Seagate "Repaired" HDD has less sectors

[anupam_luv]

Last week I sent my 500 GB Seagate HDD for RMA, for which I got a "Certified Repaired" HDD Model ST3500418AS ...

After a 2-3 days of usage I found that the size of HDD is somewhat less than it should ....

I checked the total sectors in my HDD using Paragon Partition Manager = 976764911
But on Seagate site it states that it should be = 976773168

I also checked the total size of HDD (in bytes) its also less than it should be...


I ,
1. Deleted And Formatted
2. Ran chkdsk
3. Ran Seatools
4. Ran HDD Regenerator

But everythng went smooth and positive w/o any problems... Now its for a HDD with less space/sectors , now my ques is, Is it possible tht seagate may send a repaired hdd with less sectors as compared to it new hdd of same model??? Has anyone checked for it after getting a repaired HDD....

 

[blackmancer]

you'd be best directing this at Seagate themselves. dont know how their customer service is. though it does seem odd. i've never really checked sector size on seagate rma's but i definitely remember getting LARGER capacities from seagate rma's - sent 80G got 120G, 200G turned into 250G. this is over quite a few rma's though (place i was working at)

 

[anupam_luv]

I already contacted them n their reply was

Thank you for contacting Seagate.

I am sorry to say, we don't provide any guarantee about number of sectors.
We only provide assurances that the drive has 500GB usable capacity.

Our "Certificate repaired" hdd is repaired and tested to meet Seagate specifications.
But if you had any worry about health of our hdd, you can check it with Seatools.
Here is the down load link.

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=seatooldreg&vgnextoid=480bd20cacdec010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

And Seatools hv passed all the tests....

 

[RetiredChief]

lets see diff: 73168 - 64911 = 8257 x 1/2 = 4129 Kb (4.1 Megs out of 500 Giggs = 0.08%)

My guess, it's just a firmware issue (they do have different versions for the same HDD). A HDD has (a) what you see as size (available) PLUS x amount that is hidden. This hidden space is used to remap bad sectors so that your space is not decreased as bad sectors are found. Almost all HDDs have bad sectors that have been remapped - Even brand new HDDs. Differnt firmware might have a slightly different ratio of "available" vs "Hidden" - My best Guess.

2nd Quess - the drive you recieved has already map all availble bad sectors to the Hidden space and had to "borrow" some frome the Available. So the ratio was changed. Less Likely, but would be a good Idea to keep an eye on and if you start showing "bad" sectors over time then this becomes a good possibility.

 

[anupam_luv]

I also created a releated thread for the same drive here
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261842-32-paragon-partition-manager-showing-partiton-invalid

With title "paragon partition manager showing partiton invalid" plz suggest smthg abt tht