External hard drive is dying?

[Jack Bauer]

I don't really have much knowledge about hardware, but i think my external hard drive is dying.

So i have a WD Mybook essential edition which is 3 years old now. Today Windows showed the drive, but it said Local disk(while the label is My Book and that is how it always showed up in Windows), and when i try to open it it says that the disk is damaged.

Then i plugged it in on OSX and luckily i was still able to read the contents of the drive, so i thought that at first it was a Windows issue, which is most of the time the case But, on OSX i also couldn't read some of the data, some folders showed up as empty, so i copied as much as i could to my internal mac drive, and all my personal data and U2 albums and dvd's are safe

So i guess the drive is dying? On mac it doesn't read half of the data and on Windows i cant even access the drive at all. Is there any way to check the drive, like checkdisk with windows, on OSX? I am not really familiar with OSX yet.

And i think i heard a few times that they put failing hard drives in the freezer, does this work? And in what would i have to wrap it in?

 

[kramwest1]

I've had a couple of WD externals die. I never got piece-meal errors though, they just died (1-3 years old).

I use Macs, but there are always more knowledgeable folks here.

Anyway, under Applications on OSX, go to Utilities. There you'll find Disk Utility, which has a First Aid function.

I don't know how well it works, but it's a start.


Mark

 

[Jack Bauer]

Well, for some reason today the drive works fine. Windows still doesn't reconize it, but i can read all data on OSX.

 

[kramwest1]

Well, for some reason today the drive works fine. Windows still doesn't reconize it, but i can read all data on OSX.

Back it up immediately. This is how one of my WD's died--would show up, wouldn't show up, etc, then nothing, not even a spin-up.

Back-up HDs are like tissues for me now. You can't have enough of them around, and they're cheap enough that you might as well have one in each room (so to speak).

Good luck.


Mark

 

[Jack Bauer]

Yeah it seems like it is dying slowly, now it sometimes doesn't show up on OSX anymore, and sometimes i can't read all data. Backed up everything though.

 

[bonocomet]

I have the exact same one that Jack Bauer has, it's over a year old now I think. Now you have me worried. Once in a while I've noticed that it doesn't show up and I have to unplug it and start it up again. I have some stuff backed up on CD's but not everything. Any suggestions for the best thing to back up on that also holds the most? Thanks

 

[kramwest1]

I have the exact same one that Jack Bauer has, it's over a year old now I think. Now you have me worried. Once in a while I've noticed that it doesn't show up and I have to unplug it and start it up again. I have some stuff backed up on CD's but not everything. Any suggestions for the best thing to back up on that also holds the most? Thanks

The drive not showing up isn't necessarily a sign of doom. The WDs seem quirky about when they are noticed by the OS. If it ever appears that the data doesn't show up (not just the drive) or if the drive spins but makes a repeated clicking sound and won't show up, then that might predict a problem.

Regardless, I think it's wise to have back-ups to back-ups. I burn data to DVDs, but honestly, I think it's fastest (and quite possibly cheaper) to use an additional external HD. They are SO cheap now.

If your external HD, is just backing up what is on your computer's HD, then I wouldn't worry as much. But, if you have original material on an external, it definitely makes sense to back it somewhere else. It's just a good habit to have data in at least to separate locations.

There is online storage, too. I can't think of their names offhand, but it's another option.


Mark

 

[bonocomet]

Thank you so much! Yes so far it has only been that the entire device sometimes won't show up, not the items on it. (Also when it happens I've noticed that the thing is silent too like it never started up) I will definitely start backing up to more DVD's or another external HD though. Good to know, I didn't realize these have such short life spans.

Thanks again Mark!

 

[kramwest1]

Good to know, I didn't realize these have such short life spans.

No problem.

I have quite a few externals. A couple are 5-6 years old, and one or two haven't lasted more than a year.


Mark

 

[Jack Bauer]

Still the same, although it shows up in OSX, some files still wont show up sometimes, and sometimes they will. I guess it still is slowly dying.

Do you know if Lacie drives are any good?

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

i think lacie drives are good. i've got two of them, one of which i've had for a few years now. the hard drive is so fucking small compared to everything else these days but it still works.

 

[kramwest1]

i think lacie drives are good. i've got two of them, one of which i've had for a few years now. the hard drive is so fucking small compared to everything else these days but it still works.

I think Lacie are good, too. I have a couple, probably my most dependable (there, now I've gooched it).

WDs are good for the price even with their issues.

Maxtor and cheap Seagates (Maxtors) are the only externals that I've been told to avoid.


Mark

 

[Fernando-]

Iomega is fine too. I have one and a friend has one too. No problems so far.

 

[jesseu2]

I have a Western Digital 250 GB drive that seems like its taking a lil longer to turn on... i'm gettin worried here.

I was at Office Max today just looking around. Saw they have some good buys on externals. $80 for a small 160 GB mini drive thing.

thinking about buying something in a week or so.

Should i go with:
Seagate 320GB FreeAgent for $149
Western Digital Passport 500GB Hard Drive for $149
SimpleTech Signature Mini 160GB or 250GB Portable Hard Drive from $70-$110
Lacie 500GB Little Disk $130
Lacie 250GB Little Disk $90

decisions, decisions

I need something that will last and that's easy to travel with too as I'm moving in 6 months.

I want to get everything off my old WD Drive and format/defrag it. Will that make it last longer? Any tips would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[kramwest1]

I have a Western Digital 250 GB drive that seems like its taking a lil longer to turn on... i'm gettin worried here.

I was at Office Max today just looking around. Saw they have some good buys on externals. $80 for a small 160 GB mini drive thing.

thinking about buying something in a week or so.

Should i go with:
Seagate 320GB FreeAgent for $149
Western Digital Passport 500GB Hard Drive for $149
SimpleTech Signature Mini 160GB or 250GB Portable Hard Drive from $70-$110
Lacie 500GB Little Disk $130
Lacie 250GB Little Disk $90

decisions, decisions

I need something that will last and that's easy to travel with too as I'm moving in 6 months.

I want to get everything off my old WD Drive and format/defrag it. Will that make it last longer? Any tips would be helpful. Thanks.

So, I checked on Consumer Reports to see if they had recommendations; They don't, nothing since Oct. 2007.

I'd say check which of those you've listed has the longest warranty. Long warranties are fine, but I'm sure they don't cover lost data, just drive replacement.

The Lacie looks pretty good for the price.

I haven't checked CNET, but they often have good reviews.

I don't think defrag-ing is ever a bad thing, but that's beyond my expertise.


Mark----BTW, I was at Office Max yesterday and bought one of the SimpleTech portables, 320GB. The sale prices were cheaper than Costco's, so we'll see how it functions. I'm going to use it for traveling to back up a laptop.

 

[the tourist]

I just got a 500gb Western Digital External HD from Target for $65 on clearance.

 

[kramwest1]

I just got a 500gb Western Digital External HD from Target for $65 on clearance.

Nice score!
I LOVE Target's clearance stuff. I've been known to hoard.


Mark

 

[kramwest1]

Okay. I officially will not buy another WD external for a while. Another of mine died yesterday. Of course, it was my iTunes drive. It was 99 percent backed on another external, but it's still a pain in the ass to move almost 600GB of music, etc.

So, I'm breaking my mine advice and trying a Maxtor. Costco had 750GB for $100 and they have a 5 year warranty (plus another year with AMEX). So far, I'm not blown away due to the fact that I couldn't format it as a Mac OS drive, it would only let me do an MSDOS Fat32. Whatever. We'll see.


Mark

 

[bonocomet]

Ok so now you've scared me again Time for me to back up again. Good luck and let us know how that one works out.

 

[jesseu2]

I got a Toshiba 250 GB USB 2.0 for $60 at Fry's Electronics, just plug it in an it works.... looks like the same size as an ipod, lol. My other 250 GB looks like the size of a book and cost $120 5 years ago. Amazing.

had to get one because my Windows XP is not workin right, moving files and gonna reinstall xp.

so far so good.

 

[bonocomet]

I recently got a WD 500GB Passport (which actually only holds 465GB ) but still one of the best computer buys I've made

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much easier than the clunky old WD Book.

 

[DRay9911]

i love love LOVE my external HDs...they are all western digital my books

i have 2 in the apartment, each are 500GB..one has all my pictures/videos of my nephew.

i have a TB drive here at work backing up the pictures/videos

then i bought my parents a TB drive and have the pictures & videos backed up there too

knock on wood i haven't had a problem with any of them.

i really need to get everything organized with all of the torrented video from this tour.

-dan

 

[kramwest1]

i really need to get everything organized with all of the torrented video from this tour.

-dan

Yeah, video eats up the GBs. I am being uber-conservative with this tour's torrents.

I can't wait for a Blu-Ray burner. It's nice to have hard back-ups to the externals, and I don't have much more secure storage for DVDs.


Mark

 

[kramwest1]

I just installed a Seagate GoFlex Home 2TB network hard drive. So far so good, although I'm not in love with the interface. (I don't do much in the way of network crap like my wife does).

I filled my 750GB Maxtor HD with all of my iTunes stuff, and that's after deleting 3 seasons of LOST, too. Hopefully, 2TB will last a little while.

I really wrestled with the USB vs. FireWire vs. Ethernet connection, too. It seems like FireWire is almost gone, but since Apple hasn't adopted USB 3.0 yet, what do you do?