HDD on my laptop crapped out earlier. Just started clicking and not able to read or write. IIRC it is a WD Caviar Blue 500Gb, and only 9 months old or so.

I'm posting this using knoppix, luckily the wireless network i'm using has remembered the hardware. Can't see the disk anywhere so I'm guessing it's terminal. Fortunately I have a full backup from within the last two weeks. Rebuilding should be fairly straightforward, except I'll probably end up with an extra drive. I'll have to do this quite quickly and I can't wait to send a disk back to be replaced from the UK. I suppose it being under warranty will be my silver lining.

Oh and my washing machine packed in yesterday as well, and the tenants will be needing repair or replacement. I'm so putting the rent up later this year.

I have possibly lost a few photos taken since my last backup. I deleted them from the SD card after they were imported to the now failed HDD.

I haven't taken any new photos on that card, so I've been trying to dig them out using photorec from a knoppix live cd. Now I have found the files, Nikon NEFs and 9-11mb in size. Everything looking good so far, except they are 160px x120px in resolution.

Preferably I would be using something more familiar on Windows and have enough spare capacity on a drive to play around with. I may have to see if I can borrow someone's laptop.

I may be a little cheeky in replacing this HDD. I bought it in London last year and now I'm in Denmark and needing a replacement asap. I've found a local shop that sells what should be an identical drive but in an external housing.

Now I'm not going to rip them off by swapping the drives and then getting a refund. I'm tempted to buy the drive and swap it, and then return it for a replacement. This way I'll have two identical drives, external and internal.

The only problem I should have is opening the housing without causing any damage. It looks like a snap-fit fitting, but I do have some suitable tools to prevent damage. I'm also assuming that the drives will be identical to what I currently have. I can't find any reliable information to confirm this 100%, but everything is pointing in that direction, i.e. size, capacity, rpm, cache and transfer rate.

Of course I'll be paying with penge (cash) in case WD check up on serial numbers when they receive it.

Can anyone see any flaws in my plans?

Yes, it's called fraud and it's a criminal enterprise?

You can get a new 500GB 2.5" drive over here for £60 new, cheaper second hand so I honestly don't think it's worth the risk. Surely there must be suppliers over there?

http://www.ebuyer.com/196784-wd-500gb-s ... wd5000bpvt

Mainly moral due to the fact that retailers are subject to consumer law and manufacturers are not, so generally the retailer loses out. Which is a small part of many reasons why retailers have large margins. Many smaller retailers have lower overheads, so make smaller margins, but haven't built situations like these into their calculations. The big question is do you think they can handle it?

Morally I would have no issues doing this. I would have been buying a drive from probably the largest electrical store in Denmark, and then having that drive replaced due to a 'fault'. The retailer would have been making profit from my sale, and that profit would more than likely exceed any cost of me 'transferring' a warranty claim. I've worked retail so I know how it all works.

However the point is moot and it looks like I'll have to do it the 'correct and legal' way.

Everything in Denmark is hideous money. Just when you thought the UK was expensive. And from what I saw of Copenhagen (over three weeks) their level of tech in the shops wasn't much above PC World. But, I'd argue their margins are larger than in the UK

Fona?

I found a 500Gb drive for £64 but decided on a 640Gb for £79, from computersalg.dk.

Thanks for the reminder though, I still have to get the knackered 500Gb drive replaced under warranty.