Seagate hard drive failure in HP PC from Staples

Mandapanda_2

Hi

I have a PC which is still in warranty (until March). One day it just would not boot up. In the settings the hard drive wasn no longer recognised. I followed the HP instructions on their website and have communicated with HP.

I have also found out there is a known problem with this particular hard drive - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11. Apparently the hard drive is locked but the data is still on it, it is a firmware issue. Seagate released updated firmware for this hard drive but like many others we didn't know about this and it will not solve the problem we now have. Seagate will apparently do free data recovery due to this problem.

If I send the PC to HP, they will immediately format the hard drive due to their 'data privacy policy'. Seagate say we have to deal with the OEM not them.

Whilst the information on the drive is nothing really important or valuable, it is important to my son who has Asperger's Syndrome. I do feel that if there is a way of recoverying the data then we should be able to access it. Anyone got any ideas or know the legal position on this?

neilmcl

Well if Seagate will do a free data recovery service then ship the hard drive over to them.

Mandapanda_2

Hi

As I say in my post: Seagate say we have to deal with the OEM not them. HP won't take delivery of the hard drive and send it to Seagate, HP will immediately format the drive. It's catch 22.

gordikin

Restore your backup files. You did backup?

Mandapanda_2

No we didn't have backups, that's why I need to ask this question!

neilmcl

Mandapanda wrote: »

Hi

As I say in my post: Seagate say we have to deal with the OEM not them. HP won't take delivery of the hard drive and send it to Seagate, HP will immediately format the drive. It's catch 22.

How have you tried to contact them? Try filling out a data recovery request mentioning the firmware bug.

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-gb/about/contact_us/

Have you followed the instructions here http://techreport.com/discussions.x/16246

Mandapanda_2

Yes I have done the above, including explaining the issue to Seagate and about HP not being willing to pass the drive on to them. They just said I have to deal with the OEM (HP), because the hard drive came in a PC from them.

Esqui

They can't be, and aren't, responsible for your data - which is down to you to keep backups of. If you haven't, that is your own responsibility.

neilmcl

Mandapanda wrote: »

Yes I have done the above, including explaining the issue to Seagate and about HP not being willing to pass the drive on to them. They just said I have to deal with the OEM (HP), because the hard drive came in a PC from them.

I would have been tempted not to mention anything about it being an OEM drive in the first place. Can you tell from the drive that it is OEM or not?

Mandapanda_2

"Seagate has isolated a potential firmware issue in certain products, including some Barracuda 7200.11 hard drives and related drive families based on this product platform, manufactured through December 2008. In some circumstances, the data on the hard drives may become inaccessible to the user when the host system is powered on.
Customers can expedite assistance by sending an email to Seagate (discsupport@seagate.com). Please include the following disk drive information: model number, serial number and current firmware revision. We will respond, promptly, to your email request with appropriate instructions. There is no data loss associated with this issue, and the data still resides on the drive. But if you are unable to access your data due to this issue, Seagate will provide free data recovery services."

I know we should have kept backups (I'm not the first and I certainly won't be the last person not to back up!). Seagate know there is this problem and offer free data recovery. Therefore my point is I should be able to access this service.

Seagate can tell from the hard drive serial no etc that it is an OEM item.

gordikin

Given you have no backup files there is always the option of paying a 3rd party to recover your data..which will be expensive.