Laptop dropped down stairs while switched on

[sorcerer]

Got a laptop in that was dropped down a flight of stairs - customer was trying to walk and work at the same time

Anyway it appears to be working but just running slowly. I'm getting better at interpreting test results but just want a second opinion because, although it's testing alright, I know it was dropped and I don't trust my own judgement here. The drive completed a GSmartControl extended test with no errors and below are the results of other tests I've run on it. All tests were run in Safe Mode and I kept my hands away from the mouse pad, so the dips in the HDTune graph are nothing to do with me. Would you be happy to say that this drive is OK?

 

[altrenda]

Why would you not replace the hard drive, just to be safe? What if it tests OK and a week later takes another, small jolt and craps out?

Why not take the opportunity to upgrade him to an SSD, he gets better performance and some peace of mind.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

"You never know". You can't tell for sure either. Could run for years problem free. Could die tomorrow. Could die next week. Could die 9 months from now.

If it's important to the client, have them spend 250 and have you clone it over to a new one. Never know what else might die on the laptop either.

....I recall years ago doing a wiring job with my Thinkpad T...40 probably back then, up on a ladder...my laptop was running. I used to never screw in the hard drive caddy on the laptop, as I used to swap out drives all the time 'tween Winders and OpenSUSE if I wasn't dual booting. Guess cuz I just had small drives back then. Anyways...6 foot ladder, cement basement in some old mansion, up top, laptop running.."knock"....she went down, hit the floor...hard drive shot out and went skipping across the floor like a hockey puck shot towards a goal! Screen showing a nice blue screen.

I picked up the drive, slammed it into the Thinkpad, booted her up, checkdisk kicked in...finished, did another reboot..settled in fine, ran fine for another year or so.

 

[Matthew Bradley]

From my experience, testing from within Windows is never conclusive in determining a failing drive. Try copying the drive - 100%, not just the data - to another drive and see how it goes. I've also had drives which would read perfectly fine but would fail writing to certain parts of the drive. I'd take the advice above and just replace it. The worse thing that could happen is you giving it a clean bill of health back to the customer to only fail a week later. Who do you think the customer will be upset with at that point? Himself or you?

 

[sorcerer]

As always, I appreciate the input folks so yes, I'll take your advice and tell him it needs a new drive. Thanks very much

 

[jbartlett323]

Does the machine have a freefall sensor? If yes, and many (even lower end) machines today do, then odds are it parked itself before it hit, mitigating the worst damage.

I can't ever bring myself to tell somebody the drive is failing when I can't prove its failing. There are times it will pass all SMART tests, sure, but then you do the other tests and it bombs. There dead, but no errors. But if it ain't failing, it ain't failing. The customers money would be better spent setting up backup in case it does fail than the replacing a part that is showing no signs of failure. No reason to replace the taillights just because a deer jumped out in front of you....

If you want to be sure though, I definitely recommend running a full MHDD (or equivelent) scan on every sector.

 

[ohio_grad_06]

As cheap as they are these days, might as well tell him to go for an SSD.

 

[altrenda]

I can't ever bring myself to tell somebody the drive is failing when I can't prove its failing. There are times it will pass all SMART tests, sure, but then you do the other tests and it bombs. There dead, but no errors. But if it ain't failing, it ain't failing. The customers money would be better spent setting up backup in case it does fail than the replacing a part that is showing no signs of failure. .

Hard drives are the single most important part of a computer, yet the most unpredictable and unreliable.

I consider them to be like brakes or tires on a car. They are designed to wear out and are better off replaced too early rather than too late.

Backups aren't an either/ or , everyone should already have one, so that shouldn't be part of the equation. If they don't have one, this should scare them into it.

This thing took a ride down a stairway; if it was my computer or my customers, I'd replace it.

 

[Larry Sabo]

The drive completed a GSmartControl extended test with no errors and below are the results of other tests I've run on it.

Given that the drive was dropped while running, did you image the drive with ddrescue before running those tests? That would have been prudent, as I would expect there to be head/platter damage and wouldn't want to run the risk of killing the drive/destroying the data by running the drive or testing it so extensvely.

If it were mine and had valuable data on it, I'd even consider opening it in a clean chamber and examining the heads for damage. I don't know how valuable the data is to the customer, nor how much data recovery places would normally charge to open in on a laminar flow bench and examine the heads, but if the data were worth more than a few hundred dollars, it might have been worth pursuing. Tell your customer to buy more lottery tickets. He/she's one lucky dude!

 

[Moltuae]

As cheap as they are these days, might as well tell him to go for an SSD.

^^^ This.

I find customers are happier to part with their money for an upgrade rather than a simple repair, especially when that upgrade brings a very noticeable improvement.

Tell him that the bad news is that he needs a new drive and the good news is that it can be replaced with an SSD, then explain the potential benefits of an SSD upgrade: Much faster, silent operation, cooler running, lower power (=longer battery life) and, more relevantly, .... they're much more shock/drop resistant!

 

[ohio_grad_06]

Yep, and no moving parts, so less to break hopefully.

 

[ArtemusComputerTechnology]

Yes, i would go with replacing the HD just to be on the safe side and tell the customer to be careful. Could of been the customer rolling down a flight of stairs.

 

[sorcerer]

Sorry guys, for some reason TN hasn't been emailing me when someone adds to the thread so I've only just seen the last 7 replies!

So, just very quickly - I've no idea how to use 'MHDD' and the learning curve looks for too steep for now; yes, I imaged the drive the moment I got the machine; and he decided to go with an SSD

Thanks again folks.

 

[sapphirescales]

All you have to ask yourself is this. If this was your laptop, would you feel comfortable continuing to use it? I know I wouldn't. I'd replace that sucker with an SSD just to be safe. Frankly even if I hadn't dropped it I'd still replaced the HDD with an SDD. I'd rather be safe than sorry. Just tell him that your tests show things are okay, but if it was your laptop you'd replace the HDD. Make it clear that the HDD can die at any time and he might not get any warning. Clients hate the thought of uncertainty and not being able to trust that their laptop will work the next time they turn it on. If he can afford it, he'll do it. It's as simple as that.

 

[sorcerer]

Thanks sapphirescales, I appreciate that you took the time to reply but you perhaps missed the last bit of the sentence where I said "and he decided to go with an SSD". The job is finished, he's got his laptop back with a nice new SSD in it and he's happy as Larry that it's now so fast.

Thanks again though - every bit of help is very much appreciated