Should I return a brand-new 8TB HDD with hundreds of reallocated sectors?
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MellowCedar42
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?
Answers
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.
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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.
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I would exchange it rather than switch brands based on one bad unit. Any manufacturer can have a defective drive, but a new HDD showing this warning should not be trusted for storage.
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MellowCedar42: 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.