it's an IBM DeskStar. I'm not sure extactly what's wrong with it. sometimes it reads/writes fine, but more often it seems to just "stall".

According to the manufacturers web site, scratches on the drive will void the warranty. The drive I'm sending back has thin scratches along the sides from inserting/removing the drive a few times. you wouldn't even notice the scratches if they hadn't painted the drive black. anyway, to what extent are they talking about? how can they void a warranty based on normal tiny cosmetic scratches caused by installation?

my other question is what do they do with the drives when they get them? I'm sure they'll run a diagnostic test, but do they chuck 'em, repair 'em or what? how can I ensure data on the drive is completely unrecoverable for the next consumer, assuming the drive is repaired? The disk as it is now only has a few accessible files but in the past had scads of sensitive data (credit cards, etc.).

Philip
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Limecat is not pleased.