External Drive acting up

[Vinceisg0d]

Bought this thing about a month ago, absolutely in love with it. Then one day all the sudden loud noises, something 'clanky', i dont know the sound exactly, but its almost like rattling.

I am having a hard time viewing my files, and its not really opening things correctly.

I bought this at Future Shop, and am wondering if there's any chance in hell of it being replaced if I can't find the receipt / box I bought it in. (Yea, I know, bad move, but i was so in love with it...)

 

[Vinceisg0d]

woot! I found the receipt, no box though

Also, I rebooted to try to fix it, and my G15 stopped being seen on startup... =/

 

[Vinceisg0d]

Got it replaced, however I don't think i got the same disk. They weren't able (or willing, i should say) to recover my lost files. There goes 800 gigs of stuff, either way:

This is what I had before:

1TB LaCie BIG DISK USB2 7200RPM 8MB USA

And this is what I have now:

1TB LaCie BIG DISK U2&F4&F8 EXTREM+ 7200 32MB US

Box looked exactly the same, and the only noticeable difference is the available methods of connecting it, did I get a better deal? I noticed its a 32MB cache instead of 8MB, how much of a difference is that?

Also, how do you recommend I connect it?

 

[n7]

Looks like you scored a free upgrade

As for data recovery, FS will usually do it for $80, but that's assuming the drive still functions.
If not, they won't get much off it...

I personally do not like externals really, as i've seen a ton of different casing designs, all horrible.

I cannot understand why manufactuers design the casing to cook the HDD to death, but they do.

If you buy an internal + decent external enclosure, you can get something with at least decent heat dissipation vs. the furnace enclosures most brands use.

 

[Vinceisg0d]

Thanks for the info! I originally wanted to go with your idea, but all I had to purchase with was futureshop gift certificates, and I couldn't purchase them there, so I was stuck with this or nothing.

 

[myocardia]

You'll be fine, as long as you leave the drive turned off, unless you're reading from or writing to it. External drives aren't designed to run 24/7, or they'd all come with decent cooling, instead of sealed plastic cases.