External Hard Drive Dying?

[Janice]

HIi all,

I have a 640GB Maxxtor external hard drive usb.

Suddenly it has started acting up.

When it is plugged in, it starts to power up, the green light comes on - then goes off and it powers down again.

I have googled and it seems I needed a new power supply (although I couldn't really understand how the power can be there a little bit then go!!)

So I got a new power supply for £12.95, plugged it in, and the same happened,.... power up, power down.

Its not that the information on it is really important as I have all my photos on my computer as well at the moment, but just wondering if I can save having to fork out on a new one as I can't afford it at the moment.

Anything inside that I might be able to sort out? I am quite adept at that sort of thing!!

 

[footman]

Maxtor drives are made by Seagate. They produce some excellent tools for testing hard drives. Worth a look.
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatools

 

[Janice]

Thanks for that... although I can't see how I can do diagnostics on it if there is no power in it! The computer won't see it if there is no power surely? :shrug:

 

[footman]

Ah yes:bonk:
When you say you got a new power supply do you mean a new mains cable?

Have you tried plugging it into a different USB port or even a different pc/laptop?

 

[Myrdhinn]

Best bet is to take the drive out of the unit and hook it up to the computer and see if windows recognizes the drive. If it's beyond your scope, maybe you've got a geeky friend that's into building their own computers that can do it.

 

[Janice]

How can the computer recognise it if there is no ac power to the drive (whether it is joined by usb cable or not)?

 

[footman]

How can the computer recognise it if there is no ac power to the drive (whether it is joined by usb cable or not)?

You're quite correct, perhaps I shouldn't have gone to the pub earlier!
How old is the drive? I've had to return several drives in the past, the warranty can be quite long?

 

[thorton]

is it making and louder noises or clicking at all?

 

[terryt]

How can the computer recognise it if there is no ac power to the drive (whether it is joined by usb cable or not)?

You can get another enclosure and put the hard disk in that or a SATA/IDE to USB kit.

 

[lofcuk]

You can get another enclosure and put the hard disk in that or a SATA/IDE to USB kit.

+1

I have a drive that works slightly loose in the enclosure, get power on light but drive not recognised, sounds similar to your fault.

 

[Janice]

Yes it does click for the few moments there is power there.

I see what you are saying about another enclosure now, but its not the sort of thing I have lying around

If i open the enclosure, is there anything I am likely to see that could point to the problem?

 

[neil_g]

Best bet is to take the drive out of the unit and hook it up to the computer and see if windows recognizes the drive. If it's beyond your scope, maybe you've got a geeky friend that's into building their own computers that can do it.

this. open up the case of the hard drive, take the actual disk out and plug it directly inside of a computer.

my money is on that working, enclosures are often the weak link on external hard drives.

providing it is that then you can either leave it inside of your desktop computer (if applicable) or purchase a replacement enclosure (icybox etc).

 

[thorton]

Yes it does click for the few moments there is power there.

I see what you are saying about another enclosure now, but its not the sort of thing I have lying around

If i open the enclosure, is there anything I am likely to see that could point to the problem?

my hard drive did this a while a go, and seriously - i packed it in a freezer bag and sealed it TIGHT and put it in the freezer for a few hours, it works perfectly now.

after researching a lot the clicking noise is the hard drive over heating and expanding inside its case, freezing it makes it contract or some crap like heat/cold works with swelling etc.

you may think this sounds stupid but im deadly serious that it saved my hard drive, and about 40 pages of work for my contextual studies in college

 

[neil_g]

my hard drive did this a while a go, and seriously - i packed it in a freezer bag and sealed it TIGHT and put it in the freezer for a few hours, it works perfectly now.

after researching a lot the clicking noise is the hard drive over heating and expanding inside its case, freezing it makes it contract or some crap like heat/cold works with swelling etc.

you may think this sounds stupid but im deadly serious that it saved my hard drive, and about 40 pages of work for my contextual studies in college

not necessarily, ticking can be caused by a faulty enclosure too. we had an iomega that did the same, pulled the disk out and worked perfectly.

personally ive never any faith in the old freezer trick. generally a platter/head alignment issue (the tick of death) will not be solved with changes in temperature.

either way i wouldnt put a potentially healthy drive but in a dead enclosure in the freezer..

edit - the freezer trick is also only meant as a temporary fix to get data off of the drive, it should then be replaced asap.

 

[freecom2]

Enclosure failure is significantly more common than the actual drive failing. Too much skimping on the circuitry used in the enclosures, unfortunately.

 

[Janice]

OK I will try taking the drive out tonight... thanks folks