My OCZ Vertex 2 Is Dead

[AimLXJ]

Date purchased: January 2, 2011

Date died: November 24, 2012

Place of purchase: Amazon

Model: OCZ Vertex 2 120GB

Firmware: 1.34

Noticeable things that occur before it died, note that it has been happening for ~1 week until it died:

-Some programs took a while to startup but the most noticeable one is BitDefender 2013

-Explorer.exe hangs for about 10-30 seconds when accessing folders

-Invisible icons at startup but after ~30 seconds they reappear

-Shortcuts were unable to locate programs but after ~30 seconds it finds it

Leaving my SSD disconnected for ~2 hours in hoping that will reset the whole thing and get it out of panic mode. Will report back after 2 hours..

[Hum]

I've read a lot of warnings about OCZ ssd's -- R.I.P.

[Detection]

You sure its not just Windows that has died ?

[AimLXJ]

I've read a lot of warnings about OCZ ssd's -- R.I.P.

No kidding, I even took care of it by preventing lots of writes (according to the SSD life tool the health was at 100%) and unfortunately no backups of the SSD were made.

You sure its not just Windows that has died ?

Can Windows cause it to go into panic mode?

[dragon2611]

Might be worth checking the warranty period on them, I think it might be more than a year.

As long as you can find a copy of the receipt/order confirmation they seem to be pretty good at sorting an RMA.

The Repair/Replacement centre for Europe is in the Netherlands, Had a vertex 2E die in a machine we used at work took 2 days after shipping the faulty one to receive a replacement. Seems they shipped the replacement on the same day they received the faulty one.

[Detection]

Can Windows cause it to go into panic mode?

If something gets corrupted / malware infection / possibly even bad RAM, could cause Windows to start doing a whole range of weird stuff

I'd try reinstalling before giving up on the SSD, not saying that is definitely the problem but before blaming hardware I would always test software first

[AimLXJ]

If something gets corrupted / malware infection / possibly even bad RAM, could cause Windows to start doing a whole range of weird stuff

I'd try reinstalling before giving up on the SSD, not saying that is definitely the problem but before blaming hardware I would always test software first

Um, panic mode?

[Detection]

Um, panic mode?

Ah sorry, missed that in your OP, I haven't owned an SSD yet so never knew they had a panic mode

[Kane]

Contact OCZ and start the RMA process. The warranty on this series is 3 years afaik.

[AimLXJ]

Contact OCZ and start the RMA process. The warranty on this series is 3 years afaik.

Will do, I'm hoping that the next replacement won't have this issue or else I'll have to purchase a different brand.

[Fraud OS 11]

Unfortunate you didn't make backups. Long term reliability of some SSDs is a gamble. Can folks tell me which SSDs they have had good long-term experience with? How is people's Intel X25-M G2 doing?

[xendrome]

Leaving my SSD disconnected for ~2 hours in hoping that will reset the whole thing and get it out of panic mode. Will report back after 2 hours..

Not sure what that is going to accomplish?

Get a Crucial M4 TBH

[TruckWEB]

Well, I also have a Vertex 2 64Gb inside my Windows Desktop, no problem at the moment.... No problem with the Crucial M4 256Gb inside my Mac mini.

The problem with SSD is that when they fail, they fail QUICK.... No warning... They go from working fine to corrupting data and die....

[Kane]

Will do, I'm hoping that the next replacement won't have this issue or else I'll have to purchase a different brand.

I know that there has been people with issues with this series, but IMO I'd say you were just unlucky. I've got 2 Vertex 2E 60gb's in separate systems which I've had since 2010 that are working fine to this day (knock on wood haha).

[AimLXJ]

Not sure what that is going to accomplish?

Get a Crucial M4 TBH

I was told to do that :p and yea, planning on the Crucial if the SSD going to give me more problems

[hjf288]

My intel x25-m g2 has been running since 2009 and wear indicator is still in 90s

[mrp04]

Avoid OCZs, you hear nothing but bad things about them.

Also if it's in a desktop and you have a large enough HDD, I recommend to regularly make a system image onto the HDD. I have my computer set to automatically backup (differential) the whole SSD onto my 3TB HDD every morning at 5AM.

[xendrome]

I was told to do that :p and yea, planning on the Crucial if the SSD going to give me more problems

I don't believe the SSD knows any different from being off for 1 minute or 2 hours.

[LaP]

Unfortunate you didn't make backups. Long term reliability of some SSDs is a gamble. Can folks tell me which SSDs they have had good long-term experience with? How is people's Intel X25-M G2 doing?

I bought a Vertex 2 two years ago and it's still working. Cross fingers.

SSD or HDD one should always make a backup to an external HDD.

While HDD last for a longer period of time let's be honest often after 3-4 years they start making lot of noise while seeking. My 250GB WD Caviar is really noisy and has been for a good 2 years.

Personally i would try to re-install Windows. A slow installation can be caused by a lot of things other than the SSD or HDD.

[f0rk_b0mb]

snip

My Vertex 2 died not too long ago. I RMA'd it with OCZ and they gave me a brand spankin' new one. There is a 5 year warranty on it, so you are fine. Go here and create an RMA ticket.: http://www.ocztechno...pport/warranty/

They will send you a series of emails on where and how to mail it. The first one will be a conformation that they have your RMA, the second will be approval, and the 3rd will be shipping info. I got the 3rd email two days after it died so just be patient. Hope this helps! :) BTW: OCZ's support is awesome. They put my new drive on overnight shipping.

[AimLXJ]

My Vertex 2 died not too long ago. I RMA'd it with OCZ and they gave me a brand spankin' new one. There is a 5 year warranty on it, so you are fine. Go here and create an RMA ticket.: http://www.ocztechno...pport/warranty/

They will send you a series of emails on where and how to mail it. The first one will be a conformation that they have your RMA, the second will be approval, and the 3rd will be shipping info. I got the 3rd email two days after it died so just be patient. Hope this helps! :) BTW: OCZ's support is awesome. They put my new drive on overnight shipping.

How long did the process take from shipping to receiving?

[Jub]

Can folks tell me which SSDs they have had good long-term experience with? How is people's Intel X25-M G2 doing?

Mine's been spinning for - I think - about two and a half years now. I also have an OCZ Vertex 4. Lovely device, I say.

[xendrome]

Mine's been spinning for - I think - about two and a half years now. I also have an OCZ Vertex 4. Lovely device, I say.

Spinning?

[LaP]

Spinning?

Well technically since the earth is spinning the computer is spinning and the disk is spinning too.

[wydmex]

Experienced the same symptoms with my Vertex 3 a few months back. A secure wipe using the OCZ Bootable Linux Tools was enough to bring the drive back to full working order, but of course I lost everything. It took a few evenings to rebuild and re-install everything that I needed but eventually I was back up and running. In my case I didn't loose too much as the drive was solely hosting the OS and programs. Data is stored on a regular HDD.