External HDD Help

[roadlesstraveled]

I've been using a Western Digital Elements 1TB for over a year now and have a slight gripe with it. The drive often makes noise as if it's in use when I'm not accessing it.

I'm pretty sure this is due to a setting somewhere in windows but I'm not sure how to fix it.

How do I get the drive to only function when I'm accessing it?

 

[Chimel]

What kind of noise, is it clicks or the normal progressive spinning noise it makes after resuming from sleep?
If the latter, maybe your external drive is indexed by Windows or Media Player more than it should be.
Check Control Panel|Indexing Options|Modify and Windows Media Player|File|Manage libraries to see if your drive is listed.

Is this a recent behavior, can you track the cause, like if you or some new app changed your Power Options hard drive or USB settings, an anti-virus that scans all drives, etc.?

 

[roadlesstraveled]

The sound is like a static buzz that doesn't stop until I go into the HDD and click on a few files. Is it possible that the drive is going to die soon?

 

[Chimel]

Seems to be a known bug with the Elements series, or maybe just those with firmware 2.x, but this thread has been running for a year now without a word from WD.

Caution: Don't run any the tools below if you don't have a backup of your data, it could be destructive.

Try running WD Spindown or Stop Utility, some users reported success.

It looks like the culprit could be Data Lifeguard, which is built in the drive's firmware and can't even be disabled by disabling S.M.A.R.T. It is supposed to scan the disk for defects while it's idle, and fix the problems by rewriting data to other sectors. There may be a way to verify if that's the case: While it's making the buzzing noise, try to run Safely Remove Hardware from the Notification Area. If it says no can do, it means Data Lifeguard is probably accessing your drive. Also, if your computer is switched off and you disconnect the USB cable (not the power cable,) it might start the same buzzing noise thinking it's idle. In any case, don't unplug the drive while it's doing its house keeping, you'd most likely lose data.

You can also try dowloading Data Lifeguard Diagnostic to see if it detects a problem. I think it also shows the firmware version number.

Exact model name, firmware version, serial number (minus the 4 last digits) and percentage of used space would help, and you didn't answer an important question: Did it buzz from day 1, or how long after you bought the drive did it start to buzz? I don't know how Data Lifeguard works, but if it uses a "reserve" of good sectors, a badly designed program might run into an endless loop when it finds a bad sector and the disk has exhausted its reserve of good sectors. Or maybe it happens when the used space reaches a certain amount. If your external disk is just a backup of your internal one, maybe you can try reformatting it to see if the buzz disappears, start the backup again and check at what point the buzz starts again. It is also possible that Data Lifeguard has a bug, and is not able to handle a specific type of bad sector, thus trying accessing it in an endless manner. Data Lifeguard Diagnostic should show if it blocks on a certain sector.

Try a different USB cable, as a bad cable or badly connected cable, or a cheap power supply could cause data corruption, if a corrupted sector is what generates the buzz. Switch the disk on only when running backups. Return it if it's still under warranty. Obviously, all of the above! ^-^

 

[roadlesstraveled]

I don't believe the drive did this when I first got it but I'm not sure TBH. The drive has 170GB free of 931GB. I just turned off indexing the entire drive an hour ago and have yet to here the buzzing again. I'll report back if I do.

The firmware version is 01.01A01 according to HD Tune.
The serial number is WD-WCAU4C20 (not including the last four digits)

 

[Red Falcon]

Wow, this is why I avoid the elements hard drives, they are nothing but problems. Next time you invest in one, go for the WD my passport model, the chipset within is far more robust and will last a lot longer.

 

[roadlesstraveled]

I only use this hard drive for backups and I feel I got my money's worth. I can't say I'm too upset about the problem as I plan to get a few more internal HDD's soon anyways. After turning off indexing I haven't heard the buzzing, so far so good (knock on wood).