Windows 7: Hard Drive Failing, Start-up Repair corrupted it more?

Sometimes the OEM Tech Support will allow you to RMA only the bad part for replacement, especially if they walk you through testing to determine it's bad. I don't know how Costco's Support provider handles this, but you might ask for a supervisor to discuss how you've already determined with certainty the drive's bad.

I would also try booting the HD Diagnostic extended CD scan to see if it's reparable, although I'd never trust the HD again so it's more a formality.

Now might be the time to shop for an SSD which is the one hardware upgrade that can greatly increase performance and speed. You might do this at the same time you're RMA'ing the HD you're owed to use as secondary storage when it arrives.



Whichever you decide you'll find everything you need here to get a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

Greg - thanks again for the feedback, but it won't boot with the HD in the bay, so I can't run the Hitachi diagnostics. If i boot the diagnostics disk, it doesn't see the HD when i connect it via USB (even when i boot it that way).

I'm now waiting for a box to ship it back to Costco's service center, where I assume they will replace the HD.

Let us know how that Costco Support supplier works out for you.

Greg - so far, Costco Concierge has been very helpful. Their repair center is called "Micromedics" based in the Chicago area. They sent a shipping box with return shipping label (UPS) to my house, provided explicit, easily-followed instructions, etc. The computer arrived in Chicago two days ago. Costco called to let me know it had arrived (i was already tracking it) and will call every couple of days with status updates - I should receive a call today. We'll see how this ultimately plays out, but the process has been as good as one could hope on the "front end" so far!

I received the computer back last Thursday, May 3rd. Costco contracts the repairs to Micromedics in Chicago. The computer was received by Micromedics on 4/9/12. They replaced the hard drive and reinstalled Windows 7. The computer was returned in good condition, reasonably well packed in a box designed for laptops. I would not characterize the turnaround as "fast" by any means. Costo concierge service called 2 or 3 times a week with updates; the majority of the hold-up was supposedly Micromedics waiting for the hard drive. Costco mentioned something about drive shortages and I said that I could have just walked into Best Buy and purchased a replacement right off the shelf. Costco wasn't sure if they were trying to get the exact hard disk model (it was a Hitachi) but in the end, it came back with a Western Digital drive installed.

Having Costco concierge in the loop was helpful; Micromedics has a customer log in that you can use to check status, but it never contained new information until the repair was finished, so I would have had no idea of the status for 3 weeks without Costco.

I had mentioned to Costco that it seemed to be running hot, and they said they'd convey that to have Micromedics check that as well, but there was nothing to tell me whether they did.

How is performance? Check heat by installing CoreTemp which easily can be configured to show in system tray at boot.

Did they run factory recovery so that you need to Clean Up Factory Bloatware ?

Thanks for reporting back. Keep us posted.