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Innocent Girlfriend Rewards Him With Pussy - review by Captain Jack| Author | Post |
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Walter  All-Star Member 1445 Posts 3/05 |  Posted - Jun 27 2009 : 12:05PMMy external hard drive worked until a day or two ago, when I started seeing message boxes that it was too full and that I should delete some files from it to clear up space. When I tried to delete files from it this morning, I couldn't find it in the My Computer window. Also, applications like ITunes and Open Office can't access any files from this hard drive. However, the light on the hard drive is still on, indicating that it has power. I tried switching where I plugged the mouse and hard drive into my machine, and my mouse worked in both slots and my hard drive didn't work in either slot. How can I get this drive working again and save some of the data (at least a few files) that is stored on it? I wonder if the problem is due to the drive being "overfilled". It seems like an unlikely coincidence that the hard drive could die for the typical reasons at the same point in time that it becomes completely full. If this is the case, then maybe someone can offer a DIY solution. Any help would be greatly appreciated. PS I am on a Vista machine. [Link] |
| Harri Patel Senior Member #SDNY he's all yours. -- Michael Steele 5110 Posts 3/03 | Posted - Jun 27 2009 : 1:29PM [Link] |
| BigBobxxx Senior Member 2681 Posts 5/04 | Posted - Jun 27 2009 : 1:29PM Shut down the computer. Does the drive also shut down (give it two minutes just to be sure). If not, force it to shut down. Sometimes an external drive has a button that can be used to power up/power down the drive (as most drives today automatically power up/power down with the computer). The button allows you to, in effect, override the auto on/off if you are not going to be using the drive. If you have to, disconnect the power to the drive to get it to turn off. Allow it a good two minutes to spin-down before moving it. One question that just occurs to me is, are you using this drive as storage only, or are you running an automatic back-up program that is always reading/writing to the drive? It's quite possible an automatic back-up program hit "the wall" (i.e. lack of space), so it has had a hissy fit. Your previously saved files should be just fine. In any event, what I have done in the past, is to plug the drive into another computer. Almost always, the other computer recognizes the drive, and you can work with the files. It is extremely unlikely that you have lost any files that have previously been saved to the drive. If you don't have access to another computer, sometimes the process of simply powering everything off, and then starting over again can help. Sometimes, re-connecting to another open USB slot can help. For some reason, external USB drives are not automatically recognized in every USB slot until they have been plugged into two different slots. Your computer might give you a "second chance" at recognizing your drive :) Also, I have had situations where, for some reason, simply by changing the connection type to the computer, I have been able to get past a drive glitch. What I'm talking about is only possible when your drive can connect more than one way to the computer (e.g. both USB and Firewire). When I have had problems, it was because I had a string of drives connected via Firewire. By powering everything off, and then re-connecting the troublesome drive via USB, I have always been able to recover the full use of the drive without issue. Even though you're supposed to be able to string Firewire drives together, I just don't do it anymore, as it frequently caused issues for me. These are just some thoughts to try out that have worked for me. I don't think your drive died, it's just playing opossum. [Link] |
| Jordan1 Member Fishing, a fun hobby! 490 Posts 7/08 | Posted - Jun 27 2009 : 2:26PM After I was done I plugged everything back and for some unknown reason my external hard drive wouldn't recognize my computer. I tried restarting the computer, unplugging the all USB cables-including my hub, unplugging the power cords for the external and hub directly from the ends connected to the devices, but it still wouldn't work! Then, I figured it out, I simply unplugged the power cord from both the surge protector and the other end that plugs into the external drive. It immediately went back to normal and haven't had a problem with it since. Bottom line, the suggested solution: Unplug both ends of the power cord of the hard drive and also unplug the USB cord from both ends of the hard drive. [Link] |
| Walter All-Star Member 1445 Posts 3/05 | Posted - Jul 4 2009 : 2:35PM One possibility that has occurred to me is that the cord between the hard drive and the computer might be broken. When I tried unplugging and replugging the cord into the back of the hard drive, it clicks and makes a "spinning" sound for 5-10 seconds, then goes silent. A new hard drive might be in order. This one was 500GB; I will probably replace it with a 1.5 TB drive. I suppose that I could put the current one back in its box. I am hesitant to throw it out since I'm not convinced that it is really dead. I really only care about one workbook that I (foolishly) seem to not have backed up on my C: drive (at least not recently). It is not worth paying a lot of money to recover. Thanks for all your help! Happy Independence Day! [Link] |
| professorwolf Member The Fringe, USA 90 Posts 7/00 | Posted - Jul 4 2009 : 3:19PM [Link] |
| Harri Patel Senior Member #SDNY he's all yours. -- Michael Steele 5110 Posts 3/03 | Posted - Jul 4 2009 : 7:34PM [Link] |
| Bill All-Star Member 5334 Posts 6/00 | Posted - Jul 4 2009 : 9:16PM [Link] |
| Bob All-Star Member 5516 Posts 3/03 | Posted - Jul 6 2009 : 2:25AM Harri's idea is absolutely the best. It's more likely that the controller of the external enclosure went south than that the hard drive inside it did. Anyway, you'll know for sure by doing the trouble-shooting that Harri suggests. And if the actual drive is fine, you can either add it as an internal drive to your computer or purchase a new external enclosure for it. That solution is a lot cheaper than buying a new external drive. I don't buy pre-packaged external drives anymore. I'd rather buy a Western Digital internal drive with a solid 5-year warranty and put it in a hand-picked enclosure. It's as easy as pie. [Link] |
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