Failing external drive

[G. Bush]

I have a large relatively new (18 months) external drive that is failing. I
have had problems with the drive and now most of the time the computer
(using XP) recogonizes the drive and thus I can see the contents, but I am
unable to copy or move any of the contents to another drive. Obviously, I
would like to copy at least some of the files before the drive dies. So far
I have been unsuccessful, even using safe mode.

I would appreciate any ideas as to how to access the drive. Thanks.

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "G. Bush" <[email protected]>

| I have a large relatively new (18 months) external drive that is failing. I
| have had problems with the drive and now most of the time the computer
| (using XP) recogonizes the drive and thus I can see the contents, but I am
| unable to copy or move any of the contents to another drive. Obviously, I
| would like to copy at least some of the files before the drive dies. So far
| I have been unsuccessful, even using safe mode.
|
| I would appreciate any ideas as to how to access the drive. Thanks.
|

Obtain manufacturer diagnostics and repair the drive. When complete, Ghost the drive to a
replacement.

 

[Dale Franks]

I own a Maxtor external drive (USB), that I use to backup data, then keep
of-site.

This may sound really dumb, but it simply WILL NOT function correctly unless
it is fully connected up and powered-up to my pc BEFORE my pc is booted-up!

Also, if you have a descent utility (which you should) like Norton
Utilities, System Mechanic 7, etc., scan the disc for errors, then "defrag"
it. You will probably find your external disc 98% fragmented, which will
slow any kind of file-transfer to a crawl..

From: "G. Bush" <[email protected]>

| I have a large relatively new (18 months) external drive that is failing.
I
| have had problems with the drive and now most of the time the computer
| (using XP) recogonizes the drive and thus I can see the contents, but I
am
| unable to copy or move any of the contents to another drive. Obviously, I
| would like to copy at least some of the files before the drive dies. So
far
| I have been unsuccessful, even using safe mode.
|
| I would appreciate any ideas as to how to access the drive. Thanks.
|

Obtain manufacturer diagnostics and repair the drive. When complete, Ghost
the drive to a
replacement.

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Dale Franks" <[email protected]>

| I own a Maxtor external drive (USB), that I use to backup data, then keep
| of-site.
|
| This may sound really dumb, but it simply WILL NOT function correctly unless
| it is fully connected up and powered-up to my pc BEFORE my pc is booted-up!
|
| Also, if you have a descent utility (which you should) like Norton
| Utilities, System Mechanic 7, etc., scan the disc for errors, then "defrag"
| it. You will probably find your external disc 98% fragmented, which will
| slow any kind of file-transfer to a crawl..
|

But those utilities don't fix bad sectors which manufacturer utilities do.

 

[Dale Franks]

You are absolutely correct, but I don't believe he has pinpointed what the
actual problem is to begin with in his post. I figure the utilities I
mentioned may not be able to correct them if they are indeed present, but
would certainly "identify" any sectors as "bad". Personally, I would try
re-formatting the disk to all zeros, if my other suggestions fail.

From: "Dale Franks" <[email protected]>

| I own a Maxtor external drive (USB), that I use to backup data, then keep
| of-site.
|
| This may sound really dumb, but it simply WILL NOT function correctly
unless
| it is fully connected up and powered-up to my pc BEFORE my pc is
booted-up!
|
| Also, if you have a descent utility (which you should) like Norton
| Utilities, System Mechanic 7, etc., scan the disc for errors, then
"defrag"
| it. You will probably find your external disc 98% fragmented, which will
| slow any kind of file-transfer to a crawl..
|

But those utilities don't fix bad sectors which manufacturer utilities do.

 

[Walt G]

Try Spinrite (www.grc.com/sr/spinrite)