Shop RadioShack for Great Gifts
Community Newsletter: Q&A: Help! My external hard drive isn't responding
- 1/31/08 9:51 PM
None of the Above...
by Launchpad_72 - 1/26/08 5:30 AM In reply to: Help! My external hard drive isn't responding by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Actually, you can keep all your data and have a working external HD for about $25.
All you have to do is buy an external drive enclosure (aka a Sled) from a site like Newegg.com (avoid retail stores, they jack up the price), and transfer the Hard Drive in the old external to the new sled, and you're back up and running.
While this is a fairly easy procedure, it's still requires some technical expertise, so if you have a technologically inclined friend or relative (especially the younger ones), have them do the swap.
As far as your HD goes, Western Digital (last time I checked) is supposed to have a 3 to 5-yr warranty on their products. If you just can't get them to listen, call and ask for their supervisor. That usually works. Keep in mind, they won't fix it if you've already taken it apart.
I wish you luck, and Happy Computing!
-Launchpad_72 aka IAmTheDonut
Replacement enclosure solved my problem, too.
by gingerpeach123 - 3/27/08 10:47 PM In reply to: None of the Above... by Launchpad_72I'm so glad I found this message thread! A few days ago, my WD hard drive (no longer under warranty) would not power up. My husband checked the power supply with a voltage tester and it seemed to be OK so I figured it was the buttons. After reading the messages here, I got up the nerve to try to fix this myself with a new case. I pried apart the old case (not all that easy!) to see what type of drive I had, ordered an IDE enclosure from Newegg, and only 3 days later, I'm back to having a functional hard drive with all the old data intact. Cost with S/H was about $27US, which was definitely worth it! And I don't miss those old WD buttons at all--they were always finicky.
External hard drive troubles
by caribsea - 1/26/08 5:52 AM In reply to: Help! My external hard drive isn't responding by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Don't be intimidated, Helene. I'm a 66-year-old granny and I got through the same thing OK. On Christmas Eve I bought a 320GB external hard drive at Best Buy that lasted two weeks. It was from SimpleTech but the actual drive was a Western Digital, as I discovered when I took it out of the case. I had taken the holidays to back up my hard drive and scan hundreds of family photos onto the new drive before it shorted out. (The red light stopped going on, the computer - a Mac powerbook- stopped seeing it, and whether the toggle was on or off, it got very hot around the power port. In fact, the final time I tried it, I could see sparks when I plugged in the cable.)
I went online to SimpleTech and filled out the request for support. When I hadn't had a response in 24 hours I requested an RMA. When that went unanswered I called the support line - not toll free. After 25 minutes, timed on my phone, I hung up and called Best Buy, where I had bought it. The drive had been on sale for $89 and, yes, I could return it within the 30 warranty period, but if I wanted the files retrieved, it would cost $99. Not willing to give up my personal information, I asked for another option. The Geek Squad guy showed me a Coolmax converter I could order online. It plugs into the disassembled external drive and into a USB port on a computer.
I had taken out the four screws in the HD case at his suggestion, knowing it was simply a regular hard drive in a plastic case and not loose parts I could ruin by exposing them. I've successfully retrieved the files and may buy a new case for it since the problem seems to have been the power source and not the drive. Cases are available online but someone else in this forum would be more qualified than I to discuss SATA, IDE, etc. drives and the cases needed for each. The Coolmax converter I mentioned has three different connection options. BTW, it Was $30 minus a $10 instant rebate. Good luck.
External hard drive question
by jonf57 - 1/26/08 6:37 AM In reply to: Help! My external hard drive isn't responding by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The answer to all your questions is dependent on whether your Windows installation "sees" the external drive as a drive in "My Computer". If Windows does "see" it, then you can back up using the Windows Backup program hidden on your installation disk or another vendor's program. I use Retrospect, somewhat costly but very reliable and has worked fine for years for me. There are also Nova Backup, Turbo Backup programs; go to Download.com or majorgeeks.com and look for backup programs. You don't really need the buttons.
Failing that it may be that the case is broken and drive is still good. External cases can be purchased from many vendors, for example Cyberguys.com, and pulling the drive out of one box and putting it in another is a matter of about six to eight screws arranged around the edge of each case and unplugging and plugging in a cable or two inside the cases, one for the drive and one for power.
If Windows does "see" the damaged drive it is easy to transfer to another installed external drive using the standard copy and paste functions. A backup program will also do this for you.
Western Digital button problem
by smaul - 1/26/08 6:38 AM In reply to: Help! My external hard drive isn't responding by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Helene,
This may be a simple problem. I have had the same problem on a similar WD external hard drive. All the buttons, even the on/off switch fail to work. I have found that if I simply completely disconnect the drive from the computer and power and then reconnect the wires that the buttons will then function. My drive has 3 wires: power, USB, and firewire. I simply remove all three wires and plug them back in. This can be done while the computer is on or off. Removing the wires and plugging them back in one at a time usually fails to solve the problem, they all have to be disconnected and then reconnected.
I think there must be some logic problem in the unit and that when disconnected and reconnected it must reboot and return to initial state. But it works every time for me when I have this problem.
If this doesn't solve your problem then one of the other answers may work, but this is surely the simplest.
Steve
External Hard Drive troubles
by yerffej - 1/26/08 6:40 AM In reply to: Help! My external hard drive isn't responding by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hello Helene,
Funny I had a similar issue with a WD drive myself. First off my experience with repair of the existing drive was don't bother, proprietary parts are hard to come by.
Again since you didn't mention that powering on the external drive is not an issue, just using the one touch backup. The next thing is you may be able to start the backup software from your operating system, you did not specify what you use but assuming it is Windows, go to Start, Programs, and look to see if you find the backup software listed. You can run the program from there possibily bypassing the switch altogether and continuing to use the drive in that manner.
If you have to change the enclosure you didn't specify model numbers of what you have so I I will assume for the moment it is an enclosure holding a 3.5" hard drive, this is the same size drive used in most desktop PC's and many external drives. Also that it is one that uses a USB plug in, the most common type of connection. If you do a search of the model number of the enclusure you have you should be able to get the specifications on what kind of hard drive is inside. Most are ATA drives 66/100/133 (these numbers are the transfer rate speed and are typical of what is in many enclosures). Keep in mind after reading this you may want to consider taking this to someone familar with making these kinds of changes. It isn't difficult if you are careful however the possibility exists that if you do it incorrectly you will loose your data. You can remove the drive from the enclosure and reinstall it into a new one, some of which actually come with software to perform one touch backups. One model for example is a CoolMax HD-338-U2 available for 20.00 to 30.00. This would give you the functionally that you once enjoyed with the drive you have. Again if you want to do this yourself be very careful in removing the drive, especially aware that there is no chance of static, a static shock to the drive could render it useless and you could loose your data. Once you have the drive out of the enclosure you'll see the model number of the drive on the label, to be doubly sure it is compatable with the new enclosure do a search of the number and you'll get the specifics on the model of the drive to confirm the original infromation. Chances are that it will conform to the specifications I gave above. Follow the instructions to reinstall the drive into the new unit. One benefit might be that the button on the new enclosure will allow you to be able to use the old backup software you have, it won't hurt to try it especially if you have a large amount of data. Otherwise install the new backup software, keeping in mind it will create a new backup directory that might tax the available space of the old drive. However your data should be accessable after the installation is complete assuming there were no other issues with the unit.
Another possibility would be to just install the drive in your PC if it is compatable and there is room, however since you described yourself as non-technical you may want to bring in someone who is familar with this type of work to assist you. It would then be another internal hard drive in your PC instead of external and the data would be available to you as before.
On the off chance that the drive is an SATA drive (different type of plug in) or a smaller 2.5" drive (needing a smaller enclosure) you would have to adjust accordingly to what you purchase. Again you may want to seek some professsional assistance in making your choice since the number of enclosures are a bit more limited. However the functionally should be the same when you reinstall it.
One last thing, especially if the data is accessable and you are only lacking the ability to perform one touch backups or you decide to install it in you PC. Go out and buy yourself a new backup drive. You can find 500GB drives often for less than 150.00, I've seen 1TB drives for under 300.00. Keep the old one for archival purposes, you can never have enough backups 
Good luck.
Western Digital
by briceone - 1/26/08 7:57 AM In reply to: Help! My external hard drive isn't responding by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi
Sorry to hear that you have this problem,
SUE WESTERN DIGITAL They Have a legal responsibility to you. By law they cannot ignore you. Some companies are very good with after sales dervice. Others are just S*** and should be blogged.Given bad Publicity using all means possible. This is were CNET and other reliable suppliers can band together and get rid of the bad guys.
BUT PLEASE BE SURE THAT YOU ARE RIGHT BEFORE YOU LAMBLAST ANYONE, OR YOU WILL BE THE ONE BEING SUED. NO ORGANISATION IS TOO BIG AND CAN ILLAFFORD TO IGNORE THE PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT BY BUYING THEIR GOODS.
I do hope you can get your problem sorted satisfactorily.
The best of luck to you.
A WD hard drive with bad switches - now that' a problem!
by quickrick - 1/26/08 8:32 AM In reply to: Help! My external hard drive isn't responding by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
First, let me say that I'm no expert. However, I know a few experts on this subject. I'm afraid I have to tell you that everyone is telling me that WD's hard drive quality has been going down hill now for several years. I used to have WD drives - years ago when their quality was much better. The more reliable drives are now Seagate and Maxtor.
If you have to open the case to fix the switches - forget it. Hard Drives have to be sealed in a completely dust free environment for them to work properly. Frankly, my suggestion is that you chalk the WD choice up to bad information and move on. I recently suggested a 750 Gig Maxtor for my sister to expand her hard drive capacity. Cost was $169.99. And that's for an external drive. Source was Buy.com - I've done business with them before and was quite satsified.
Good Luck
Hard Drive Troubles
by servaes_marc - 1/26/08 9:01 AM In reply to: Help! My external hard drive isn't responding by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
An external hard drive is usually nothing more than a standard hard drive mounted in an external cabinet. It has it's own power supply and enough hardware interface electronics to use the USB or firewire port to communicate with your computer. Some manufacturers also have special software you need to install on your PC in order to interface with their drive.
In your case, one of four things may have happened.
1) The switch itself may have worn out. You can have the switch replaced and your data on the external drive will still be intact.
2) There may be some software that came with the drive that was installed on your PC, and it may have become corrupted. The PC can't recognize the external drive. Reinstall the software and reboot the PC and the external drive. It may restore the connection to the external drive. The data should still be intact.
3) The drive's electronic interface or external power supply may have failed. You can replace these, but remounting the external drive inside your PC is less expensive. The data should still be intact.
4) The hard drive itself may have failed. A data restore program may save your data. The data may be lost depending on the nature of the failure. This is where an expert might be needed if you don't know how to do this yourself. It's worth the cost only if your data is more valuable to you than the repair cost.
In any case, do not attempt to copy anything to that drive until the problem is resolved.
If the drive itself has not failed, you can simply remove it from the casing and install it inside your PC. Most drives have an IDE or SATA interface. Most new computers can accomodate either interface. The other thing you need to do is make sure the master/slave jumper on both of the drives are set correctly to accomodate two drives (one set to master, one set to slave, or both set to cable-select).
If your PC has only one drive installed, there is no reason why you can't leave the external hard drive installed inside your PC as a permanant second drive and use it as your backup. I do this myself as a matter of normal practice whenever I buy a new PC. I install a second drive with all my data files already on the drive. Then I install a third drive as a backup to the second drive. I never put my data files on the same drive as the operating system because if I would need to reinstall the OS, I'd have to format that drive and lose all my files.
Rick Bennette
fineartvideo.com
Yes, Although, You May Want some Help...
by say592 - 1/26/08 12:26 PM In reply to: Help! My external hard drive isn't responding by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The short answer is "Yes". The long answer may make you cringe.
There are a number of ways to save your data.
Im not sure how significant the buttons are, but it sounds like it doesnt work without the button functioning.If that is the case, then you may need some help to guarantee the safety of your data.
What you will need to do is open up the drive. This will let you see the type of drive (unfortunately, I could not find that info online, sorry).
Once you have identified the type of hard drive, you can purchase an enclosure for the drive. These are normally under $35 at most popular retailers.
After that, it would be as simple as plugging in the old drive into the new enclosure.
Now, there are some possible problems.
One, you may not be comfortable doing all of this, nor may you be able to identify the type of drive and what enclosure you need.
This can easily be solved by finding someone who is a tiny bit more technical and having them help you with that.
Another problem that might present itself is if the drive is soldered into the bay. If that happens, it would turn into a long and difficult process of removing the solder. (a process I wouldnt even bother trying with).
Finally, if you do end up giving it a try, I can almost guarantee it will void the warranty on this drive.
You may want to just continue trying to work with the customer service and insist that THEY replace the casing on it so you wont loose data.
Western Digital External Drive Problem
by Zouch - 1/26/08 1:14 PM In reply to: Help! My external hard drive isn't responding by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Helene,
I'll say at the outset that while I have external drives, I don't have a Western Digital one but I've always found Western Digital disks very reliable.
First, since the drive is only 90+ days old (I'm assuming you bought it new) you should pursue the issue with Western Digital. If you tamper with the drive in any way, you will invalidate the warranty - I'm assuming your warranty was for at least a year, hopefully longer. You say you haven't had any replies to your emails; the next step is to try to phone them and if that doesn't work, write (yes, snail mail) to the Vice President of Customer Servics and copy the Chief Executive Officer - it will cost you two stamps but it should focus their attention.
OK, that said, let's think about your problem. You say "the buttons have quit" - I assume you mean the on/off switch and the button that triggers an automatic backup in some way? At 200 GB, I'm assuming it's a 3.5" drive with an external power supply, rather than a 2.5" drive powered off the USB cable. One possibility is that the power supply has failed, in which case, nothing on the drive will work. To check, you need to test the power plug that pushes into the drive. I'm guessing you don't have a multimeter to do this with, so you need to get your local electricl store to check it for you. If this is the cause, you need a new power supply, either from WD under warranty or from the store you bought it from, or if you bought it with a credit card, you may find the credit card company will accept responsibility (they do here in the UK).
If you have power to the drive but still no action on any of the buttons, it suggestes that either some kind of fuse or thermal trip has blown. You need warranty or specialist attention if this is the case. If the drive is spinning up (from your description, it sounds like it isn't) you should be able to see it from Windows Explorer or through the Linux directory tree. If you can't see it, it suggests that power has failed somewhere along the line.
It's just possible that the USB cable is faulty, though I've never seen one fail. If you have a similar cable on some other device, you might try that to eliminate this as a cause.
Assuming the drive isn't spinning up, it could be that a cable has broken or become uncoupled in the unit. Again, warranty or specialist repair is needed - unless you feel comfortable to do it yourself, though remember you will invalidate your warranty.
I think we are far enough down the "what if" trail for now. As far as your data is concerned, it's likely safe unless the actual disk unit has failed - very rare at this age, though it could be an early life failure, which should be replaced under warranty.
If the disk itself is still operational, then moving it to some other carrier or a spare port inside your PC, should allow you to transfer all your backup data to a replacement external drive or your internal disks until you can find a suitable external archive. If you get a warranty replacement from WD, you should ask them to transfer the existing data to the new drive or at least give you permission to put the failed unit into your PC while you transfer your data to the new drive.
If you are comfortable doing the work yourself, external drive cases are cheap (about US $25 here in the UK) and fitting a drive into them is very straightforward, always assuming the drive isn't physically broken.
If the drive will not run up, even with a known good power supply and interface cable, if your data is vital, it may be possible to recover it by using a specialist company - I've used Ontrack Data Recovery <http://www.ontrackdatarecovery.com/> but there are several others. Be aware, though, that these services can be fairly expensive but for irreplaceable data, it may be worth it.
Good luck!
Sav. M. in UK.
warranty
by puma - 1/26/08 4:20 PM In reply to: Help! My external hard drive isn't responding by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
just an fyi, WD drives normally come with a 5yr warranty. emailing won't help, you have to call their tech support first as they have to troubleshoot before replacing what might possibly be a working HD. pick up the phone and dial...
your external hd
by gamer73 - 1/26/08 4:29 PM In reply to: Help! My external hard drive isn't responding by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I dont normally use external hard drives but would recomend to you to take it to a real computer store in your town or city not a best buy or any other dealer but one that deals with fixing and or repairing computers or computer parts since the prebuilt externals are not really made for a person that doesnt know what they are doing to take them apart and a computer shop is and they also have programs to retreave any data on a bad hard drive hope this helps ya cost probly around 60 bucks just so you know.
external hard drive purchase
by Karridog - 1/26/08 7:08 PM In reply to: your external hd by gamer73I'm offering this link that will take you to an excellent article about external hard drives. This article is warning the readers not to buy an external hard drive and the author of the article seems to be very convincing.
http://www.computercraft.com/docs/externalharddrive.shtml
think outside of the box (pc)
by puma - 1/26/08 7:45 PM In reply to: external hard drive purchase by Karridogin my experience, i've found external HDs pretty reliable considering they are more exposed to human accidents like bumped when powered on, disconnected while mounted, or dropped... i do find the firewire versions to be considerably better for file transfers, the older fw400 is even faster than usb2 and fw800 rocks! plus you don't need to have a computer as an intermediary, meaning you can transfer from camera (or other device) directly to HD, who needs a pc? - LOL. but i like the option of having an external bootable HD as i support a large corporate environment and it comes in handy when the system fails to boot to the desktop making it easier to determine if there is a hardware or software issue
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
