I bought a Seagate Barracuda 8TB hard drive from a trusted retailer. During the first file transfer, the speed dropped to 0 and never recovered. CrystalDiskInfo immediately reported a Caution status with a Reallocated Sectors Count value of 463. The drive shows 0 power-on hours, and Seagate's warranty lookup confirms that the serial number is genuine and covered until 2028. Are reallocated sectors ever acceptable on a new drive, or should I return it, request a replacement, or pursue an RMA?
2 Answers
Return it. A brand-new drive should not already have a large number of reallocated sectors, especially alongside a file transfer that stalls completely. Don’t rely on it for any data, and replace or refund it rather than trying to repair it.
The drive may have been sold as new, but those readings strongly suggest it is defective or possibly not truly unused. Even if the power-on-hours counter says zero and the warranty is valid, that does not make the drive healthy. Ask the retailer for a return or replacement first, and use the manufacturer’s RMA process if necessary.
I was unsure because I had read that reallocated sectors are not always an immediate disaster. Since this is a new drive and the count is already 463, I’ll return it instead of keeping it.