External Hard drive dying

[Kage]

Thanks I will

 

[joxley1990]

If it's under warranty, just send it back, as soon as that case opens, the warranty/guarntee is gone.

 

[alvino]

Western Digital external hard drives are those plastic screwless ones. You can either find where they snap together, or you can just break it apart. I have one of those Western Digital 250GB external hard drives too.

 

[muz]

If it's under warranty, just send it back, as soon as that case opens, the warranty/guarntee is gone.

Yeah i agree if you open it up warrenty will be void , contact western digital and tell them the problem and that you have important data on the drive you cannot afford to loose , then tell them you want some sort of recovery and a replacement cos it is still under warrenty , otherwise open it up but the warrenty will be void

 

[Raffaz]

Have ya tried a different USB cable?

 

[mammikoura]

well one thing you could try, worked when my hdd was failing. Now I'm guessing there is a chance that this could damage the hdd, but at least with my hdd it worked fine.
Put the hdd in the freezer, and let it be there for maybe like 30 mins. (so that it's cold/frozen, you get the point) Then try using it.
My drive was internal, and the problem was a little different but that is how I managed to back up my data.

You could try this as the last option if you can't get the data any other way.

 

[jeo14888]

I have a question relating to this topic so i did'nt bothing making posting a new thread. I have recently bought a 320gb External Seagate Hard Drive, i am using it for all media so it is in use pretty much all the time i'm on my pc. Do you think this will put alot of strain on the hard drive and give it a short life? Are these external hard drives built to withstand the strain of constant use like a normal internal one? just want to know if i should go easy on it or not, thanks.

 

[Kage]

mammikoura, I wouldn't try that option, as I do believe the hard drive is 100% functioning, yet, the unit it is in is failing.

jeo14888, external hard drives work a bit differently I believe than IDE/SATA hard drives (even though, thats what they are underneath), but just using a USB/Firewire convertor inside.
But to my knowledge, unlike internal hard drives, external drives will stay on, spinning, and not switch off when under no use.

We've had 2 external drive cases go so far, yet, for instance with my 250GB drive I have in my computer at the moment which I simply removed from an external case, it is still functioning.

About the warrenty, I don't think my dad really cares as long as he can back up the data, which concludes me to probably try to open it up anyway. Even if it just becomes a standard drive, 500GB's is alot if it works!

Were thinking of bringing together money and buying a desktop for downstairs, better than his laptop, and for cheaper too, so we can use internal drives.

I don't think I trust laptop/external drives anymore (Yet, I do have an MP3 player external drive that is working to this day from Iaudio, though the drive is a Toshiba, after 3 years of on/off use)

 

[lhuser]

Actually, in my protocols, I will use an external drive, until the unit gets corrupted. Then, it will become a standard drive. The external device, may be fix if possible, and used as an external device for any HDD.