External Harddrive Issues

S

Starguard

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Messages
332
I have an External Hard drive that I had for a very long time. Today when I plugged it into my computer, I cannot get the access icon to show up on my screen. I haven't dropped it or anything, not does it appear to be damaged in any way. I can hear the motor running inside, and there are two blue LED lights that are normally on at a steady rate. Now they alternately blink once every minute or so and nothing else happens

What do you all think the problem may be?
 
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What do you all think the problem may be?
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The drive could have died. The expectation is 4% or so should fail each year.

It could also be the power supply of the external or the controller.

If the drive is a 3.5 inch model you can try removing it from the external and putting the drive in a desktop PC. Although if it is larger than 2TB you may not be able to read the drive because some externals fake 4K sectors to allow > 2TB drives to work with XP and other OSs that do not support GPT partitions.
 
drescherjm said:
The drive could have died. The expectation is 4% or so should fail each year.

It could also be the power supply of the external or the controller.
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When I plug it in to the computer, it makes a little "ding" noise to let me know that the computer has made the connection, only the icon wont show on the screen and the LEDS alternate blinking every minute or so. If the power supply was bad, nothing would work at all correct?
 
Also does the drive show up in device manager at all? If so have you tried CrystalDiskInfo?
 
drescherjm said:
Also does the drive show up in device manager at all? If so have you tried CrystalDiskInfo?
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No and No.(not yet anyways) :)

I took a voltage measurement on the Power supply and it seems to be working fine..

I put it up to my ear, and I can hear it running, but its also hear it clicking

This makes me wonder, Lets say (by chance) that someone has made telnet access into your computer. I believe that there is a way to obtain the MAC address of any device that is plugged into a port and block access . Is there any way that someone can somehow configure the drive itself so that it will not work in ANY port that its plugged into regardless of where its being plugged into?
 
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Lets say (by chance) that someone has made telnet access into your computer. I believe that there is a way to obtain the MAC address of any device that is plugged into a port and block access .
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Check your router logs. If possible.

Is there any way that someone can somehow configure the drive itself so that it will not work in ANY port that its plugged into regardless of where its being plugged into?
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I say this is highly unlikely but possible.
 
I'm still scratching my head over this. I haven't the slightest idea what could have caused this to happen. This drive is like almost 5 years old and I have never had a problem with it
 
Remember a drive can die at any time, between the shipping before you get the drive or up to its 5 year expected lifetime and beyond. It does not matter if you use it or not. And they need not show any signs that they are going to die. You can leave a working drive unplugged then plug it in and it may not work. This is why you always must backup your important data.
 
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drescherjm said:
Remember a drive can die at any time, between the shipping before you get the drive or up to its 5 year expected lifetime and beyond. It does not matter if you use it or not. And they need not show any signs that they are going to die. You can leave a working drive unplugged then plug it in and it may not work. This is why you always must backup your important data.
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Thanks
 
I've had a VERY similar issue with several drives in the past. Pretty much identical situation. In one case a drive magically seemed to work after sitting a few weeks, but I couldn't bring myself to trust it with any data. Drives are so cheap these days, why bother messing around with a questionable drive?
 
Try a different usb port and cable.

I have an external that didn't like to show up on my computer upon first plug of the usb. I has to plug, unplug, replug (real fast) for things to appear.

Otherwise the drive sounds like it's on its way out.
 
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