this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2025
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Yes, tip number 1: never buy an used HDD
Tip number 2: check smart if there are relocated sectors return it
Tip number 3: run badblocks on the drive, (-w mode) and if there are no errors then check smart again, if there are errors or relocated sectors return the drive
Good luck!
That's not a good tip.
It's the best tip, buying an used HDD is asking for trouble
What kind of HDD? for what purpose? For what budget?
"Don't buy used" is a dumb tip because it means nothing and addresses nothing.
I use a WD Enterprise HDD from 2012. I bought it used. It passes all tests with flying colours, zero issues so far... it keeps a mirror of my backup. It's not my main backup, it's a copy of a copy. Guess what? I paid an extremely low price for it as a student on a budget, yet it was already proven useful many times both for the backups but also to keep my torrents seeding for longer, and it if does indeed fail... no biggie, not even my backup is compromised.
There are excellent refurbished HDDs too. Either way, "don't buy used" is the kind of blanket statement somebody cosplaying as a infosec home lab data specialist comments on Lemmy, but means absolutely nothing and offers no useful advice.
I've never cosplayed as an "infosec home lab data specialist", but I've had many bad personal experiences with used harddrives, drives that were working perfectly fine but failed after few months from several sources.
And that anecdote somehow means "never buy used drives, no matter what variables are at play"
Incorrect again.
Your tip 1 isn't good for all situations. I have a 4 drive RAID 10 setup I have zero issues putting a used drive in after I test and inspect. Used doesn't mean trash, it's all situational.
Also, backup backup backup.
And "used" could be used wrong here, I typically use serverpartdeals and get 20TB+ drive sizes, refurbished. They come with a 5 year warranty and will get them replaced if there are issues.
Well, that's good to know, I've always avoided those drives and tend to pay extra for smaller drives so I can get them new.
Why shouldn't one? Because SSDs are more reliable or what?
Because there's a rather high likelihood that the HDD has been mistreated and will fail soon, it's a gamble. Or at least I've had bad experiences with used hard drives personally.
If you the seller has warranty and you don't mind the hassle of shipping back and possibly paying for the return shipping and pray that everything goes smoothly and you actually get the money back or a working replacement then it can be a good option, I personally rather not go through all that stress.