5 Year Warranty on WD drives???

[Rockrz]

Anybody know where you can buy Western Digital hard drives (standard, not SSD) that have a full 5 year manufacturer's warranty?

Seems like everywhere I look now, all you see is these "OEM" versions that have a 2 year warranty.

I want to get one to keep on hand as a backup that I'll format so it'll be ready to go in case I ever have problems with the drives in either of my machines.

Just thought I'd get one that has the longest warranty possible if a 5 year warranty is even still available.

 

[kbrady1979]

Here

 

[Rockrz]

Thanks, but the ones I want (250 gig) only has a two year warranty
Newegg.com - Western Digital WD Blue WD2500AAKX 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

I used to be able to buy directly from Western Digital, but I guess
they don't do that bit anymore. Used to, when you buy from them
you always got a 5 year gig

 

[Britton30]

Unlikely you'll find any. A few months back all HDD makers severely reduced their warranty terms and durations. Only a few enterprise-class drives retain a 5 year warranty.

 

[Rockrz]

OK,didn't know that.

I found one at OutletPC.com - Western Digital WD2500AAKX 250GB Caviar Blue SATA3 6.0Gbps Hard Drive
that claims it's has a 3 year warranty.

Makes me wonder if it does or not.

 

[oboedad55]

The "Black" drives have a five year warranty and aren't much more expensive than the "Blue". I would warn you about the "Green" drives, as they are very slow, in my experience.

 

[Rockrz]

OK, thanks... I'll see if I can find a 250gig 7400rpm drive to use as a backup drive (which will probably sit in the closet since I rarely need a backup drive...just want one on hand)

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Here's one that has a five year warranty.

 

[Chilidawg]

I ordered this: WD Black WD3200BEKT 320GB Mobile Hard Drive - 2.5", SATA, 7200RPM, 16MB Cache

from Tiger Direct last night for my son's laptop. Per their ad, it has a 60 month warranty

 

[Rockrz]

Yeah, I just realized that I have 2 laptop sized drives in stock right now and I have two cases to put them in that makes then in to 3.5 drives, so I guess I'm good to go as far as back up drives are concerned.

Both of them are 320 gig drives which is the size I use for C drives.

 

[oboedad55]

WD Support / Warranty Services / End User / Worldwide Warranty Policy and Limitations

Enterprise Drives: WD Raptor, WD RE, WD RE2, WD RE2-GP, WD RE3, WD RE4, WD RE4-GP, WD VelociRaptor, WD RE SAS GD, SD, SB, YD, YR, YS, ADFD, ADFS, ABPS, AYPS, AYYS, ABYS, FYYS, FBYX, ABYX, FYPS, GLFS, BLFS, HLFS, HLHX, BLHX, FYYG 5-year 5-year
WD Black AAEX, AALS, FAEX, FAES, FALS, FASS, AALX, AZEX 5-year 5-year

 

[Rockrz]

But, does the 5 Year warranty cover "OEM" drives?

Seems like in the past few years, all you can buy is OEM drives and not retail boxed drives.

 

[oboedad55]

But, does the 5 Year warranty cover "OEM" drives?

Not sure. Why don't you send WD an email and ask?

 

[Rockrz]

But, does the 5 Year warranty cover "OEM" drives?

Not sure. Why don't you send WD an email and ask?

Cause... I've recently bought all the drives I need and it doesn't really matter at this point.

Just figured someone may have known off the top of their head since there's alot of folks here that are in the computer business and may know.

I thought of this when thinking of buying a back up drive... but I just remembered that I already have two spare 2.5 drives after upgrading a couple of new laptops with larger drives and I already have a couple of casings where you can use a 2.5 as though it were a 3.5... so I'm good for now.

 

[bigmck]

I thought of this when thinking of buying a back up drive... but I just remembered that I already have two spare 2.5 drives after upgrading a couple of new laptops with larger drives and I already have a couple of casings where you can use a 2.5 as though it were a 3.5... so I'm good for now.

If you are not sure of the number of HDD that you have, you have too many.

 

[Rockrz]

Nah, I've used Acronis extensively for years and I always like to have some good drives formatted and ready to go. I've learned it''s better to be backup happy and prepared

It's how The Fonz would computer... if they had PC back in the 50s!

 

[Phone Man]

But, does the 5 Year warranty cover "OEM" drives?

Seems like in the past few years, all you can buy is OEM drives and not retail boxed drives.

Yes. Some drives like the Blue the retail drive are 3 yrs and the OEM is 2 yrs. On the WD Warranty link from above the OEM drives (also call Bare Drives) are called Component Drives. All my drives are WD Black and were OEM-Bare Drives and when I registered them I got the full 5 years.

Jim

 

[Rockrz]

All my drives are WD Black and were OEM-Bare Drives and when I registered them I got the full 5 years.

Registered them? How do you do that?

I've warrantied a couple of drives out a few years back (different occasions) and they sent me new drives and all I needed was the serial number because they knew from that what was up concerning warranty on that drive.

Do they make you register them now? Is that somewhere on the WD website?

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I thought of this when thinking of buying a back up drive... but I just remembered that I already have two spare 2.5 drives after upgrading a couple of new laptops with larger drives and I already have a couple of casings where you can use a 2.5 as though it were a 3.5... so I'm good for now.

If you are not sure of the number of HDD that you have, you have too many.

I guess I don't have too many. I have 14 plus one being delivered today (and an SSd being delivered today). That doesn't include the four dead drives I hung onto for making up PSU cables.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

All my drives are WD Black and were OEM-Bare Drives and when I registered them I got the full 5 years.

Registered them? How do you do that?

I've warrantied a couple of drives out a few years back (different occasions) and they sent me new drives and all I needed was the serial number because they knew from that what was up concerning warranty on that drive.

Do they make you register them now? Is that somewhere on the WD website?

Yes (kinda sorta) and yes. Go here to register them. It doesn't take long. Just create an account, then type in the serial numbers of the drives. It's also a good idea to test the drives when you get them. WD has their own test utility here. Ignore that the page says it's for Green drives. The download button is down the page a bit and the utility is for all WD HDDs. I'm running a test on a new 2 TB HDD right now (takes 19-20 hours since I'm using a USB 2.0 dock) and have a 160 GB in transit that will get tested as soon as I get it. Besides running the utility, get your ear close to the drive to listen for any noises you shouldn't be hearing (such as faint clicking or grinding sounds).