Windows 10: 30 years never an HDD failure -- now TWO in a week !!!!!

Hi folks

Is it because Manufacturing is poorer these days or perhaps is it I'm using HDD's more intensively ( in Servers for example 24 hrs a day).

In over 30 years of using Windows and Linux I've never experienced an HDD failure -- now I've had TWO in a single week - WD Red 3 TB drives -- funny though both part of the same RAID 0 config I had on the server. I've 2 X 5 TB Green drives also on the server running in RAID 0 - not a single problem.

Ensure you take decent backups --even if you are using a server to backup clients / laptops --shows even on servers HDD's can fail.

I tested these individually again -- both definitely U/S -Bust -- Broken etc -- nothing to do with RAID 0 Array failure. Definitely unrecoverable hardware defects. I have backup so I can re-build the array with another set of HDD's.

I think I'll look at Toshiba drives before they sell that piece of their business to WD. I've always had good experiences with Toshiba stuff in the past.

So whatever hardware you install --especially HDD's --ALWAYS TAKE BACKUPS !!!!!! especially those of you using NAS type devices as servers. These DO fail - even if very rarely.

Cheers
jimbo

:)

 

Is Windows 10 causing early HD failures

If you read thru the MS forums there is little, if any indication that W10 is a possible cause of HDD failure (I am not defending W10, by the way.) There are some posts claiming that their HDD,s appear to be running more frequently and causing overheating,
none of those indicated that their HHD, eventually died due to this!!!!!

There is a website called Backblaze, that do regular tests on HDD, (refer link below), they have quite a lot of info on HDD failures, but not whether it is due OS,s or what the actual causes were!

Hard Drive Failure: Analysis of 49,056 Hard Drives

A website search for HDD failures due to W10, does not support any evidence of HDD failure due to OS,s.

The only way I can think that an OS may cause a HDD failure, is if there was a setting, which would cause the HDD failure by thrashing (constant use).

Did you have any indication that the HDD,s were being over-extended, before they died?

When I was active working, I found that virtually all HDD,s I replaced was because of mechanical failure of some part of the HDD, (I will admit that was several years ago and HDD technology & reliability are much better now.)

Have you check the PC manufacturer warranty, as to what terms if any, covers HDD failure?

 

Login Keyboard Failure-Win10

Thank you for your reply.

1. 20+ years in IT and never a KB failure.

2. Is not KB model specific. Laptop KB failure. Wireless KB failure. Only on-screen KB works.

3. Intermittent. Works for a day. Quits for a period.

4. May or may not be a Win10 problem. Win10 installed last year while problem started only 5-6 weeks ago.

What is different? MS screen splash pictures.

Above items? Tried all weeks ago. Nada.

Next?

 

Sorry for your lost

. I only use Western Digital hard drives for me, and my customers. I have seen 2 out of 100's installed since the late 90's. I have seen many other manufactures hard drives (Seagate, Toshiba, Hitachi, etc) die plenty of times. Well hopefully you will not see it happen again for another 30 years

. Of course, by then we will be 100% in the cloud, maybe?

 

If you went 30 years with no HDD failures, I'd say you were very fortunate and were really bucking the odds. I've had a number of HDD failures in the past 30 years (my experience is that HDDs are more robust now than they were in the past). I've had them last for years but I've also had them fail in just a few weeks of use.

I worked in IBM's disk drive business for 20 years and we always said that it wasn't a question of "IF" a drive would fail but "WHEN".

As you said, backup, backup, backup!

 

UK never had a Scottish Prime Minister for 200 years, then two came along at once (Blair and Brown) - LOL.

You have been lucky really but have fallen foul of classic "crap happens" I'm afraid.

 

You may find this an interesting read from Backblaze
2017 Hard Drive Failure Rates - What the Numbers Tell Us

And last years results
2016 Hard Drive Reliabilty Benchmark Stats

 

I think you're a lucky guy, Jimbo. I've been in the game since the mid-1980s and I've seen dozens of drive failures, going all the way back to the giant removable disk packs for a Dec PDP 11!
Now that you've lost your perfect record, don't hold your breath for the next one.
Happy holidays, too.
--Ed--