external hard drive died?

[Address_Unknown]

Call that a toaster

It is, pretty much but if you got a bunch of old drives hanging about that you ripped from old computers/laptops and you want to either use or extract the data without the hassle of having to put them in enclosures or plug them into an open computer......the toaster option is king.

 

[threattonature]

I got two old ones that died on me. One that was on my shelf and got knocked off bending the part where you plug in the power cable. The other just flat stopped working. I think most of the data was backed up but it's driving me crazy thinking a bunch of old pictures are now gone.

 

[Golayitdown]

thanks for the replies

i said fukk it and smashed it with a hammer

Actually it could have just been your enclosure that was bad and not the drive in it. They are known to go bad just as much as the drive itself. The clicking probably meant the drive was about to go though. If you didn't go hammertime, you could have popped it out and probably got some of your stuff back.

 

[catskill247]

I got all my kids baby photos on the external drives and usb. Do I back up my back up's, back up?

Or just print the pics

 

[Zero]

this is why its wise to have an optical drive and some dvd-rs for backup disc purposes

DVD-Rs in the era of HD everything?

Can't even fit a 720p bluray on a DVD-R

 

[Take It In Blood]

DVD-Rs in the era of HD everything?

Can't even fit a 720p bluray on a DVD-R

Not talking about necessarily movies


Just important filed in general that u may want backed up and don't wanna gamble on a hdd dying or a cloud losing ur storage. And there's BD-Rs you can burn files to also

 

[@OffHalsted]

Invest in multiple back ups..

 

[patscorpio]

That's why you got back your shyt up. The amount of legendary piff/programs/porn/pictures I've lost off the strength of my drives giving up the ghost randomly on me...fukkING...HURTS.

I still got multiple dead drives on a shelf, hoping that one day I'll get a chance to recover some of that shyt. But anyways, onto your question.

Your shyt is clicking, which definately means it's giving up the ghost. The computer might not recognize it everytime, but if it ever does, keep it very still and SAVE EVERY fukkING THING YOU CAN.

I got lucky with one drive and did that.

As far as Data Recovery goes.......I'd rather someone I knew personally to do the shyt for me 'cause the shyt I've got saved..... Nah. I don't need that out in the public for shyt.

Outside of that, the two methods I used worked (For me atleast) So you may want to try the second one, because the first is sort of impractical.

The first method, I kinda noticed that whenever I plugged in my drive, it would click and whir, but if I squeezed it down, shyt would start rumbling as opposed to clicking and I got it to work. I might have gotten lucky with that one, but I took everything I could off of it and breathed easy.

The second method, a breh of mine did for me, but he basically pulled the HD out of it's box and put it into one of these.

And we managed to boot it up and pull all my shyt off of it.

Things to consider, but I hope you get your shyt breh, 'cause losing data on a drive....is just fukking tough.

i wonder how much those things run these days

 

[Zero]

Not talking about necessarily movies


Just important filed in general that u may want backed up and don't wanna gamble on a hdd dying or a cloud losing ur storage. And there's BD-Rs you can burn files to also

Breh its 2019

As far as a PC goes, aint no more optical media

 

[Black Panther]

Got damn, these shyts fukk up too?

I fear for my piff in the future.

Any way to avoid it? I always discharge by computer first before I pull the plug, if that helps.

Most external HDD's are still platter (read: mechanical) drives; they're usually just a mid-grade notebook drive (2.5") in a cheap plastic enclosure.

Meaning, basically, yeah, they fukk up. Fairly often. :kanyebp:

Honestly you could probably save a bit of money and buy a 2.5" HDD enclosure + a WD Black 2.5" drive (better quality, higher tolerances), or at least pay the same and have both a better drive and a more resilient case that can be re-used.

Or spend a bit more and put a SSD drive in the enclosure. :kanyebp: Your cost per GB will be higher but there's definitely no chance of having a mechanical failure (no moving parts :panthersafe: ).

Also make sure it isn't plugged in 24/7. Unplug that sh*t when you're not using it. :bpufedup:

 

[MenacingMonk]

Most external HDD's are still platter (read: mechanical) drives; they're usually just a mid-grade notebook drive (2.5") in a cheap plastic enclosure.

Meaning, basically, yeah, they fukk up. Fairly often. :kanyebp:

Honestly you could probably save a bit of money and buy a 2.5" HDD enclosure + a WD Black 2.5" drive (better quality, higher tolerances), or at least pay the same and have both a better drive and a more resilient case that can be re-used.

Or spend a bit more and put a SSD drive in the enclosure. :kanyebp: Your cost per GB will be higher but there's definitely no chance of having a mechanical failure (no moving parts :panthersafe: ).

Also make sure it isn't plugged in 24/7. Unplug that sh*t when you're not using it. :bpufedup:

Damn, this fuxkin sucks.

I never keep them plugged in. But I fear for one drive. It’s my drive where I have my movies and music. I usually plug it into my blu Ray, so when I’m done I can’t safely remove it like on a computer. I did change the option so I can just unplug it, but I prefer to use the eject option.

 

[morris]

Actually it could have just been your enclosure that was bad and not the drive in it. They are known to go bad just as much as the drive itself. The clicking probably meant the drive was about to go though. If you didn't go hammertime, you could have popped it out and probably got some of your stuff back.

Not really. 9.9 out of 10 times when you hear that repetitive clicking, it's pretty much dead just a matter of time.

The best thing to do would be to take it to a professional who will charge you anywhere from 3 to $400 or more, to get it fixed. Thankfully none of the data that I've lost through the years is that valuable. Other than some pictures from my travels.

 

[Golayitdown]

Not really. 9.9 out of 10 times when you hear that repetitive clicking, it's pretty much dead just a matter of time.

The best thing to do would be to take it to a professional who will charge you anywhere from 3 to $400 or more, to get it fixed. Thankfully none of the data that I've lost through the years is that valuable. Other than some pictures from my travels.

I literally said in my post that the clicking means the drive is probably about to go. I have personal experience with a drive in an enclosure clicking and making funny noises to the point of not being able to read it over usb, then extracting it from the enclosure and being able to access my data before retiring the drive.

Whether the drive is about to go or not, you always should try to remove the drive from the enclosure first to see if the data is salvageable.

As you say, there's a difference between having a matter of time left (meaning you can get all or some of your stuff off) and the drive being completely dead (meaning you can't do anything with the drive) like after you bash it with a hammer.

 

[chunky_mcdaniels]

have an external hard drive that I kept important scans on

this is the model

Western Digital 1 TB Passport

made weird sound last time I tried to open up files, heard spinning but drive was never recognized by pc


am i just out of luck or is there a fix?

thanks in advance


yes,I'm a dinosaur and prefer to archive things offline

I worked as a data transfer tech/film industry camera assistant for many years before i graduated to cinematography.

I know a bit about drives and copying / recovering data etc.

Is there a ticking sound when you plug it in? The spinning sound is a good thing.

This going to sound bugged the fukk out but i recommend putting it in some cling wrap and putting it in the freezer for 30 mins or so.

Take out of freezer and plug into computer. Strong chance it will work, but maybe only for 30 or so mins before it gets worked up to higher temp again.

Get all the stuff off you need onto the desktop or another drive asap.

 

[get these nets]

thanks for all the advice, fellas

I had a backup of the thing I was looking for on a flash drive.


I purchased an external dvd drive, and just going back to the old school and archive things on disc.

Cd/Dvd is the perfect media for storage anyway.

gonna get solid state external drive and bd burner during black friday deals, just to store music and films