Storage Solutions Western Digital Issues, RMA problems, Service deficiency Thread.

Ok so called up WD and they said that they have started the advanced replacement system (like in US, not sure it ever existed here before or not) and they have shipped my replacement drive yesterday. I expect it be delivered today or tomorrow.

But the AFL courier tracking number they have given me is very long (16 digits) while i had also sent the drive using AFL and they gave me a smaller (11 digit) tracking number :S

As of now the WD provided tracking number on AFL website is showing nothing.
 
^great wait for 12 hours, you might get it.
And about your tracking no, my tracking no was 12 or 13 digit, just wait for today, else call them again.
 
I am to receive my HDD mostly today or tomorrow. I asked the WD guy and he said it will be definitely refurbished. Need to know whether these refurbished ones last well ??? And what sort of repairing they MAY HAVE undergone. I know it may be a foolish query :ashamed:

Also i am thinking of running HD Tune Pro etc tool on the HDD that i receive to ascertain if there is any issue even with the replacement or not. Doing right ?
 
^ well can't say exactly , but i read that these refurbished drives tends to die quickly.

BTW the drive that i got is inferior to the previous one, It doesn't support these features
#Host protected area
#Automatic acoustic management
#Interface power management
#Power up in standby

So what are these features and are they very necessary ??
 
raksrules said:
I am to receive my HDD mostly today or tomorrow. I asked the WD guy and he said it will be definitely refurbished. Need to know whether these refurbished ones last well ??? And what sort of repairing they MAY HAVE undergone. I know it may be a foolish query :ashamed:

Also i am thinking of running HD Tune Pro etc tool on the HDD that i receive to ascertain if there is any issue even with the replacement or not. Doing right ?
Click to expand...

Absolutely right, do it as soon as you get the HDD. But strange they told you that it will be a refurbished one.
 
Finally got the HDD today. It has the Jan 2011 date so even if refurbished it is relatively new in terms of production date. Running HD Tune Pro on this now.

Initially when i connected the HDD to Laptop using the USB casing, the HDD failed to show up and i got scared. Then i checked the disk management stuff and it was showing Unallocated, so partitioned it, created it as new logical drive, assigned a drive letter, formatted it and now it is fine. :)
 
As i mentioned, i have got my HDD back and things seem to be working fine. Now before i install windows 7 on this machine, i want to format this HDD as per my need. How do i do this ??

The HDD currently is housed inside a USB casing. Is it possible to just install some partitioning software and partition it when connected to PC through USB casing ??

Can it be done by default computer management of windows rather than using any 3rd party software ?

PS: I am currently using windows XP.
 
Better connect it to your system, that will speed up the process and will also avoid any kind of errors :) BTW congrats on just speedy RMA, haven't noticed your post
 
^^So you mean, i connect the HDD to laptop (as in internal HDD), load windows 7 on primary partition (and the only partition which will be 298 GB in size) and then after windows 7 is installed, i use some partitioning software to partition my HDD ??

Is there any way i can partition before actually installing windows 7 on this HDD ??
 
^^Assume i dont have that too (i dont really have actually).

A working XP machine with the HDD as an external HDD for now.

This HDD will go as internal in the other laptop and then how do i make partitions ? Does windows 7 setup provide option to create partitions ? I dont think so ?

Anyway i can make the partitions of this USB HDD now and use it later on ??
 
You can use the win 7 setup disk fro making partition as well. Actually i haven't tried partitioning a hdd using an external adapter, you can give it a shot. Connect the new hdd to the xp laptop using the usb casing, next try to partition it using XP disk management tool
 
^^They have started the advanced replacement wherein they will ship you replacement HDD after you raise the RMA. So do expect better service for now (hopefully)
 
raksrules said:
^^They have started the advanced replacement wherein they will ship you replacement HDD after you raise the RMA.
Click to expand...

Is this confirmed?

I have been routinely checking up with them on my drive RMA status since Feb 2nd (yes Feb 2nd!). After my latest email to them yesterday they finally said they would be shipping out a replacement immediately without waiting for this to process. I figured it was more to account for the insanely long delay, but perhaps could be their new policy.

About your earlier query - external drives via USB can be partitioned just fine. The only thing is, if you prefer doing a long format - to verify all sectors are functioning - it will take ages on a USB connection.
 
^^I clarified with them on this point. They seem to be now shipping the HDDs from Bangalore (before it was Delhi i think, not sure) and they told me that they have started this system which is similar to what was already there in US so that the customer is not affected by the problem and he does not have to wait without any HDD in between. If you want i can give you direct number of their logistics department at flextronics, but since they only deal with acceptance and dispatching of HDD, not sure whether they will be much able to clarify this query.

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---
Crazy_Eddy said:
About your earlier query - external drives via USB can be partitioned just fine. The only thing is, if you prefer doing a long format - to verify all sectors are functioning - it will take ages on a USB connection.
Click to expand...

I dropped this idea and now that replacement WD HDD is sitting inside this very laptop and i partitioned using windows 7 setup only.
 
Just registered for RMA....WD says that i should print the RMA label on the box but the problem is i dont have a printer with me right now so what to do ? can i just write the RMA number on the parcel instead of printing it :huh:
 
What all info does the RMA label have? I think there's an address as well.

I remember there was another RMA sheet that had to be printed and put inside the box as well.
 
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