Hard drives keep failing

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by AK 47, Jan 19, 2014.

  1. AK 47

    AK 47 MDL Novice

    Dec 10, 2013
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    Hello,

    I have a HP ProLiant MicroServer N40L. I bought a Western Digital WD20EZRX (WD Green 2TB) in March last year. By October 2013, it had failed (the WD Diagnostic Utility found bad sectors). At the time, the N40L was running WHS2011.

    So I sent it back to WD and they refunded me. In November 2013, I bought a new Western Digital WD40EFRX (WD Red 4TB) to replace it. The N40L is now running Windows 8.1.

    Well now (January 2014), when I boot up, I get the following message during the POST:

    N40L Post 1.jpg

    I tried swapping the drives to make sure the problem is with the drive itself, and sure enough, it is:

    N40L Post 2.jpg

    Windows recognises the drive and it seems to work fine. I ran the WD Diagnostic Utility and it again says bad sectors.

    I find it incredible that two hard drives have failed so quickly and am beginning to wonder if it is something I am doing or have neglected to do that causes the drives to either fail or show as failed.

    Is there anything I can do to fix this instead going through the rigmarole of sending it back to WD and potentially having the issue happen again on any future replacement drive?

    It is worth mentioning that the ST31000533CS you see in the first photo in Port 1 and in the second photo in Port 2 is a Seagate Pipeline HD (1TB) that I got about five years ago and have not had any problems with. Maybe I should stick with Seagate drives in the future.

    Thanks in advance.
     
  2. urie

    urie Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 21, 2007
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    Redroad it mentions at the top of that list
     
  3. AK 47

    AK 47 MDL Novice

    Dec 10, 2013
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    redroad, thanks very much for this list. The latest drive of mine that failed is on this list as "known to work in the N40L."

    As urie said, WD Green (the first drive of mine that failed) seems not to be recommended.

    Are WD drives known to be unreliable, or have I just been unlucky?
     
  4. Herman Munster

    Herman Munster MDL Novice

    Aug 18, 2011
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    Well my friend The Western Digital Hard Drives have specific uses are black,red,blue then green. The Black and Red drives are the most expensive and are made for more demanding applications such as servers. The Blue drives are made as an all around drive for desktops and external enclosures. The Green drives are the least expensive drives and are not meant for full time duty such as a servers (so your lucky they lasted as long as they did ) At the very least I use Blue drives in desktop machines and you should expect from 3-5 years of use out of them . But if your putting Hardrives in a server your best to spend the money and use the Red or Black ones. Herman :rolleyes:
     
  5. AK 47

    AK 47 MDL Novice

    Dec 10, 2013
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    Thanks very much Herman,

    The latest one that failed (after only two months) is a WD Red (4TB), so maybe I've just been unlucky.

    Nevertheless, I think I'll be sticking to Seagate drives in the future!
     
  6. urie

    urie Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 21, 2007
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    got a WD20EACS Caviar Green 2TB drive sitting on my desk rite now from Western Digital Elements external case tried connecting via usb to sata cable to recover data no joy seems to be common problem.
     
  7. Herman Munster

    Herman Munster MDL Novice

    Aug 18, 2011
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    Ya I won't waste my money on the green ones. Herman :eek:
     
  8. AK 47

    AK 47 MDL Novice

    Dec 10, 2013
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    Thanks redroad, I get what you are saying, but I only use my server as a very simple media server. It IS a non-RAID environment! So maybe the WD Green was a poor choice, but I don't think the WD Red was really a poor choice of hard drive in this instance. Unless I have misunderstood something?

    urie, that sucks. I think Herman is right in that the WD Green is not worth wasting money on!