External Hard Drive Issue/Question

[Suicane75]

Ok, I have 2 External drives. A 3TB and a 1.5TB drive.

A few days ago I started getting lockup when I tried to write to, work with or access any of the files on the 3TB drive. I rebooted and all the folders were gone, the only thing I could see was a lone MP3 file that sat alone in the root. But when I clicked on the properties it was showing that everything was still there (400GB free).

I rebooted again and everything showed up and it worked fine for a day or so.

Tonight the same thing happens, I'm working with files on the drive and my computer locks up. I reboot and it's slow as crap to load, black screen for 5 minutes, welcome to windows for 2 minutes, startup takes another 3 minutes. When the computer is finally ready to use, clicking on a folder or file doesn't open it but rather displays the properties as if I had right clicked it. Furthermore, clicking one folder or file and then clicking another highlites them all, I have to go back and click on a file/folder again to de highlite it, as it were. Now this is on my desktop, which is my C drive, having nothing to do with the external drive.

I reboot again and it's slow as crap again and locks up as soon as my desktop loads. I unplug the machine and remove both my external drives and boot up and starts faster than I'd be on ScarJo. I plug in my F drive (the good external) and it recognizes it and the computer still works fine. I plug in my G drive (the bad one) and now the comp is seeing neither the G or F drive and within a minute I'm frozen again.

I don't blame you if haven't read this far, but I guess my question is, is this anything other than my external drive failing? Even if it was bad would it cause all those problems? Could it be a virus?

Anyway, thanks for reading, if you're ever round this way I'll buy you a beer.

[sterlingice]

I think the "external hard drive dying" diagnosis seems pretty spot on. Does the same behavior exhibit with just the 1.5TB plugged in or does the 3TB have to be plugged in to get the slow and crappy response?

Also, mostly unrelated, but I hate booting my computer with anything USB plugged in. Windows seems to confuse itself and take forever sometimes, even if it's a small, stupid thumb drive. That's just personal and anecdotal, tho- nothing really behind that reasoning.

SI

[Toddzilla]

First of all, if you haven't backed up everything from the failing drive then there is no hope for you anyway so don't sweat it.

However if you find that you can no longer read from the failed drive and you absolutely need to get something from it, put it in the freezer overnight and then try again. I know it sounds stupid but it worked form me when my primary HD got borked. Into the freezer for a day, out again and it worked perfectly - long enough to copy it.

[cartman]

This sounds a lot like something that happened to a friend of mine. What is the name of the MP3? Is it one you recognize? Also, if you had any documents on that external drive, say a Word or Excel file, does the program see the file on the drive if you do a File | Open?

[Suicane75]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I think the "external hard drive dying" diagnosis seems pretty spot on. Does the same behavior exhibit with just the 1.5TB plugged in or does the 3TB have to be plugged in to get the slow and crappy response?

Nope, boots and runs fine with the 1.5TB hooked up.

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

First of all, if you haven't backed up everything from the failing drive then there is no hope for you anyway so don't sweat it.

However if you find that you can no longer read from the failed drive and you absolutely need to get something from it, put it in the freezer overnight and then try again. I know it sounds stupid but it worked form me when my primary HD got borked. Into the freezer for a day, out again and it worked perfectly - long enough to copy it.

Grrrr. I really effin hope not. So much work down the drain if it's lost.

Originally Posted by cartman

This sounds a lot like something that happened to a friend of mine. What is the name of the MP3? Is it one you recognize? Also, if you had any documents on that external drive, say a Word or Excel file, does the program see the file on the drive if you do a File | Open?

Yeah, It was an MP3 I recognized. I only mentioned it because I thought it was interesting that it only showed the lone file I had on the root and not any of the folders. Did not stay stable enough last night for me to check anything on the drive, when I clicked on the drive my comp just hung and hung.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

First of all, if you haven't backed up everything from the failing drive then there is no hope for you anyway so don't sweat it.

However if you find that you can no longer read from the failed drive and you absolutely need to get something from it, put it in the freezer overnight and then try again. I know it sounds stupid but it worked form me when my primary HD got borked. Into the freezer for a day, out again and it worked perfectly - long enough to copy it.

The freezer thing will help with certain but not all mechanical issues. But I've known enough people who it has worked for to try it.

SI

[Suicane75]

So for however long it's been since post 1, I've been trying to get this mf'er working. I froze it, didn't work. I snuck up on it and plugged it in, didn't work. I punched it a few times, didn't work. So I did a search to see if there was any hard drive recovery software and voila. Costs me $100 but my por....files are back where they belong, with the man who loves them.

[sterlingice]

And now it's time for copious backups, I hope?

SI