My external harddrive is dying :(

[daw123]

My 1TB external HDD seems to be on its last legs. It basically a WD 1TB HDD in an external enclosure with a USB connection. I've owned it from new for exactly a year.

Recently (the last couple of weeks) Windows has been detecting the USB connection repeatedly, which suggests to me that the connection was dropping then detecting then dropping then detecting, etc.

I had it plugged in through a USB hub. I tried connecting it directly to the USB ports on the MB, but it did the same thing (intermittent connection). Eventually the connection seems to stabilise and it will last for days (if I don't switch the PC off).

I presume it the HDD and not the enclosure, which is knackered. Do you think my assessment is correct?

Any way, as a precautionary measure I'm currently backing up everything on to my 1.5TB internal HDD (its going to take 7hours to copy 811GB across).

I've also placed an order for a new WD 1.5TB Caviar Green. I'll swap out the existing drive in the external enclosure for this new HDD.

What's the best way to keep regular back ups between external and internal HDDs?

 

[AsusGuy]

If the USB connection is being dropped repeatedly I wonder if the enclosure might be going bad. Sounds like you already have a new drive coming so you can test that drive and see what happens. I would think the enclosure would need to be replaced. As for backups I would recommend a free program called Cobian. That will allow you to set regular backup schedules. Give me an update when you have tested the new drive.

http://www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobianbackup.htm

 

[zagood]

Are you using the same cable through this whole process? If there's any way you can replace it with another one, try that first.

Oh, and bad enclosure is another possibility, or even the connection of the drive to the enclosure.

What you described doesn't sound like a failing hard drive.

I guess the real test to answer your main question would be to take the drive out of the enclosure and test with it connected directly to a SATA port.

 

[daw123]

Thanks guys for the responses.

Its a good thing that it has happened beause its a wake up call that I need to do backups.

I'll also buy a new enclosure and carry out some testing.

 

[Old Hippie]

What you described doesn't sound like a failing hard drive.

Doesn't to me either.

Sounds more like the enclosure's interface.

 

[Blain]

Is it a high quality external enclosure or a dirt-cheap after rebate model?

 

[daw123]

Originally posted by: Blain
Is it a high quality external enclosure or a dirt-cheap after rebate model?

I have no idea.

I'm looking at replacement enclosures on the 'Net right now.

 

[daw123]

It doesn't seem as if my MB (GA-EX58-Extreme) has an eSATA connection on the back panel and I don't have a spare PCI-E slot, so it looks as if I'm stuck with a USB connection.

Do you guys know of any decent external hard drive enclosures (with a SATA / USB interface)?

My budget is about $45.

 

[Old Hippie]

Look no farther than the Antec MX-1.

Great unit with eSATA & USB with a nice quiet fan.

I've seen them go for 25.00 awhile back but haven't seen them on sale recently.

 

[Old Hippie]

If this is your board, you should have an eSATA expansion bracket that will fit in any rear slot on your case.

 

[daw123]

Originally posted by: Old Hippie
If this is your board, you should have an eSATA expansion bracket that will fit in any rear slot on your case.

Yeah, you're right I do have the eSATA expansion bracket in the MB box. I only have one spare expansion slot on the case backplate, which is partially obstructed by the hybrid pipe silent heatpipe heatsink (I'm not sure what it's technical name is, but it's this heatsink). There may be just enough space for it to fit. I'll give it a try.

Thanks Old Hippie.

 

[Old Hippie]

You're more than welcome. :thumbsup:

 

[daw123]

Hi guys,

An update: I've installed the eSATA backplate and I've ordered two Antec MX-1 external enclosures (one for my 1TB HDD and the other for my new 1.5TB HDD).

This means I'll have over 4TB of storage; 1x 60GB, 2x 1.5TB and 1TB HDDs.

 

[Old Hippie]

This means I'll have over 4TB of storage; 1x 60GB, 2x 1.5TB and 1TB HDDs.

I think we've created a Monster! :laugh:

 

[daw123]

Originally posted by: Old Hippie

This means I'll have over 4TB of storage; 1x 60GB, 2x 1.5TB and 1TB HDDs.

I think we've created a Monster! :laugh:

LOL.

I've got about 1TB of storage, so with it backed up, I'll have used 50% of my storage capacity.

In another two years, I'll need even more since I generally add about 50GB of data each month. Hopefully by then SSD will be cheap enough (£/GB) that I can use SSDs instead.

 

[Russwinters]

Check the smart, and post it here



also you can DL MHDD and run a surface scan with it and it has a visual graph that will show you sectors that are reading too low, or timing out completely.

 

[daw123]

Just fitted the the old 1TB and the new 1.5TB HDDs in their new homes (2x Antec MX-1 enclosures). I'm using an eSATA connection for both.

It seems as if it was the enclosure which was knackered since I'm not having any problems with the old HDD since it has been re-housed.

Also eSATA (or SATA) is so much faster than USB. Just shows how slow a USB connection is. I've just copied 9GB to the drive in well under 2 minutes.

Edit: Its copying 140GB is 20 minutes. Not bad.