portable hdd keeps screwing up!

[lockmac]

Hi.
My 80GB portable USB hard drive is used for me to backup my data to it. This has happened twice now... I plug the drive in and it doesnt appear in my computer so i go to Disk Management and all 74GB's is unallocated!

I swear i do absolutely nothing and it just gets uninitialized and everything is gone!

Can someone please help
Thanks

 

[BlueWeasel]

So it goes from one large partition to no partition at all? Strange.

 

[Zepper]

Is "Delayed Write" disabled for that drive? Do you "eject" it properly after each use?

.bh.

 

[lockmac]

Yes exactly, it goes from one large patition that has all my data on it to an unitialized drive that claims that it has just 74GB of unpartitioned space

In terms of delayed write.. im not sure what that is so I dont know if it is enabled or not.. but in terms of whether I disconnect it properly.. i guess the answer to that would be a No but I never disconnect it when it is in use.

..

..

The problem I now have is that I need some files off the drive even though I have done a quick format on it. Is this possible using a program such as GetDataBack NTFS?

Thanks

 

[Cerb]

In the drive's properties (disk properties tab), there will be a write cache option. Your internal hard drives have it, too. Make sure it is off for the external drive.

Windows writes to a small RAM cache, and then when that gets big enough, or it has been long enough, it writes that to the drive, so that the drive can be used more effectively. However, if it is writing while you pull the plug...

 

[corkyg]

Turning off Write Caching is in the drive's properties under POLICIES, then select OPTIMIZE FOR QUICK REMOVAL. Write caching is invoked when PERFORMANCE is selected.

 

[lockmac]

Ok the drive was already set to "optimize for quick removal" where you can supposedly disconnect the drive without using the Safe Removal Icon..

Any other ideas anyone?

By the way, I was able to do a recovery of quite a bit of my data.. mainly video files that I was trying to recover, however around half of them stuffed up and when you try to play the video, it just has some techno music or something like that which sucks!

 

[dunkster]

I suggest the first step is to resolve whether the problem is the hard drive or the hard drive enclosure.

To test the drive:
- Download the DOS diagnostic from the drive manufacturer, for that specific drive model.
- Remove the drive from the enclosure and connect the drive to your motherboard.
- Make sure it's recognized in BIOS.
- Run the diagnostic to test the drive directly.

If the drive itself is OK, the problem is in the external enclosure (USB chipset, connectors, cheap-ass power module, etc.).

External enclosures seem to be viewed as a commodity, rather than a critical system element. Focus is on price, rather than performance and reliability. For example, the specs for external USB enclosures never list the USB chipset (Genesis, Profile, Cypress, Ali, etc.) - though some are clearly superior. Most have a cheap potted power adaptor with no data on voltage-stability. Sorry for the rant!

Hope this helps!

 

[LungExpansion]

Sounds like the bios is flaky on the drive or the external chip on the enclosure is not detecting the drive properly.

I had a drive that I could not partition properly in the enclosure and I had to remove it from the usb casing and partition and format it in my pc then it worked fine in the external box. Now I only deal with metalbox enclosures.

 

[eplebnista]

Originally posted by: dunkster
I suggest the first step is to resolve whether the problem is the hard drive or the hard drive enclosure.

To test the drive:
- Download the DOS diagnostic from the drive manufacturer, for that specific drive model.
- Remove the drive from the enclosure and connect the drive to your motherboard.
- Make sure it's recognized in BIOS.
- Run the diagnostic to test the drive directly.

If the drive itself is OK, the problem is in the external enclosure (USB chipset, connectors, cheap-ass power module, etc.).

External enclosures seem to be viewed as a commodity, rather than a critical system element. Focus is on price, rather than performance and reliability. For example, the specs for external USB enclosures never list the USB chipset (Genesis, Profile, Cypress, Ali, etc.) - though some are clearly superior. Most have a cheap potted power adaptor with no data on voltage-stability. Sorry for the rant!

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the tips! :thumbsup: