[shadow1515]

I have a Western Digital USB 2.0 external hard drive, and I'm having a sort of weird problem with it.

The problem is weird because it seems to have been progressive. First, I would sometimes get an error when copying files to my hard drive that said "cannot copy [file name]: cannot find the specified file. Make sure you specify the correct path and file name." Then my computer would refuse to read the drive until I turned it off and on again. I could browse the folders, but they all appeared to be empty.

Then, it started doing this EVERY time I tried to copy a file to it. It worked fine on other computers. Now, it does this on any computer. It's not the USB cable, because I have tried at least three different ones, and likewise it cannot be a problem on my computer (as I originally thought it was) because now it does it on anything.

Note that I can READ anything that's already on the hard drive just fine, and SOMETIMES it lets me copy files, but I can never transfer much more than 10 MB or so before I get the error again, and most of the time I can't transfer anything at all.

I have no idea what's going on, and specifically I have no idea why the problem progressively got worse. If it broke, why didn't it just break all at once? Also, when I run the Windows error-checking tool under the drive properties, I can check the second option and it will complete just fine but when I check the first one (to repair file system errors) it cannot complete the check.

Does this mean that, maybe, I could just copy everything to another drive, then do a full format and maybe it would work again? Or is the thing just completely dead? Also, are these types of problems common in Western Digital drives? Since this one is obviously in trouble I've been shopping for a new one (that, and my needs have outgrown the 200 GB that this drive is) and I'm down to either a Cavalry or a Western Digital, but if another WD drive is likely to do this in less than two years then I don't want one.

Thanks a lot if you read all of that, and thanks a lot more if you have some kind of answer for me.

 

[linderman]

hello


I suggest you go to the western digital website and download their "data lifeguard" diagnostic software (free) from the download/support area of the WD website,

Use this diagnostic utility software to verify the mechanical condition fo the drive.

Western digital drives are very reliable, yours may also stillb e in warranty (3 years generally)

post back with the results of the diagnostic check

 

[shadow1515]

A quick test came back clean, but SMART status is listed as "unknown" and under drive properties the health status is listed as "warning."

I'm now waiting on results of the extended test, but that will be a while so I thought I'd just post this now in case that tells you anything.

 

[shadow1515]

The extended test fails, with the error message "too many bad sectors detected."

Is there any way to fix this, or any explanation for why it would have happened?

 

[shadow1515]

I have one more piece of information to add. The drive has a FAT32 file system. I never looked at the file system before, because it just worked when I plugged it in, so I assumed all was well. But looking at some other messages posted on this forum, I see a lot of people talking about their NTFS external drives. Could this have anything to do with it? Probably not, eh?

 

[8210GUY]

Your extended test suggests the drive is dying, about the only thing you can do is recover any data you want and replace it, NTFS has nothing to do with it failing, it is simply the more secure and preferred format these days, it would have nothing to do with the drive failing, if your drive still has warranty left you can use the code given in that test and submit an RMA request with them and get a replacement, just take notice of their instructions, some are very strict on packaging the returns and will void the warranty if not followed, if you don't have the packing they require (the original box is usually ideal) then tell them of your problem and see what they suggest.

 

[shadow1515]

So even after I buy a new hard drive and get all my data off of this one, will a complete reformat probably fix it or not? If not, how common is it for external hard drives to spontaneously breakdown in less than two years?

 

[linderman]

hello:


as my 8210Guy has suggested. Be thankful you got a warning and take advantage to back up your data.

There is no reason in particular that the drive failed, other than its fairly common occurence these days, drive are being made ever larger and ever cheaper these days. With the market pushing for big & cheap comes increased failure and lower quality control. But in reality we can now afford to have multiple redundant drives to protect us from data loss.

I remember the days not long ago that small drives were in the $250.00 to $300.00 dollar range, they were very dependable; drive failure was almost non-existant; but I think I prefer the present senario.

data back-up is the name of the game!

 

[hwm54112]

Run chkdsk /r (start>run>chkdsk /r). When it asks if you want to run it on the next restart, select Y. There may be enough spare sectors on the drive to remap all the bad sectors and allow you to get your data off

Drives wear out as they get old - bad sectors are the result, sort of like hair turning gray as people get older. It's a progression. The older it gets the more bad sectors will show. Another possibility is crashes. whenever a computer crashes, if the drive is spinning, the read/write arms/heads may strike the surface and damage sectors. Along that same thought line, a drive may read a bad sector and crash; that crash damages another sector and so on. Other hardware faults could cause the same progression

You may be able to run chkdsk more than once to completely rid it of bad sectors. Once you get your data backed up, you may be able to zero the drive using the WD utilities and extend it's life, just keep backups until you're comfortable the drive has been successfully repaired

 

[8210GUY]

A format wont repair a dying drive, it just may make it a bit more usable if your lucky for a short time, but think of it being a time bomb with the fuse lit, only you have no ideas how long the fuse will go for before blowing, so even if you can struggle by with it, to use it for info you can't afford to lose is suicidal IMHO, if under warranty you wont have to buy a new one, they will simply replace it with a new one when they confirm the fault, all you will have to pay is probably the shipping to them via secure post, it's just the inconvenience of going through this, just stick with the big names and longest warranty's and it's as much you can do, no single thing is perfect unfortunately, just one of those things we have to deal with.

 

[linderman]

I personally wont use a drive once I begin to see any bad sectors developing, once that process starts, I label them as unreliable.
either RMA the drive or buy another

 

[hwm54112]

I agree with both 8210 and linderman but take things a little deeper. After backing up and/or retrieving data, WHY {are there bad sectors} is the most important question. If the bad sectors are showing up for no reason, then the drive is unreliable, it’s deteriorating from wear and should be replaced. However, if the bad sectors are occurring for a reason (such as crashes) then replacing the drive isn’t the complete answer, finding the cause of the crashes is. Otherwise, the new drive will suffer the same fate. To put it into perspective, all drives have bad sectors that have been remapped before the drive leaves the factory. There are additional spare sectors on the drive that are used to remap any bad sectors that develop through usage. This remapping is handled transparently by the drive’s controller. So bad sectors don’t necessarily equate to a bad drive. For instance, a kernel error crashes the computer, the computer automatically reboots, chkdsk is run automatically. Because chkdsk runs, it appears that a drive error caused the reboot when in fact that error is merely a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. Some drives err on the side of caution and remap all of the sectors around the bad sector as well, using up the spare sectors faster and shortening the perceived life of the drive. WD drives use that technology as it improves data reliability in the long term. With that in mind, it makes sense to retrieve and backup the data, then zero the drive if only as a diagnostic measure. Zeroing (as opposed to formatting) will remap the bad sectors again and may or may not revive the drive. In any case, I believe this diagnostic measure with external drives is more important because of the usb interface on top of the ide interface as usb tends to be more problematic than ide. How many failures of usb drives do we see that exhibit no warning signs? I could be wrong, but it seems to be disproportional as compared to internal drives. This might be a good time to check that usb interface

 

[shadow1515]

Well, thanks for the help guys. I'm getting a new drive in a couple of weeks to back up my data, then I'm wiping this one and hoping that it's still useable. Either way, I think I'm going to stay away from Western Digital for a while. Any reccomendations on good brands? I've been eyeing the Beyond Micro drives on tigerdirect...they're cheap and have good reviews SO FAR, but does anyone know about long-term reliability?

 

[8210GUY]

Personally I'd stick with the big names, WD, Samsung, Seagate which bought out Maxtor and Hitachi, depends what your looking for you'd have to check out performance, but I suggest letting the warranty have a large influence on your selection, there will always be a problem with some drives, it isn't restricted to a single maker, they all have them, it's just how lucky you are not to get a dodgy one, but at least with the warranty you will always get it replaced, thats my suggestion anyway, hope it helps.

 

[linderman]

HWM has an excellent point that I hope you understand the importance of. I have no idea why that flew over my head when thinkign about the remapping of the drive.

its an excellent idea to determine why is the "actual" failure the hard drive or crashing ?????


many thanks HWM for taking the time to elabortate on that one! ray:

 

[hwm54112]

Thank yourself some Joe. Countless posts by you, re: unreliability of usb and removing the drive from the enclosure to diagnose/recover a drive are a constant reminder of the fragility of usb. Usb is so widely used today that we often lose sight of the fact that it’s actually an interface on top of another interface

I personally like WD drives. They are quiet, the last one I bought had a 5 year warranty and they use sector margining (I think that’s what it’s called) that marks the adjacent sectors as bad sectors as well. To me that makes for a reliable drive as far as data is concerned

 

[shadow1515]

You know, I may actually go with another WD drive after all. Sure, they're a little more expensive than the other ones I'm looking at, but your posts have reminded me of something important: my drive is dying (or is already dead really...I can no longer write anything to it), yet I've still been able to access any data on it that I wanted to. Maybe SOME of the 150+ GB of data on it will turn out to be untretrievable, but I certainly haven't found any of it yet. Thanks again for everything, I never knew anything about hard drives and the information about WD's remapping of bad sectors was enlightening.

 

[linderman]

my vote goes with Western Digital also!