[turkeytrot]

I bought a replacement hard drive for my laptop. It was described as "new - without box" on Ebay. The first power up gave a message that the drive had been wiped by Activ@ KillDisk two months earlier. Should I be suspicuous that the drive is actually used? Or, is wiping a new drive part of the usual preparation for delivery?

 

[Advertisements]

sounds used to me. if it were "new" it wouldn't need to be "wiped" as there would be nothing on it to wipe

[dsenette]

sounds used to me. if it were "new" it wouldn't need to be "wiped" as there would be nothing on it to wipe

[Kemasa]

I seriously doubt that any manufacturer would wipe the disk that way.

 

Was it sealed in a bag?

 

It sounds used to me.

[terry1966]

 

It sounds used to me.

+1

 

run a smart test on it, :- https://en.wikipedia.../wiki/S.M.A.R.T.

 

this should then provide you with info stored on the drive, like how many times it's been powered up, how many hrs it's been used, any errors etc. etc.

 

[turkeytrot]

Thank you for the suggestions. I did find an app called CrystalDisk and checked the "new" drive. It turns out to be almost new, 300 starts, no errors, just a few hundred hours of use.

For the price ( $33 U.S. ) I'm happy.

I mentioned the "mild use" in my feedback for the Ebay seller.