As convenient as external mobile hard drives are, they are still subject to plenty of abuse in a laptop bag and at the office. In general, even cheap mobile hard drives have become sturdier and resilient over the years with Western Digital and Seagate incorporating new approaches to securing mechanical hard drives. As expected, however, drive failures are still common and the Internet is rife with methods of reviving dead external hard drives.
Some of the techniques actually work. I've had exceptional luck saving data from a non-mobile, SATA hard drive by freezing it in the refrigerator. Some methods, however, can damage a perfectly good hard drive.
One of the more frightening symptoms that is often misinterpreted is the clicking hard drive. My 4 year old 500 GB Toshiba Mobile HDD started clicking a year ago - a symptom associated with the spinning platter inside a non-flash, mechanical hard drive. 10 years ago, a clicking hard drive was the death knell of any storage device. Replacement was inevitable. Today, however, the clicking sound doesn't necessarily mean a dying hard drive.
USB ports in a laptop (and on some motherboards) are either powered or non-powered (ie. provide voltage or not). Switching to a powered USB port that provides a higher output can get a clicking hard drive to work. It just means the HDD needs more power than normal, perhaps due to wear and tear.
In the case of my 500 GB Toshiba HDD, it was just a matter of switching USB ports. The Toshiba started clicking and failing to work on my Linux and Windows 7 machines when plugged into a non-powered USB port a year ago. The clicking sound actually disappeared when I switched to a powered USB port and has continued to work since. I would have preferred it didn't have the clicking sound and wasn't so choosy with USB ports as it did when I first bought the drive in BestBuy, but I'm glad the Toshiba still works. Of course, I've removed all the important data from the drive but continue to use the Toshiba regularly.
So before trying out any unorthodox troubleshooting step from the Internet (e.g. wrapping the HDD with a wet towel), try switching USB ports first. It may save you from having to order a replacement from Newegg.com.
0 comments:
Post a Comment