|
|
Returning a Defective Hard Drive to the ManufacturerContact Us
The following article is based on years of experience. It is provided as a free service to our customers and visitors. However, AA Computer is not responsible for any damage as a result of following any of this advice.
Copying the contents for commercial purposes is strictly prohibited without AA Computer written consent. However, you are welcome to distribute these computer support tips free to your friends and associates as long as it's not for commercial purposes and you acknowledge the source. You are permitted and encouraged to create links to this page from your own web site.
Hard drives are one of the most failure prone components in a computer, but luckily, most carry a good warranty. Directron provides a one-year warranty from the purchase date on all hard drives they sell; other retailers have similar policies. The drive manufacturer's warranty often extends for quite a bit longer than the retailer's warranty. Some manufacturers offer warranties of up to five years after the date of purchase.
If your drive fails, you should first check to see if you can return it to the retailer you purchased it from. You can do this by visiting the retailer's website and finding their warranty policy. Directron's warranty policy can be found here. The warranty policy should tell you how long the warranty on your drive lasts, and how you can go about returning your drive. If your drive is no longer under warranty by the retailer, you can attempt to return it to the manufacturer. This guide will help you do so.
Returning hard drives to the manufacturer is actually a fairly easy task. Most manufacturers have helpful websites that allow you to easily request a return merchandise authorization (RMA). Before you RMA your drive, you should back up your data if the drive is still accessible. Some methods for temporarily reviving a failed hard drive to recover data can be found here. If still inaccessible, the only way to recover your data is to let a data-recovery service do so for you. The manufacturer will not attempt recover your data.
Below are instructions for returning drives to the common manufacturers. Click on a name to jump to the instructions for that manufacturer:
Seagate
Western Digital
IBM
Hitachi
Maxtor
Samsung
|
|