data from them. And D: says it has an amount of free space that indicates that it is including the files from Music & Software folders in this calculation.

I am very confused, is it a physical problem with the hard drive? It would be strange if it was as it seems to be contained into only 2 directories (D:\Music\ & D:\Software\).

Check Disk is still coming up with the same errors if I run it again on D:

What should I do? Is there are like any more hard drive analysis software that I should run? Should I just atempt to return the hard drive?
 
Right well I just discovered that the software I was using to rcover my data had a drive diagnostics tool. I ran the tool and basically my drive failed the test and it has advised to me to replace the drive. So I suppose its time to contact either the store I bought it from or the manufacturere (Samsung).

I just tried to access some other directories other than those that were originally proving troublesome and they are showing the same signs of failure. I am now going to unplug the drive and leave it until I get some advice on how to procede.

My question now is should I wipe the drive before I return it? Would wiping the drive be a bad idea as it is faulty and might it ruin my chances of getting it replaced? (There may or MAY NOT be some software and/or data that may have been pirated). And if so using what should I use to wipe the drive.
 
They are not interested in your data
Actually I think most vendors have a document to follow
Test with this software
Then try re-partition or format
That type of thing ;) Just follow what they say and return it (formatted preferred)

Here's a good way to backup your data when you can't access Windows: UBCD4Win
 
So umm, I should look for instructions to follow on Samsungs website and follow them before returning it?

I have a copy of UBCD4WIn also have a 4DOS version too, although they are probably outdated versions now. But I can still access and backup the data through Windows using the software I mentioned previously, 'EasyRecover Professional'.
 
I prefer UBCD4WIn, as it comes with so many free programs, and has an easy to use Gui interface

Yes there must be a procedure to follow to return Hard Drives found to be faulty
 
Well I ran a second test with 'EasyRecover Professional' and the drive also failed this test. Then I installed the drive into the other machine in my house and ran Samsungs own diagnostic software (ES-Tool) from a floppy drive. (I had to do it from the other machine as my machine doesn't have a floppy drive :p). ES-Tool basically confirmed what the other software was saying. It reported a s**t load of errors on sectors or something.

So I have filed for a return and am waiting on a reply from the store that I bought the drive from.
 
Well I just thought I would update this thread for the sake of it. I sent the hard drive back to the retailer I bought it from, they tested it and decided that it was faulty and sent me a replacement drive.

So far the drive has been working fine, had it for a week now. Although the original one lasted longer than a week, I hope this one does not fail me.
 
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