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Thread: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

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    God/dess ahmeerah's Avatar
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    clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    I've lost connectivity to one of my external hard drives. It has a lot of important stuff on it. I NEED what's on it.

    It's clicking.

    When I go to "My Computer" THAT drive doesn't show up. HELP!!!!!!

    What can I do?!?!

  2. #2
    Featured Member Lunarobverse's Avatar
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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    If you think it's failing and you need to get the data off it, try freezing the drive. It's worked for me twice. I know it sounds crazy...

    If you're handy, pull the actual drive out of the enclosure, and put it in a ziploc bag to protect it. Freeze it for an hour or so, then put it back together and plug it in. If the enclosure is small enough put the whole thing in the bag. Important not to let it get wet.
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    God/dess pookie's Avatar
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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    Pookie's bf says:

    Even though clicking is not a good sign, try to find out whether the harddrive is the culprit or the computer: Unplug, replug - maybe it's recognized by windows. Reboot the computer, maybe this helps. Also, try whether the harddrive works with another computer (since it's an external one, this could easily be done with).
    If all those fail, maybe the freezing hint will do - even though I've honestly never tried that.

    If the harddrive works at another computer but not yours, probably Windows is refusing to show it. (Maybe this hint will help: Go to Start, Run, "diskmgmt.msc", then the harddrive might show up. Rightclick it and "Assign new partition letter" and chose whichever windows suggests. It might then show up in "My Computer" again)




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    God/dess ahmeerah's Avatar
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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by pookie View Post
    Pookie's bf says:

    Even though clicking is not a good sign, try to find out whether the harddrive is the culprit or the computer: Unplug, replug - maybe it's recognized by windows. Reboot the computer, maybe this helps. Also, try whether the harddrive works with another computer (since it's an external one, this could easily be done with).
    If all those fail, maybe the freezing hint will do - even though I've honestly never tried that.

    If the harddrive works at another computer but not yours, probably Windows is refusing to show it. (Maybe this hint will help: Go to Start, Run, "diskmgmt.msc", then the harddrive might show up. Rightclick it and "Assign new partition letter" and chose whichever windows suggests. It might then show up in "My Computer" again)
    I tried all this yesterday AND today. No luck.

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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by Lunarobverse View Post
    If you think it's failing and you need to get the data off it, try freezing the drive. It's worked for me twice. I know it sounds crazy...

    If you're handy, pull the actual drive out of the enclosure, and put it in a ziploc bag to protect it. Freeze it for an hour or so, then put it back together and plug it in. If the enclosure is small enough put the whole thing in the bag. Important not to let it get wet.
    Just freeze it? For an hour? In a plastic bag? And then hook it back up and pray it works?

    I'm goin gto try this right now. You mean put it in the freezer, right?

    How did you come up with this???

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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    Pookie's bf asks: did you try the drive in another computer?




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    God/dess ahmeerah's Avatar
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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by pookie View Post
    Pookie's bf asks: did you try the drive in another computer?
    Yes. I tried hooking it up w/ my other computer. Nothing.

    On my primary computer, the drive is detected under network devices but not when I look under My Computer.

    It's so frustrating!

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    Featured Member Lunarobverse's Avatar
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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by ahmeerah View Post
    Just freeze it? For an hour? In a plastic bag? And then hook it back up and pray it works?

    I'm goin gto try this right now. You mean put it in the freezer, right?

    How did you come up with this???
    It's an old tech legend... and one day, I was desperate and tried it myself. It worked. I was able to get it working long enough to pull off all the files I needed.

    Then another friend had that problem, and we froze his drive. Again, it worked.

    It seems like a long shot, and I'm assuming you've tried all the basic stuff, like rebooting the PC and all that... But when a drive is failing and you don't have a backup, desperate times call for desperate measures.
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    God/dess ahmeerah's Avatar
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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    ^ It's in the freezer. I hope this works!!! If it does, I'm transferring my files pronto.

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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    (keeping ym finges crossed for you)!




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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    The freezer trick has been known to work on occasion. Don't be too hopeful. What's the brand? If it's a western dig Book drive. It's toast. If data on it is critical, let me know. I'll try to help you recover some.
    People are not ruled by their memories.

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    God/dess ahmeerah's Avatar
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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    Thanks Mast
    I'm so nervous ... it's still in the freezer. Right now I'm cleaning up my other drives. As soon as I'm done I'll reconnect the freezed one.

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    Featured Member Lunarobverse's Avatar
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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    At the very least, freezing it in the ziploc bag won't hurt anything...
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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by Lunarobverse View Post
    At the very least, freezing it in the ziploc bag won't hurt anything...
    Well, the socially-awkward tech dork in me screams "ZIPLOC ISN'T ANTI-STATIC"

    While the adult in me is singing "Young teacher, the subject, of schoolgirl fantasy...."
    People are not ruled by their memories.

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    Featured Member Lunarobverse's Avatar
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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by Mastridonicus View Post
    Well, the socially-awkward tech dork in me screams "ZIPLOC ISN'T ANTI-STATIC"
    But it's already clicking... and not mounting. It can't get any worse than that... That's a physical failure.
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    God/dess ahmeerah's Avatar
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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    It's not working.

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    God/dess ahmeerah's Avatar
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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    Help PLEASE!

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    Featured Member Lunarobverse's Avatar
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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by ahmeerah View Post
    It's not working.
    Crap!
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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    not likely but one guy it working buy removing hard disk from external hard disk case and plugging directly into computer. The external hard disk had a bad power supply.

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    God/dess ahmeerah's Avatar
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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by space_Cadet_28 View Post
    not likely but one guy it working buy removing hard disk from external hard disk case and plugging directly into computer. The external hard disk had a bad power supply.
    Augh. I'd have to open it up??? Yikes. OK, the ezq.com guy said I should update my firmware.

    If I do this, will I lose my data? I cannot lose my data.

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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    I hate to say it but it sounds like it's fried.



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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by ahmeerah View Post
    Augh. I'd have to open it up??? Yikes. OK, the ezq.com guy said I should update my firmware.

    If I do this, will I lose my data? I cannot lose my data.
    It's really not that hard. Just a screwdriver to disassemble had disk cover and computer case. Unplug the power and serial cable. Find similar wires in your computer. You probably have 1 open slot in your computer. Set hard disk to slave with pin and connect wires. Slave since it is the second hard disk. Ok maybe it is a little hard.

    There are plenty of instructions on the web.
    http://www.waterwheel.com/Guides/how...tic_drives.htm

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    God/dess ahmeerah's Avatar
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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    ^^^ thanks space cadet. Maybe I'll try that tomorrow.

  24. #24
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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by Mastridonicus View Post
    Well, the socially-awkward tech dork in me screams "ZIPLOC ISN'T ANTI-STATIC"
    If it's an external hard drive it should be isolated from static somehow, as it's expected people will do things like walk around on carpet and then touch the enclosure.

    The freezing thing sounds plausible, if the read head was being obstructed because something had worn over time and from heat, the cold might make things contract and allow the head to move as needed again (at least temporarily).

    To the OP, unfortunately I agree with other folks, if it's clicking then it's probably a physical failure and the outlook is not good. One thing you can try is going into your BIOS (generally accessible by pushing some key - often f10 or delete - early on during the bootup cycle, right after it does that RAM scan. It should flash a quick message on the screen about which button to push.) The BIOS always shows the internal hard drives, and if it's new, good BIOS it *might* show you drives connected via USB. The advantage to doing this is that the BIOS will show all connected hard drives that communicate at all, even if there is no valid file system on there. However windows explorer (and "my computer" and such) generally only shows drives connected that have a valid file system.

    You can also go to control panel->administrative tools->computer management->disk management and see if the disk shows up there. Like the BIOS, this tool also sometimes shows disks without file systems that don't show up in Windows explorer.

    If either of those work, and you can see the disk in BIOS or disk management, there's still hope, I can probably find some downloadable tools that will help you salvage data from such a drive. I was in a similar position a long time ago (which taught me the importance of regular backups!).
    Also if you do hook it up internally, definitely don't forget about setting the jumper to slave as someone else mentioned. This gets overlooked commonly when running two drives off one IDE cable and will cause neither drive to work until the jumper is fixed.

    Good luck!

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    God/dess ahmeerah's Avatar
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    Default Re: clicking external hard drive HELP!!!!!

    Odysseus YES. Under disk management I see the drive is connected. But when i go to My Computer, it's not there. There is hope! I hope.

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