Storage Solutions Query prior giving my hdd for replacement

nRiTeCh

nRiTeCh

Skilled
My Seagate HDD ST3500418AS purchased in November 2009 has suddenly started developing bad sectors probably due to frequent electricity issues in our area....

At that time harddisks used to carry 5 years warranty and just verified and its still under warranty till Nov, 2014.

My hdd contains very sensitive data of both work related and private as well of me, my dad and bro and our gigs of valuable family photos n video moments etc..

Yes I'll be transferring them to another hdd until i get an replacement.

Seagate will give me another refurbished or brand new hdd & also my submitted hdd will also be given to somebody else after a repair or so.

My query is, wont that person be able to recover data from my hdd the one who gets it as a refurbished?

I mean what policies does seagate, wd etc follow before giving refurbished/repaired disks to somebody?
Do they wipe the entire hdd so that even if some expert tries to recover data he wont get any hint as to what was stored previously etc...

I know I'm acting like a noob or worrying way too much but yes the data this time is very sensitive and hence want to know from you guys how the manufacturers deal on this part.
 
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I was in the same situation as you before submitting my Seagate Backup Plus for RMA and I used DBAN. I checked the drive after wiping it to see if I could recover any data using Tune-Up Utilities and found that I couldn't.So I guess this thing works(Might be the case that forensic data recovery software can be used to recover the data but I don't think that an average layman will either have access to or jump through the hoops to recover data from a random refurbished HDD)

Secure Wiping a Hard Disk with DBAN
Time Needed: several hours (varies with size and speed of drive)
Software: Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN); available from http://www.dban.org/
Media: blank CD (all versions) or floppy disk (version 1.0.7 and older versions)

1. Download the DBAN boot image ZIP file (we used version 1.0.7 and beta version 2.0 for this article); we downloaded the ISO image for CD burning, but a floppy disk builder is also available
2. Extract the contents of the compressed file.
3. Burn the ISO image file extracted in Step 2 to CD; see our article on how to do this, or use the built-in ISO CD image burning support in Windows 7. If you downloaded the floppy image builder, run the program to create a bootable floppy disk.
4. Restart the computer using the CD or floppy disk created in Step 3.
5. Press Enter to run DBAN in interactive mode.
6. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight the drive to wipe.
7. Press the space bar to select the drive.
8. Press M to select the wiping method.
9. Press F10 to begin the wipe process.

18mp7wumt2htfpng.png




10. At the end of the process, shut down the system. You can reuse or recycle the wiped hard disk.

Note: if DBAN is unable to recognize your SATA hard disks, configure your system BIOS to use IDE mode rather than AHCI mode.

Detailed link and multiple methods outlined below.

http://gizmodo.com/5489933/leave-no...-erase-your-hard-drives-ssds-and-thumb-drives
 
Marcus Fenix said:
I was in the same situation as you before submitting my Seagate Backup Plus for RMA and I used DBAN. I checked the drive after wiping it to see if I could recover any data using Tune-Up Utilities and found that I couldn't.So I guess this thing works(Might be the case that forensic data recovery software can be used to recover the data but I don't think that an average layman will either have access to or jump through the hoops to recover data from a random refurbished HDD)

Secure Wiping a Hard Disk with DBAN
Time Needed: several hours (varies with size and speed of drive)
Software: Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN); available from http://www.dban.org/
Media: blank CD (all versions) or floppy disk (version 1.0.7 and older versions)

1. Download the DBAN boot image ZIP file (we used version 1.0.7 and beta version 2.0 for this article); we downloaded the ISO image for CD burning, but a floppy disk builder is also available
2. Extract the contents of the compressed file.
3. Burn the ISO image file extracted in Step 2 to CD; see our article on how to do this, or use the built-in ISO CD image burning support in Windows 7. If you downloaded the floppy image builder, run the program to create a bootable floppy disk.
4. Restart the computer using the CD or floppy disk created in Step 3.
5. Press Enter to run DBAN in interactive mode.
6. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight the drive to wipe.
7. Press the space bar to select the drive.
8. Press M to select the wiping method.
9. Press F10 to begin the wipe process.

18mp7wumt2htfpng.png




10. At the end of the process, shut down the system. You can reuse or recycle the wiped hard disk.

Note: if DBAN is unable to recognize your SATA hard disks, configure your system BIOS to use IDE mode rather than AHCI mode.

Detailed link and multiple methods outlined below.

http://gizmodo.com/5489933/leave-no...-erase-your-hard-drives-ssds-and-thumb-drives
Click to expand...


Oohh!! :wtf: Thats one hell of a process...
I cant calculate how long will it take for a 500gb to wipe out and considering the most imp. fact of my areas frequent electricity fluctuation i cant risk my hdd else it will void its warranty and i'll be in a bad situation than any good even thought its in warranty...

But again thanks for the suggestion mate... lets see what others say on manufacturers process..what practise a mfg. follow in this regards.
 
I just went through a similar process. I wanted to RMA my Seagate HDD and I wanted to quickly erase the data in it before that.

First, I backed up my whole HDD using Windows 7 back-up functionality.
For cleaning up the faulty drive, I used HDD Scan tool. This is actually a HDD scan tool for bad sectors and stuff, but it has got an erase functionality too.
This is what I found from their Manual
"In Erase mode the program prepares block of data field with special pattern and number
of logical sector. The program sends the block of data to drive and drive writes the block
(All data in the block on drive will be overwritten and gone forever!) The program
measures operation time for each block. The program tests blocks one by one from
minimum to maximum."
Took some time, but seemed to have done the job. The best part is that it is portable, no need of install or anything, you can run it off a USB drive too.
 
harisubs said:
I just went through a similar process. I wanted to RMA my Seagate HDD and I wanted to quickly erase the data in it before that.

First, I backed up my whole HDD using Windows 7 back-up functionality.
For cleaning up the faulty drive, I used HDD Scan tool. This is actually a HDD scan tool for bad sectors and stuff, but it has got an erase functionality too.
This is what I found from their Manual
"In Erase mode the program prepares block of data field with special pattern and number
of logical sector. The program sends the block of data to drive and drive writes the block
(All data in the block on drive will be overwritten and gone forever!) The program
measures operation time for each block. The program tests blocks one by one from
minimum to maximum."
Took some time, but seemed to have done the job. The best part is that it is portable, no need of install or anything, you can run it off a USB drive too.
Click to expand...

Oh k.. will give it a try.[DOUBLEPOST=1401807767][/DOUBLEPOST]meanwhile some funky answers to read :p http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=1534597[DOUBLEPOST=1401810683][/DOUBLEPOST]What is the procedure for seagate RMA?
I created a new user a/c on seagate site and unable to login...gives this error:-

Login Error
Your login attempt using single sign-on with an identity provider certificate has failed. Please contact your salesforce.com administrator for more information.


Can somebody try to login and confirm the same?


Is there another way to RMA?
 
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In my case I directly went o the Seagate service centre(Accel Frontline handles thier RMA stuff in India).I was given a tracking no. which you can track through an Accel app on your phone.Turn around time is 7 working days but in both cases I got the drives within 6 days or so.
 
Marcus Fenix said:
500 GB HDDs are still available in the market.If it were a 320 Gb then you could have got a 500 GB but I guess they will have 500 GB HDDs for replacement.
Click to expand...

Ok. I asked just coz many people do get 1tb even today for a 500gb exchange ...just a luck by chance scenario...
 
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