Clicking external hard drive, can't access.

hedgehog90 · 10-15-2009, 08:33 AM

I have a WD 250GB external harddrive.
I've had it for about 3 years now (which I believe is unusually long for these HDs)
Anyway, here's the story.
I turn on my computer this morning, to find my external hard drive clicking.
It clicks about 5 times, then I hear it stop spinning.

I read up on it and found that none of the methods to fix it worked, so I proceeded to take the thing apart.
I got the harddrive out of its casing and plugged it internally into my computer.

So I start up the computer, and I hear that horrible clicking sound. Same thing, 5 clicks, then it stops spinning.
I got to My Computer, and it's not there.
I goto devicemanager to see if it is detected, and it is.
I then goto Computer Management, and I see that it has detected my harddrive there.
However it shows it's got 18GB (When it stores 250GB), and it is not initialized.
I go to initialize it, then it hangs for 10 seconds, and then I get the error:
"The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error"

I desperately need those files stored on there.
I've got about 8 years worth of files on there, along with a music & movie collection that I couldn't live without.

Please please help.

**Tyree** · 10-15-2009, 11:51 AM

You are correct. 3 yrs. is a long life for most prebuilt external Hdd's.
Can you open the drive to view any of the data?
Try running the WD diagnostics.

GrTech2009 · 10-16-2009, 10:26 AM

sounds like a malfunctioned needle. I'm afraid you will have to face reality and prepare to lose some if not all of your data. I know its a pain but we should all have a secondary backup system. Either CD's, another HDD internal or External but the best way to ensure data safety is to purchase space on an external file server. There are companies that offer this service and some are inexpensive.

10-15-2009, 08:33 AM	#1 (permalink)
hedgehog90 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 3 OS: Vista	Clicking external hard drive, can't access. I have a WD 250GB external harddrive. I've had it for about 3 years now (which I believe is unusually long for these HDs) Anyway, here's the story. I turn on my computer this morning, to find my external hard drive clicking. It clicks about 5 times, then I hear it stop spinning. I read up on it and found that none of the methods to fix it worked, so I proceeded to take the thing apart. I got the harddrive out of its casing and plugged it internally into my computer. So I start up the computer, and I hear that horrible clicking sound. Same thing, 5 clicks, then it stops spinning. I got to My Computer, and it's not there. I goto devicemanager to see if it is detected, and it is. I then goto Computer Management, and I see that it has detected my harddrive there. However it shows it's got 18GB (When it stores 250GB), and it is not initialized. I go to initialize it, then it hangs for 10 seconds, and then I get the error: "The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error" I desperately need those files stored on there. I've got about 8 years worth of files on there, along with a music & movie collection that I couldn't live without. Please please help.

10-15-2009, 11:51 AM	#2 (permalink)
Tyree Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: May 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 5,496 OS: XP Pro-7RC-Mandriva My System	Re: Clicking external hard drive, can't access. You are correct. 3 yrs. is a long life for most prebuilt external Hdd's. Can you open the drive to view any of the data? Try running the WD diagnostics. __________________ Posting your PC specs will help us to help you quicker and more efficiently.

10-16-2009, 10:26 AM	#3 (permalink)
GrTech2009 Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 113 OS: WinXP SP3 Win 7	Re: Clicking external hard drive, can't access. sounds like a malfunctioned needle. I'm afraid you will have to face reality and prepare to lose some if not all of your data. I know its a pain but we should all have a secondary backup system. Either CD's, another HDD internal or External but the best way to ensure data safety is to purchase space on an external file server. There are companies that offer this service and some are inexpensive.