Railfan Technology > External Hard Drive Help Request

I have a 325 GB external hard drive that is 89% full. I am no longer able to access the pictures on it and I get an error message when I disconnect and the reconnect it to the computer although I get the chimes when I disconnect or connect. I have a new 500GB external hard drive I have also attached to the computer. I would like to transfer some of the files (raw photo files only) from the old device to the new one... Any suggestions as to how to regain access to the old unit to transfer some files so it will be accessible again? Thanks!

Hate to break the news, but that doesn't sound good at all. The chime upon connection means that the USB interface electronics are working and if you can see directories, then the disk is powered up and partially there. Generally if you can't open files that's a bad sign that the disk is failing and the data on it is becoming corrupt. What's the error that you're getting?

If it comes up it says the USB device is not operating properly. It doesn't sound like the disk is turning at full speed like the other one does... Someone told me it is because it's almost full and not opening/starting up properly.

You didn't tell us the error message. Before condemning it I would go through all the standard elimination steps(if not done). You also didn't tell us if the device ICON appears and what you are using to access the files, through explorer.

1) Reboot the computer with both hard drives unattached.
2) attach only the old drive using the USB cable that worked for the new drive
also using the USB port known to work on the new drive.
3) try reattaching several times, if you get it to work start copying files to your computer HD as quickly as possible as this should be faster than drive to drive. And don't stop till you are done.
4) Leave it sit and try the next day.

You can try running the device troubleshooting tool, I forget the name but a good XP book or the NET will steer you there. After that there are companies that retrieve data files, I have a friend it cost around 300 to get most of his files off a drive.

Always have copies on two devices in the future(obvious now)??

Bob

Robj gives good advice. One thing to try might be to name your drives instead of letting the computer do it each time the computer boots up. One time it will pick the smaller drive as drive E: but the next time the larger drive will be given that designation. So go to start and right click on the My Computer link. When the pull down comes up select explore. This will show you which drives are visible to the computer. Right click on each external drive and select properties from the pull down menu. There will be an open box near the top of the properties box so go ahead and fill that in with a letter of your choice, P: and Q: work pretty good. You can choose a name for each if you like. Type it in for each drive and click apply or OK, I cannot remember which comes up. See if that helps.

Daisy chaining the drives can bring it's own set of problems especially if you are try to move files directly from one external to the other. The best is to move them from one external to the main C: drive and them move from there to the other external. It also helps if you drfrag the external drives regularly to keep files in larger blocks.

Let us know how it works out.

What is the brand of External Drive?

Some external drive cases have been known to fail while the actual hard drive inside is fine.

How old is the External Drive?

I have a western digital hard-drive and at first installing the driver, it wasn't compatible because I had a usb 1.0 and I think it required a 2.0 I was wondering if you put the usb in a 1.0 port instead of 2.0 by any chance? I have 3 usb ports on my notebook and it appears only 1 works with the hard-drive I have. Just a thought.

It is a Maxtor 3200 external hard drive. Someone sent me a link indicating these units have a problem with the power supply going belly up so that it does not deliver proper voltage to the unit to run it. When I have time I'll put a volt meter on the power supply but from the sounds of it the problem matches the symptoms I've seen with it. I'll post what I find... thanks for all of the suggestions & comments!

Had this happen to a LaCie external FireWire drive recently. Wouldn't mount and just sat there clicking away. It was just the external power supply. Replaced it and everything was aces.

mojaveflyer Wrote:
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> Someone told me it is because it's almost
> full and not opening/starting up properly.


Don't ever listen to whoever told you that again.

A word of caution on power supplies for external hard drives: They are sensitive to heat. The hotter it gets, the less likely it is to work properly. Yes, the external hard drive cases themselves are also can get hot.

If your external hard drive power supply is too hot to hold in your hand, then it is too hot to operate properly.

If you choose a new external hard drive I'd recommend a Drobo - RAID technology and flexibility. Drive fails - pull out - images/data is retained on other drive(s). There are four bays on my Drobos. The more the merrier. Yes, it $$$, but worth the investment.