Hi, I can tell my experience with Seagate. Same HDD - 1 Tb, 7200.11 version, SD15 firmware. After usage of two weeks, it failed. It was predetermined to fail. Because Seagate put that malfunctioning firmware, maybe also some other manufacturing faults. Now HDD spins, I hear clicking noise. But HDD is not recognized in BIOS. I contact Seagate, they are kind - provided with free UPS delivery. UPS man picked up my HDD, it was delivered for free to Canada data recovery centre. Now they look - HDD not only recognized in BIOS, but also some clicking noise. They say, no we are not recovering your data. If you want recovery, pay 2900 USD (!!!). The current their statement is: "we have been notified by Seagate Technology that your request for free data recovery was declined as your drive had not become inaccessible due to the firmware but rather a physical failure of the read/write heads." It seems Seagate wants to escape they responsibility for restoring data for corrupted firmware HDD. They think they will do only easy job. But there are also HDD which not only have corrupted firmware, but also have clicking sound. I am not sure how to convince Seagate that firmware is corrupt. According Seagate Internet site HDD serial number checking, firmware update is required (SD15 will become inaccessible in the future). HDD is not recognized in BIOS. What else evidence they need that firmware is corrupt? Should I contact the top people in Seagate? If someone else have experience with firmware & ckicking sound of Seagate HDD, please write here. Or to me: rimask at yahoo dot com