Hard Drive Class
Action Settlement and HP Recalls
By Ira Wilsker
 According to
a recent press release, about one million users of Western Digital hard drives,
both internal and external, may be the beneficiaries of a class action
settlement. Apparently, according to the settlement, Western Digital did not
include an adequate disclaimer on its packages that it uses a different method
of measuring hard drive capacity than some of its competitors and industry
standards. The method used by Western Digital yielded about seven percent less
usable storage capacity than what many users expected.
Many software companies, such as Apple and
Microsoft, measure capacity in binary terms, meaning that a gigabyte is 1.07
billion bytes. Western Digital, as well as some other hard drive companies, uses
a decimal system, such that a gigabyte is exactly one billion bytes, a
difference of seven percent. Because of the difference in nomenclature and
identification, a Western Digital hard drive (as well as some other brands)
installed on a Windows computer, will appear to have less capacity than listed
on the hard drive box.
 This
seven percent shortfall can be significant in terms of amount of data that can
be stored, as explained in the lawsuit. In the lawsuit an 80GB Western Digital
hard drive referenced had an actual capacity of 74.4 GB, as measured by
Windows. This shortfall on that particular drive was enough to store about 80
hours of digital music, or 5600 typical digital photos.
Another issue was the wording on the hard
drive package, which did not clearly indicate that the listed storage capacity
of the hard drive might not be fully accessible. It is a fact that partitioning
and formatting a hard drive consumes some of its capacity, and this was not made
adequately clear to purchasers of Western Digital hard drives. As a part of the
settlement, Western Digital will be required to start including this as a
disclaimer on future hard drives.
Hard drives included in this settlement were
purchased from March 22, 2001 to February 15, 2006. Owners of these hard drives
upon confirmation of eligibility will receive a free download of a full featured
hard drive backup and restore utility, capable of full and incremental backups,
as well as other features. It is projected this software will have a retail
value of about $30. The deadline for applying for the settlement is July 15,
2006.
Full details of the settlement, along with a
link to claim the software, are online at
www.wdc.com/settlement. If the
serial number of the hard drive is known, or can be easily determined, the claim
can be filed online at
www.wdc.com/settlement/verify.asp. For those who have installed a Western
Digital hard drive, a free utility, “Data Lifeguard Diagnostics” is available
for download at
support.wdc.com/download/index.asp that will display the serial number. If
the hard drive is no longer owned, or has otherwise been disposed of, a claim
form available at
www.wdc.com/settlement/docs/claimform.pdf can be printed and mailed,
but must be received by July 15.
 In another area, the
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Hewlett-Packard (HP) recently
recalled over 15,000 HP and Compaq Notebook Computer Batteries. These batteries
were installed in HP Pavilion, HP-Compaq, and Compaq Presario computers, or sold
as aftermarket and replacement batteries, and have a prefix of “L3” on the
serial number of the battery. This is the second recall on HP computer
batteries. A full list of the computer models affected that may have the
recalled batteries from both recalls is online at
bpr.hpordercenter.com/ebpr/landingpage.aspx. The batteries will be replaced
at no charge by calling HP at (888) 202-4320.
 In still
another recall involving HP branded products, the CPSC and HP recently recalled
679,000 HP Photosmart R707 Digital Cameras sold between August 2004, and April
2006. According to the CPSC, “The digital camera can cause certain
non-rechargeable batteries, such as the Duracell CP-1, to overheat when the
camera is connected to an AC adapter or docking station, posing a fire hazard. …
HP has received one report of a camera catching fire, damaging the camera and
its docking station, and causing minor smoke damage to the room. No injuries
have been reported.” HP has information available on the recalled cameras at
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/recall_r707.html, or by calling HP
toll-free at (866) 304-7117. The fix for this problem is a software update for
the camera, which can be downloaded for free from HP. The CPSC and HP asks that
consumers not use single-use, non-rechargeable batteries until the software in
the camera has been updated.
There have been other HP branded products
recalled, and information on those items is online at
www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/recalls.html.
 The CPSC has a variety of services available on its website at
www.cpsc.gov which consumers should
periodically reference. One useful item is a mailing list where recall notices
are sent via email as soon as they are announced. The CPSC also has a search
utility online to quickly and easily locate any recalled consumer items,
including computers and cameras, at
www.cpsc.gov/cgi-bin/recalldb/prod.asp.
WEBSITES:
http://www.wdc.com/settlement
http://www.wdc.com/settlement/verify.asp
http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp
http://www.wdc.com/settlement/docs/claimform.pdf
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml06/06145.html
http://bpr.hpordercenter.com/ebpr/landingpage.aspx
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml06/06176.html
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/recall_r707.html
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/recalls.html
http://www.cpsc.gov/cgi-bin/recalldb/prod.asp
http://www.cpsc.gov
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