ah crap, hard disk is clicking

[MichaelZ]

6 month old WD 120 gig. started clicking recently... how long would u think b4 it goes?

I've unplugged the power until i figure out what to do with it. I'll RMA it for sure but I need to backup around 100gigs of data stored on it. To do that I'll have to get me another drive and I'm low on spending money right now so should I just wait until I can afford another drive? Surely it won't become unreadable anytime soon when it's unplugged and not being used?

 

[CraigRT]

plug it back in and start backing up... who knows how long it will last.
could be a while, could be only a few minutes...
hurry hurry!

 

[Bassyhead]

i would think the drive will be ok when it's off, but get it backed up once turned back on

 

[zephyrprime]

It will not last long. You cannont wait to back it up. There's a very good chance it won't even turn back on.

 

[DemiSheep]

If your drive is clicking you are at the extreem danger point. The drive may not even be accessable the next time you try to access it... back up your data NOW!

 

[RobCur]

i had this happened to me as well and next thing, the drive is recognizable thought it still powers up.
click click = scratching the surface on the outer layer of the disc. it maybe ok for a week but after that it is done for

 

[NokiaDude]

But another 120GB HD and do a drive to drive copy with the WD utility disk. 120GB are around $100 and you might be able to return it after then RMA finishes.

 

[MichaelZ]

was afraid of that. oh well... i'll go grab a maxtor sometime soon.

 

[Bad Dude]

Why don't you ask for advance replacement? Two days at most.
Good luck.

 

[Soulkeeper]

i have a pile of like 4 hard drives that have went out on me over the years
2 of them (80gb maxtor, 14~gb maxtor) went out from the clicking

also, i bought two twin 20gb maxtors like 2 years ago or so and one of them clicked out of the box and the other one was silent. Both of them are still working for me tho 24/7 , knock on wood or something...

usually the clicking is the read head/arm being messed up and/or the motor going out on ya in my experience

i would rma anything that makes "non-standard" sounds or vibrations these days
it just isn't worth it

good luck

 

[SilentZero]

As most people have already stressed. Backup!

As far as when it will go. Only god and the HD knows that answer. I had a HD that clicked for almost 6 months on and off before it died. And ive also had one that died after about 5 days of clicking on and off, so you never know. But the most important thing is to protect the data already on it to prepare for the worst.

 

[MichaelZ]

ok, got the data backed up now. Did it the ghetto way and scattered the 100 gigs in multiple 80 gig and 40 gig hard disks in other systems. Now all I gotta do is let this one do its thing and once its dead I'll send it back for RMA. Just hope any of the other drives now holding the data don't also decide to start clicking.

I'm trying to sell my external CD burner and once that's sold I'll be able to get another HD. Thinking of going with another Maxtor or IBM. Good experiences with both so far, but it's just such a gamble with hard disks. Gonna decline on giving WD my bucks this time.

 

[Ages120]

While your pc is running get a good defragmenting/surfrace checking program don't know any great ones but worth it to check around. Be good to have it even if your gonne let this hard drive die. Hehe if you want a good game to kill it go get the shadowbane 10 day trial. Lucky for you great hard drives seem to be almost dirt cheap these days. I mean I saw a 60 gig 2mb cache for 67 and for literally 2 dollars more it turned into a 80 gig 8mb cache. I would suggest going with Western Digital and not Maxtor I have had 4x as many drive failures with Maxtur then WD. 4 dead maxtors 1 wounded but recovered for misc storage WD. Have had it for several months as a storage works fine without heavy loading.