Data Recovery News

‘Critical’ flaw with China-made HDDs?
By Tony Smith → More by this author
Published Tuesday 30th October 2007 11:52 GMT

Updated Data recovery company Retrodata has challenged Apple to come clean about what it claims is a “critical manufacturing flaw” affecting some hard drives used in MacBook laptops and desktops like the Mac Mini - an issue that could result in data loss.

According to Retrodata, its customers have sent in a much higher number of failed Seagate 2.5in SATA drives made in China and loaded with firmware version 7.01 than of any other current hard drive model.

Learn more at http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/30/apple_seagate_drive_warning/

By Tom Jowitt, Techworld

A UK data recovery organisation has warned Apple Macbook users that they risk potential data loss due to a design flaw on certain hard drives.

The problem is found on the Seagate 2.5-inch SATA drives that are made in China and are loaded with firmware version 7.01. Model numbers affected include ST96812AS and ST98823AS.

Find out more at techworld

betanews.com - Last November, we reported on Fujitsu’s efforts to overcome a curious problem with the physics of hard disk drives: storing magnetic data at densities that are smaller than the grains of the underlying ferromagnetic medium should physically allow. The company’s solution involved a combination of lasers to locate precise locations on the drive, and also to pre-heat data spots to make them more conducive to holding data at precise locations.

Find out more at Fujitsu working on new hard drive technology

19 July 2007

By Chris Mellor, Techworld

Scientists have discovered that “avalanche” effects in spinning magnetic fields can cause data loss in disk drives - and are working on changes to recording layer chemistry that should give us more reliable storage.

Read more at Disk data loss caused by magnetic avalanches

The impact of heavy use and high temperatures on hard disk drive failure may be overstated, says a report by three Google engineers.

Find out more at Hard disk test surprises Google

Sunnyvale, CA, July 2, 2007 — Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc., one of the world’s leading suppliers of innovative computer products including hard disk drives, peripherals and biometric security solutions, today launched its new travel-ready and world’s highest capacity 2.5” External Hard Disk Drive (HDD) for the U.S. market.

Read more at Fujitsu - Highest capacity 2.5″ External HDD

12 July 2007

David Berlind

Samsung is one of a handful of hard drive manufacturers left in the world and it was showing off three new offerings (some not even in the market yet). Going from biggest to smallest (the same order I follow in the above video coverage of the drives), Samsung is now out with a $399 1 terabyte hard drive.
Samsung’s latest hard drive offerings

Comment: Contents of article do not reflect our views. But we thought there was some interest value in this!  

Robin Harris
10 Jul 2007

Vendors and large users won’t tell us who makes the best hard drives. So I decided to figure it for myself. Surprising findings: Over all quality is up. Western Digital is doing much better. Seagate/Maxtor has work to do.

Read more at Who makes the best hard drives?

Robin Harris
July 5th, 2007

What is the primary determinant of drive life? I’ve read the latest research and talked to insiders. There are so many variables that the best answer is just . . . luck. Why is that? Is there anything you can do?

Read this article at Disk drive life depends on… luck

By Eric Auchard, Reuters
June 29, 2007

Western Digital Corp. has agreed to buy component maker Komag Inc., in the latest move to consolidate the disk drive industry, for about $1 billion in cash, the companies said on Thursday.
 
Read more at eweek.com: Western buys Komag