Windows 10: Interesting question here about bricking older hdd's :/

If the BIOS can't see the drive nor can Linux, I've fixed plenty of drives with Linux, but Linux won't even boot up off a CD most of the time unless it can see a drive.

Up until a few days ago I would have said it's impossible to brick a drive with software, but I'm not so sure anymore, anyway I'm not going to chance it.

When I say software, I mean normal software not some hacking malicious code.

 

If the hard drive is invisible on other machines when attached externally then it's probably bricked. But if that conclusion is based only on a single machine, there is also SATA controller hardware issue or SATA driver corruption. There's nothing wrong with the Sata controller, other drives on the same machine work no probs. I'm not saying it is bricked, but it came very close I think, I certainly won't be running 9879 on it again.

At least half a dozen BSODs and not showing up in the BIOS arent very healthy for a new drive. I've been using Windows since DOS and DOS before that and I've never seen anything like this before. Normally I would have thought it's the drive, but it seems quite a few other people are experiencing this, so it's not the drive. If it's a new drive, you maybe just unlucky to get something that is about to get bricked. You know what I mean. Go after the manufacturer. You may be able to get a replacement. Some drives have 5 years manufacturer warranty, some have 10 years. I don't know about yours. Before you blame the OS, you might want to do something about getting the manufacturer to replace it. Defective hardware is not uncommon.

 

If the hard drive is invisible on other machines when attached externally then it's probably bricked. But if that conclusion is based only on a single machine, there is also SATA controller hardware issue or SATA driver corruption. There's nothing wrong with the Sata controller, other drives on the same machine work no probs. I'm not saying it is bricked, but it came very close I think, I certainly won't be running 9879 on it again.

At least half a dozen BSODs and not showing up in the BIOS arent very healthy for a new drive. I've been using Windows since DOS and DOS before that and I've never seen anything like this before. Normally I would have thought it's the drive, but it seems quite a few other people are experiencing this, so it's not the drive. If it's a new drive, you maybe just unlucky to get something that is about to get bricked. You know what I mean. Go after the manufacturer. You may be able to get a replacement. Some drives have 5 years manufacturer warranty, some have 10 years. I don't know about yours. Before you blame the OS, you might want to do something about getting the manufacturer to replace it. Defective hardware is not uncommon. It could very well be the drive, I'm going to do quite a bit of testing before I return it. It just seems a bit coincidental that this happened with 9879 and other people are having similar issues.
I didn't blame the OS first, I even told Microsoft it could be the drive, haven't heard back from them yet. It just seems very suspicious that it happened immediately after installing 9879.
Unfortunately I'm doing some video work for a few days but when I finish that I'll spend a bit of time testing the drive and putting Windows 8.1 on it by itself and run it through the mill.
if Microsoft put out another fixed up 9879 or later release I'll put it back on.

 

Hi there.

Hardware defects DO happen and I'm sure it's NOT due to ANY build of Windows -- Ms has 100'000's of employees / contractors world wide -- if a defect in Ms's software causes HDD bricking I'm sure the courts would be flooding with compensation claims as well as info coming out of Ms itself. They aren't the CIA / FSA (Old KGB rebranded) etc so couldn't possibly keep that type of event under wraps.

People love conspiracy theories but this just isn't the case here. As a sideline into what Humans actually believe vs reality take an example from current day politics --in the UK a few months away from a General Election MORE people apparently believe in the "Loch Ness Monster" than in one of the Politcal Leaders (I think the opposition leader - but not sure). At least whether you like him or loathe him the existence of that person is a FACT which cannot be said of the Loch Ness Monster -- but that still doesn't stop people believing in it.

From across the pond (in the USA) I believe that a significant number of National Inquirer readers still believe that they were once abducted by Aliens in flying saucers. !!! So again people believe in what they believe regardless of evidence or lack of it in their theories.

So Factually it's about 100% impossible for a standard OS like Windows to BRICK an HDD -- it could eventually BREAK one - excessive read writes for example but you'd get indications of failure soon enough.

People will believe in what they will believe - in spite of evidence disproving their theories -- so if you want to blame build 9879 go ahead -- I think though you are wasting your time and just got defective hardware.

Cheers
jimbo

 

Personally I'm not sure it's physically possible to "brick" a HDD through software.

I can accept that a software fault could cause a particular type of drive, under specific circumstances, to be unreadable on a particular OS, and that this is more likely on a BETA OS, after all that's what any BETA program is there for.

If the drive is subsequently usable after a reformat on another OS then this is further proof that it may be an incompatibility, whether this is with the SATA / Motherboard drivers, the standard HDD driver or something else is why Microsoft request feedback

If not then I would suspect a hardware fault, New hardware fails more often that people imagine, quoted failure rates are statistical so for every HDD that runs for far longer than spec, another must fail before spec

 

During OS installation and large updates that change a lot in the system, HDD has to work much harder than normally so a marginal one might brake just then.

 

I don't know what you Icelanders drink but it must be pretty powerful, I've got no idea what you're talking about or who you're talking to.

 

I don't know what you Icelanders drink but it must be pretty powerful, I've got no idea what you're talking about or who you're talking to. Urban myth | Define Urban myth at Dictionary.com

 

You must be talking about the Urban Myth that Microsft has 100s of thousands of employees, so they couldn't possibly be responsible for trashing a HDD.

That's like Apple saying, You're holding it wrong.

 

That's no myth, urban or otherwise lol. But it takes a lot of effort to trash HDD by using OS alone, it takes a lot of specialized SW to change firmware in a HDD and apart from electronic or mechanical breakdowns it's very unlikely it could be done by accident. I remember trying to salvage data from some half dead HDDs by changing controller boards on them and flashing same FW on it to match serial numbers so it would work and I can tel you, it was a lot of work.

 

That's no myth, urban or otherwise lol. But it takes a lot of effort to trash HDD by using OS alone, it takes a lot of specialized SW to change firmware in a HDD and apart from electronic or mechanical breakdowns it's very unlikely it could be done by accident. I remember trying to salvage data from some half dead HDDs by changing controller boards on them and flashing same FW on it to match serial numbers so it would work and I can tel you, it was a lot of work. I would say continual BSODs and freezing etc can put a bit of strain on an SSD and do quite a bit of damage.

I had a few spare hours this afternoon and tried repairs with TP and Windows 8.1, didn't work. Tried installing Windows 8.1 straight over the top as a new install, didn't work, formatted one partition and tried again, didn't work. Formatted all 3 partitions and installing, didn't work.

Fully removed all partitions and installed again, this time it worked, Windows 8.1 and fully updated. Have rebooted a few times and run some apps, no BSODs.

No matter what anyone thinks, this was caused by 9879 and nothing else, end of story.

 

That's no myth, urban or otherwise lol. But it takes a lot of effort to trash HDD by using OS alone, it takes a lot of specialized SW to change firmware in a HDD and apart from electronic or mechanical breakdowns it's very unlikely it could be done by accident. I remember trying to salvage data from some half dead HDDs by changing controller boards on them and flashing same FW on it to match serial numbers so it would work and I can tel you, it was a lot of work. I would say continual BSODs and freezing etc can put a bit of strain on an SSD and do quite a bit of damage.

I had a few spare hours this afternoon and tried repairs with TP and Windows 8.1, didn't work. Tried installing Windows 8.1 straight over the top as a new install, didn't work, formatted one partition and tried again, didn't work. Formatted all 3 partitions and installing, didn't work.

Fully removed all partitions and installed again, this time it worked, Windows 8.1 and fully updated. Have rebooted a few times and run some apps, no BSODs.

No matter what anyone thinks, this was caused by 9879 and nothing else, end of story. File system yes, physically bricking, trashing HDD not likely.

 

That's no myth, urban or otherwise lol. But it takes a lot of effort to trash HDD by using OS alone, it takes a lot of specialized SW to change firmware in a HDD and apart from electronic or mechanical breakdowns it's very unlikely it could be done by accident. I remember trying to salvage data from some half dead HDDs by changing controller boards on them and flashing same FW on it to match serial numbers so it would work and I can tel you, it was a lot of work. I would say continual BSODs and freezing etc can put a bit of strain on an SSD and do quite a bit of damage.

I had a few spare hours this afternoon and tried repairs with TP and Windows 8.1, didn't work. Tried installing Windows 8.1 straight over the top as a new install, didn't work, formatted one partition and tried again, didn't work. Formatted all 3 partitions and installing, didn't work.

Fully removed all partitions and installed again, this time it worked, Windows 8.1 and fully updated. Have rebooted a few times and run some apps, no BSODs.

No matter what anyone thinks, this was caused by 9879 and nothing else, end of story. File system yes, physically bricking, trashing HDD not likely. I've never said it was bricked, I said it was very close, trashed absolutely, close to being bricked absolutely, was it 9879, absolutely.

 

That certainly may be, it was a large update and changed almost if not all system files judging by it's size and time and way it updated, looked almost like a new or installation or at least like regular installation repair. I'm resigned to it being a beta OS and that all kinds of problems can be expected, that's why it's only my secondary OS. Can't really put all my eggs in that basket, might develop a hole !!!!

 

That's why I bought a new HDD, I didn't want to risk any of my own files, I knew the risk just didn't think it would be this bad. I'm not blaming anyone or Microsoft, it was my choice as many times before.
When a new release comes out I'll try it again.