Hardware failure? Virus? Killer bees?

[Syribo]

..Okay so maybe not bees. I'm trying to troubleshoot a problem here... I'll start off with information about my system (Most can be found in my signature I love signatures because they make getting information to and from other members on the boards much faster!)..

I've recently been having a few things happening, and I think I have found the common point between them all.

When my external hard drive (The Seagate 7200.11 500GB SATA HDD inside the Antec MX1) is connected to my computer and I try to use Explorer or try to access anything that needs to find information from that drive, Explorer.exe freezes. It won't let me delete or copy or move any files from anywhere on the drive either. I tried to run a virus scan on just that drive, and it wouldn't get past 0% because it was 'unable to scan such and such files'.

Then my mouse begins to act eractically..Or just the cursor, rather. The cursor starts getting sluggish and it lags when moved across the screen at all. You know, it disappears and then appears over and over again. I also pretty much can't do anything else. Web surfing, gaming, communicating with people... nothing.

I'm wondering.. could this be either hardware failure or maybe a virus?? I scanned the remaining two hard drives on my computer (HDD1 has my OS HDD2 has some movies and TV shows) and they both come up clean..

I don't know what my next step could be.. Could it be a problem with the external compartment itself? Should I take out HDD1 or 2 and try to see if they work inside of the MX1, and also just set up the 'bad' drive (HDD3) as an internal drive, to see if anything changes? Or does it definitely sound like something else?

I have it turned off and not connected right now... I really want these thousands of pictures I have on it Any insight or tips would be appreciated as usual

 

[Nenu]

I have an old drive that does similar.
When plugged into my USB drive bay, it prevents my PC being used for much, for quite some time.
I occasionally got it to work but a few days ago, it developed the click of death and cannot even be detected now!

Plug the drive directly into your PC and get the data off if possible.

 

[Dangman]

Yeah sounds like an external drive problem to me as well. So definitely heed Nenu's advice: plug the external hard drive directly/internally into the PC and see what happens. If the drive works 100%, then the enclosure was the problem. But if the drive is not detected at all in Vista, then yeah something is wrong with the drive.

Though to rule this out, what anti-virus scanner are you using?


And to test the drive in case Windows can't detect it:
Download the CD image of Hitachi Drive Fitness Test, burn the ISO file to a CD, and then boot from it, just like you would do with the XP install CD. Test the hard drive and see if any problems are found. DFT will run on most manufacturers' hard drives. Alternatively, you can use Seagate's SeaTools for DOS to test a Seagate or Maxtor drive. For a Western Digital drive, you could use Data Lifeguard Tools for DOS to test a Western Digital drive.

 

[Syribo]

Okay I finally had the chance to test the HDD in question by putting it in my computer case and directly plugging it in to its own SATA port. Same problems. Can't view files, can't move files, and the computer gets all laggy... Ugh... There's 450GB of things on that drive that I really want back...

I'm guessing drive failure then? I guess I should submit an RMA for Newegg...? Also, I use NOD32 as my anti-virus.

EDIT: Ugh, it's been a few months since I bought the drive.. so it's out of Newegg's 30 day return/replacement window... I've never had to deal with Seagates RMA/Customer Service before... is it bad? Good?

 

[Dangman]

Okay I finally had the chance to test the HDD in question by putting it in my computer case and directly plugging it in to its own SATA port. Same problems. Can't view files, can't move files, and the computer gets all laggy... Ugh... There's 450GB of things on that drive that I really want back...

I'm guessing drive failure then? I guess I should submit an RMA for Newegg...? Also, I use NOD32 as my anti-virus.

EDIT: Ugh, it's been a few months since I bought the drive.. so it's out of Newegg's 30 day return/replacement window... I've never had to deal with Seagates RMA/Customer Service before... is it bad? Good?

Seagate's RMA/Customer Service is pretty good. I've had nothing but good experiences with them. And yes that sounds like a drive failure to me.

 

[Syribo]

Seagate's RMA/Customer Service is pretty good. I've had nothing but good experiences with them. And yes that sounds like a drive failure to me.

That's comforting I just submitted my RMA request to them... Now I just have to get a hold of an anti static bag and other packaging materials for it...

Ugh.. losing 10,000+ pictures, my music, my anime, and all of my games really makes me depressed.

 

[Dangman]

Try using the Knoppix Linux Live CD to get the files off. I've had a few situations where Knoppix could actually see and move the files on a dying hard drive when Windows couldn't see, move or detect the drive.

 

[Syribo]

Try using the Knoppix Linux Live CD to get the files off. I've had a few situations where Knoppix could actually see and move the files on a dying hard drive when Windows couldn't see, move or detect the drive.

Thanks, I'll try that I don't know anything about Linux (Never really messed around with it).. it's not too hard to figure out how to get the Live CD working, and to attempt to get the files off the drive.. is it?