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[jmone]

FYI - I had a WD 1TB (WD10EACS) do odd things when it got full and it failed the diag tests  but when trying to RA it back to WDC the serial number "was not found".  I've just had it reconfirmed by WD (after sending them a photo of it) that the drive is a counterfeit!  I'm not sure who I purchased it off (I've got 5 of them all purchased a different time from different shops) but instead of trying to chase them down, does anyone know of a low level utility to work out what I've really got (eg a presume it is a lower cap drive of some brand)?
Thanks
Nathan

[benn600]

Spin Rite.

[jmone]

Thanks but it costs more than the drive!

[Alex B]

Do all five drives look similar?

1 TB drives are a relatively new thing. You should be able to find out which of the few available designs it is.

In general it is odd that someone would create and distribute a fake drive if it is one of the standard bulk models. The price differences from one brand to another are not big.

I assume that it would not be possible to run a pirate factory that could produce fake high tech drives cheaper than the big hard drive manufacturers.

BTW, have you simply checked what Windows reports in Control Panel > System > Device Manager > Disk Drives ?

[jmone]

Yup - it all reports as a real 1TB WD drive in Vista, and I'm guessing it is a re-labeled lower capacity drive - eg like with couterfeit USB Thumbdrives they report as being a higher capacity than they are and you only find out issues when you start to fill them up.

[Matt]

Like Alex, I would guess it would be impossible to make hard drives for much less money than the main brands.  However, maybe somebody buys refurbs, gray-market or factory rejects and sells them as new?  I know with cameras it's common to be able to buy an imported version cheaper that has no warranty.

The good news is the D version (instead of C) of the 1 TB drive is out now, and looks to be better all around.

Not so long ago it was a real stretch, technically and financially, to store music in a lossless format.  Now, with those drives, it's about $0.03 / CD and each drive holds thousands of albums!