Re: [tlug] Hard drive failure

["Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon" <ronfaxon@example.com>]

aitux@example.com wrote:

> Hello, I would like to ask if someone knows a place in Tokyo maybe in akihabara,
> where I can take my hard drive and attempt to recover the data

First, I'm afraid I don't have any information on how to recover the 
data, but I would like to ask you the manufacturer, model and 
manufacturing date of the hard drive.  From what I've seen so far, there 
are sometimes bad batches - one I read about was with Fujitsu drives due 
to a faulty Conexant (I think... or was it another company...) chip on 
the hard drive circuit board; another was the infamous IBM problem 
(fixed later) where the heads would stick to drive while it was stopped, 
destroying it when it started up again.  I personally had a suddenly 
failure with a Seagate drive (the information posted on my page here: 
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PDF/PDF_History/PH_01/SeagateHDD.html 
(but wait until after 16:00 today if you want to see it - the server is 
down for an upgrade until then).  The construction of the Seagate was 
shockingly bad - with the circuit board only connected via touch pads, 
with no proper connection - great for the assembly line and very bad 
over time for the user!

So - as a consumer of used computers, I (and others in similar boats) 
would like to know what to possibly avoid in the future!

About Dell also sending a new mother board to put in - I bought a used 
Dell GX-150 that died (mother board problem) 35 days after I bought it 
(with a 30-day warranty! - Did it have a timer in it?), which is the 
only Dell desktop I've had that out and out died on my like that.  It's 
also the first Dell desktop I've used with that bloody clam shell design 
that looks clever, but causes the wiring to be pushed and pulled every 
time it's opened and shut.  Much better was the old OptiPlex design 
where you can lift off the cover and everything is sitting there in the 
open, unmolested by bad design - which also allows for space for an 
extra hard drive, even in a model that only came from the factory with 
one (by using new cables).  I'm wondering... has Dell degenerated into 
designs that are hard to work on and more prone to failure?

Lyle