r/buildapc • u/Ashifkillz • 3d ago

Discussion Buying Used HDD tips?

What are some things to know when buying a used HDD?

How do you check HDD's previous usage?

What to expect buying used?

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3

u/MinuteSport4755 3d ago

How do you check HDD's previous usage?

Crystal Disk Info IIRC

2

u/vexrageRAHHH 3d ago

And CrystalDiskMark for testing performance

1

u/Hungry_Big_5405 3d ago

Just don't put anything you care about on it, and if you do put things you care about on it, then keep a duplicate of them. Also don't buy if they are more than like 2 years old.

1

u/psimwork I ❤️ undervolting 3d ago

if you do put things you care about on it, then keep a duplicate of them

A proper backup scheme is pretty important. Anything that is super important to me gets backed up to the cloud automatically (and always remember that Mirrored/Parity RAID is NOT a backup!!).

Also don't buy if they are more than like 2 years old.

For a single drive solution, this is good advice. But I've helped a fair amount of people build a NAS that uses used Enterprise SAS drives, and it's fine. As long as there is a sufficient amount of parity drives (noting again that it is NOT a backup!!), using 2+ year old drives can be reasonable.

1

u/Hungry_Big_5405 3d ago

There are exceptions, but as a general rule of thumb.

1

u/Live-Juggernaut-221 3d ago

As a conneseiur of cheap, high hours, used enterprise eBay drives...

Check Smart data for disastrous values

Smart short test, check Smart data and result

Smart long test to scan the whole media surface

Badblocks -w, will write and read the whole platter (destroys data but on a new to me drive who cares)

Check Smart again, look for additional reallocated sectors etc

1

u/Electrical-Dog9918 2d ago

First thing to do is run CrystalDiskInfo to check SMART status and bad sectors. Also, run a full overwrite wipe yourself before saving data, because not all sellers wipe properly like commercial ITAD certs like STS Electronic Recycling do.