Hard Drive errors

[imdaman]

I have a 1TB WD ext hard drive with ~600 gb of space used. recently it has been having problems. when the hd loads, sometime the whole drive is empty (the folders are there but the files are not). when i restart it a few times then the files are there but some of them i cannot view or transfer it into another drive. When it loads, sometime it request me to format the drive. And when I transfer the files, a majority of the time there is a error: Cannot copy XXXXXata error (cyclic redundancy check) or DELAYED WRITE ERROR. I tried error checking the hd but it took like half a day and the test failed to complete. I used the WD software and sometime it says the HD is healthy and sometime it shows that it is not. And when I transfer the file, halfway into it it freezes my computer. When I try to close the transfer window, it doesnt really close completely because when I try shutting the computer down, it gives me a warning that a file transfer is in progress. I look at task manager and the only program that is run by me is the explorer.exe which wouldnt end even if i use end process.

Anyone can help me out? thanks in advance!
i dont really care about the hd (i still have the warranty), i just want to get my files back

[Nelson37]

Jesus, do you need somebody to hit you over the head with a hammer? The drive is dying.

Might be worth trying a new cable and double-checking all connections, but low odds that'll do it.

Try some extra cooling, copy files in small batches, priortize the ones you really need, usually if you give a card number they will ship the replacement drive and allow a week to 10 days for you to return the defective one, with no charge. Use the same packaging.

[redwudz]

It may be a interface problem. Do you use USB 2.0 to connect it to the computer? If so, do you have other USB devices hooked up at the same time? They may be interfering. Try unplugging them. I would also try different USB ports on the computer, or just try the drive on a different computer. If it has the same problems, then the problem is likely within the external box. Also check the units power supply as it may be failing.

If the data is important to you, I would probably remove the drive from the enclosure and temporarily install it in a computer. It's likely a SATA drive, so you just need the internal cable and a SATA power connector, assuming you have a free SATA port. If it functions properly there, your data may be all right and you could move it off the drive, or at least run better diagnostics than you could through a USB interface. Opening the enclosure will probably void the warranty, though. But it will operate quite a bit faster with a SATA interface.

[imdaman]

yea i know the hd is dying... it been a month since this has happened. the drive use to be fill and i transferred 300 gb already but it takes a lot of time since i dont know which file is corrupted.

this hd has firewire, usb and sata connections. my comp doesnt have sata connections but i tried using usb and fireware but the problem still occurs. i've also tried it on a different computer but no luck.

[Video Head]

A few months ago one of my USB external drives starting acting much the same. Sometimes it would show up fine, sometimes with missing files, sometimes it would cause a Windows delayed write error and fall off the map with another warning telling me that some of my files are probably gone. When I restarted it and got it going the files would all show up...

Turned out to be the power supply for the external drive was slowly on it's way out. It gave some power, but usually not enough to keep the drive powered continously - something your O/S likes - but it gave the illusion that it was always getting power. For $30 I bought a new enclosure and moved the drive to it. Has been working fine ever since and luckily all my files where still there and useable.

[imdaman]

well its not a power supply problem, today i took out the drive and put it in an external enclosure and the problem still occured

[lowellriggsiam]

It's like Red said, it's likely a USB problem. When usb devices are plugged in, the act of rebooting simply reallocates resouces. When the usb devices are used the resources are reallocated, this frequently disrupts the usb ports ability to access the drive correctly.

[imdaman]

i use the firewire and its the same...

[redwudz]

From what you are saying, it sounds like the HDD itself is failing. Not much to do except try to save your data and replace the drive. All drives have a failure rate. Sometimes you're lucky and sometimes not....

[imdaman]

yea i figured...thanks for the help guys