External Hard Drive problems

[Guest]

Hello,
A few months ago I got a Maxtor 3200 500GB External HD that I have been
using to store videos to be edited, music, and various downloaded programs. I
have been using it without fault for at least 2 months but it stopped
functioning correctly this past weekend. I was downloading several large
files to the ExHD and apparently my pc hit a windows stop error and
restarted. I was asleep at the time and when I awoke the next day I found
that my ExHD was hanging everytime I tried to access a folder on the drive.

Symptoms:
When I hook up the ExHD Autoplay takes forever and eventually when it
asks what I want Windows to do, aside from the normal options, one of the
options is "open with..." "(a series of 4 black bars instead of a program
name) using <need provider>"
When I try to access the folders or files in the ExHD, it stops
responding. The few times I was able to get far enough to attempt to copy a
file it was going to take a lot longer than normal to copy to my main HD.
I've only seen two errors; one that said something to effect of "unable
to write to disk data may be lost or corrupted" and the other that said, "hi
speed usb device connected to a non hi speed usb hub". (I got the latter
after running AVG on the ExHD for over 7 hours.)
Checkdisk times out everytime I run it on that drive.
When I'm booting up my system and have the ExHD plugged in my pc will
hang on a black screen until I disconnect the ExHD. Also, if I reconnect the
ExHD before windows finishs loading I get the black screen again. Prior to
the windows restart I have never had this problem and was always able to load
Windows regardless if my ExHD was hooked up or not.
A couple more issues I've noticed since the windows restart are; If I
have my ExHD connected and I try to use Ad/Remove Programs, it will hang on
the "Please wait while list is populated" screen. The weirdest thing is that
the icons in My Computer window have been reorganized since the windows
restart.

I've spent almost all my waking hours trying to figure this problem out as
I'm in the middle of a huge editing project and don't want to lose the work
I've done so far.
I've tried to run checkdisk but it just hangs at phase 2.
I've uninstalled and reinstalled both my usb ports and my ExHD numerous
times.
I've tried just restarting Windows.
I've tried plugging my ExHD into different ports and both my Mp3 player and
my printer work in all ports.
I've run Checkdisk, Spybot, AdAware, and AVG on my system numerous times and
AVG on my ExHD once.
I haven't tried a system restore as I don't seem to have a restore
point prior to the windows restart and I haven't tried to reformat the drive
as I would like to keep the information locked on the ExHD and if it is a USB
problem it would take forever to reformat (assuming that it didnt just hang
in the middle) just to find that I'm still stuck in the same predicament.
Yesterday I finally got Checkdisk to run on my Ex HD but here is what
happened...
After letting Checkdisk sit at 3% for a few hours it finally seemed like it
was working. The next morning I woke up to find a message saying that my "hi
speed device would work a lot faster if I plugged it into a hi speed USB
port." Now everytime I try to run checkdisk it hangs at 3% until it finally
decides to tell me to plug my ExHD into a different port. This "shouldn't" be
a problem because all my port were working before, now none work as they
should. Furthermore, my pc is now taking the liberty to make my ExHD
"disappear" after it tells me to use a different port causing me to restart
my pc and power down my ExHD for a few minutes.
As this is a problem I've been working on for a week now I just keep
accumulating information as I continue to research while awaiting replies
from forums and manufacturers of both my HD and my MoBo. I noticed a
workaround for the following error; "Delayed Write Failed Windows was unable
to save all the data for the file drive_letter:\file_path\file_name. The data
has been lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer
hardware or network connection.
Please try to save this file elsewhere. ", which consisted of editing the
registry. I decided to follow those instructions as I got that error earlier
in my quest to fix this issue and discovered that I dont have a "3ware
Storage Controller" folder where the pertinant file is supposed to be. I
vaguely remember accidentally "killing" a 3ware program using Enditall.
Anyone know if this is the cause or part of the issue and how I can get 3ware
back without using system restore?


Sys Info
Windows XP Home w/SP2
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG (7/29/2004)
AMD Athlon XP 3000+ 2.1 GHz
1.00 GB RAM
Creative Audigy Audio Processor
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 XT
Epox nForce2 Ultra 400 AGPset


Thanks

 

[CreateWindow]

Howdy Adam,

Have you tried a chkdsk /r on your system drive? Sounds to me like the
EXT-HD may be ok but your C drive could use a repair check. The /r (repair)
option will take awhile; depending on the size of your system partition.

Cheers,
CreateWindow
http://mymessagetaker.com

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Hello,
A few months ago I got a Maxtor 3200 500GB External HD that I have been
using to store videos to be edited, music, and various downloaded
programs. I
have been using it without fault for at least 2 months but it stopped
functioning correctly this past weekend. I was downloading several large
files to the ExHD and apparently my pc hit a windows stop error and
restarted. I was asleep at the time and when I awoke the next day I found
that my ExHD was hanging everytime I tried to access a folder on the
drive.

Symptoms:
When I hook up the ExHD Autoplay takes forever and eventually when it
asks what I want Windows to do, aside from the normal options, one of the
options is "open with..." "(a series of 4 black bars instead of a program
name) using <need provider>"
When I try to access the folders or files in the ExHD, it stops
responding. The few times I was able to get far enough to attempt to copy
a
file it was going to take a lot longer than normal to copy to my main HD.
I've only seen two errors; one that said something to effect of "unable
to write to disk data may be lost or corrupted" and the other that said,
"hi
speed usb device connected to a non hi speed usb hub". (I got the latter
after running AVG on the ExHD for over 7 hours.)
Checkdisk times out everytime I run it on that drive.

Indicating a hardware problem

When I'm booting up my system and have the ExHD plugged in my pc will
hang on a black screen until I disconnect the ExHD. Also, if I reconnect
the
ExHD before windows finishs loading I get the black screen again. Prior to
the windows restart I have never had this problem and was always able to
load
Windows regardless if my ExHD was hooked up or not.
A couple more issues I've noticed since the windows restart are; If I
have my ExHD connected and I try to use Ad/Remove Programs, it will hang
on
the "Please wait while list is populated" screen. The weirdest thing is
that
the icons in My Computer window have been reorganized since the windows
restart.

I've spent almost all my waking hours trying to figure this problem out as
I'm in the middle of a huge editing project and don't want to lose the
work
I've done so far.
I've tried to run checkdisk but it just hangs at phase 2.
I've uninstalled and reinstalled both my usb ports and my ExHD numerous
times.
I've tried just restarting Windows.
I've tried plugging my ExHD into different ports and both my Mp3 player
and
my printer work in all ports.
I've run Checkdisk, Spybot, AdAware, and AVG on my system numerous times
and
AVG on my ExHD once.

Those aren't likely to aid the hardware and filesystem problems that seem
likely.

I haven't tried a system restore as I don't seem to have a restore
point prior to the windows restart and I haven't tried to reformat the
drive
as I would like to keep the information locked on the ExHD and if it is a
USB
problem it would take forever to reformat (assuming that it didnt just
hang
in the middle) just to find that I'm still stuck in the same predicament.
Yesterday I finally got Checkdisk to run on my Ex HD but here is what
happened...
After letting Checkdisk sit at 3% for a few hours it finally seemed like
it
was working. The next morning I woke up to find a message saying that my
"hi
speed device would work a lot faster if I plugged it into a hi speed USB
port." Now everytime I try to run checkdisk it hangs at 3% until it
finally
decides to tell me to plug my ExHD into a different port. This "shouldn't"
be
a problem because all my port were working before, now none work as they
should.

Things break, even if they did work before. It happens.

Furthermore, my pc is now taking the liberty to make my ExHD
"disappear" after it tells me to use a different port causing me to
restart
my pc and power down my ExHD for a few minutes.

Hardware failure

As this is a problem I've been working on for a week now I just keep
accumulating information as I continue to research while awaiting replies
from forums and manufacturers of both my HD and my MoBo. I noticed a
workaround for the following error; "Delayed Write Failed Windows was
unable
to save all the data for the file drive_letter:\file_path\file_name. The
data
has been lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer
hardware or network connection.
Please try to save this file elsewhere. ", which consisted of editing the
registry. I decided to follow those instructions as I got that error
earlier
in my quest to fix this issue and discovered that I dont have a "3ware
Storage Controller" folder where the pertinant file is supposed to be. I
vaguely remember accidentally "killing" a 3ware program using Enditall.
Anyone know if this is the cause or part of the issue and how I can get
3ware
back without using system restore?

Thanks

It isn't impossible for the ports to become damaged, or for the base
motherboard chipset driver to have corrupted. Try attaching the external
drive to another machine and see if it works there.

If it doesn't, remove the drive from the case and attach it via either
another case or the IDE or SATA cable to see if it then works properly.
That will tell you if the problem is the external case circuitry or the
filesystem or drive itself is damaged.

If the filesystem is damaged, STOP and consider the value of what is on that
drive. Be aware that running CHKDSK could potentially damage the files,
and that you may need to use other methods to recover the data first.

I'll guess that you do not have alternate backups of a 500-gig drive.

If it does work on another system, reinstall the board drivers and test with
another USB2 device. Once you have the ports working at USB2 speeds, you
can try re-attaching the external drive, assuming it is working.

HTH
-pk

 

[Guest]

I am having the same problem and getting the same error msg when trying to
save backups to a USB hard drive.

I have read a lot of articles and this one
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925269/en-us) seems like it might explain.

I wish I'd read it b4 formatting, because now it's impossible to go back to
the other format, I believe.

Is there any other fix for this?

 

[sean]

Please don't run any of the Windows based checking/error correction
apps unless you don't value your data.

We deal with numerous such errors with an almost 100% recovery rate.

www.easyrestore.co.uk
Cost Effective Data Recovery

If you would like to read details of some of our recent projects
please browse to www.easyrestore.co.uk/recent.htm

 

[Guest]

Hi. Problem solved -- apparently.

My "disk write failure" issue was with big backup files, but I completed a
full backup of all on C last night after setting the USB drive to "optimize
for quick removal" and checking "quota management" and "do not limit disk
usage". Don't ask me why it worked but it does seem to have done the trick.

Cheers.