I love computers

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

sorry bout that but Western Digitals are like the best HD's btw my friend owns a computer repair shop as well maybe i can hit him up and see howmuch for you? if interested..

BTW, WD's are good, but they by far are not the most reliable. I actually have 3 Maxtors I got on Black Friday about 6 years ago... they've been running non-stop since then, and they're running fine. Sometimes you just get a bad batch. But what you also have to realize is that most of the time when external drives fail, it's because of poor circuit board designing, and constant banging around of the hard drive. When the drive is running, it runs on a thin layer of air that always makes sure that the reader doesn't scratch the disk. When it's off, that layer of air is no longer there, so it's much more likely to be damaged. But, out of all the external drive failures I've seen, once I swapped the HD or put the HD in my PC, it worked.

Those cases just aren't made to be thrown around.

EDIT:: I personally suggest Seagate (Reliability on these things are fcking RIDICULOUS), Western Digital (They run really quiet, and last for quite a while), and Maxtor are nice cheap drives (They run loud, and are less reliable. But still pretty reliable).

Also OP... if you do decide to buy a new External HD instead of what I said, I'll pay for shipping on your old external HD. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

I could use loads of **** //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/naughty.gif.94359f346c0f1259df8038d60b41863e.gif

 

[tommyk90 5,000+ posts]

Wow, very informative!

Took the drive apart and it is an IDE drive.

I'm gonna take the case apart and see if it works.

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

Also, are external harddrive usually pretty reliable? I don't want to buy another one only to have it crap out in 2 years again. There's some nice 250 gig western digitals on sale for $89.

Honestly, dude, for "breaking edge technology", lasting 2 years is pretty dmn good... but you're talking to someone who replaces nearly everything he owns every couple of years and uses the spare parts to run odd things... like my TV, and soon enough, my Carputer. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/naughty.gif.94359f346c0f1259df8038d60b41863e.gif

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

Wow, very informative!
Took the drive apart and it is an IDE drive.

I'm gonna take the case apart and see if it works.

Now, dude. Very important. VERY IMPORTANT, that I forgot. Remember to touch a piece of unpainted metal before you touch anything on the inside of your computer. I also, to be extra cautious, I wear rubber-soled shoes... and if you can, work on a surface that isn't carpet. Like wood or tile. The last thing you wanna do is blow a resistor.

 

[BoomBoomBoy 10+ year member]

It's called backing up your data!

 

/thread

 

[IamDeMan 5,000+ posts]

So today my lovely external harddrive decided to stop working.
Fantastic, I know.

And, of course, it's out of warranty range so not only did I lose all the stuff I had on there, but now I have to buy another external harddrive. Lovely.

I talked with some company about data recovery, and he quoted me $1700 on a successful recovery. I laughed hysterically.

Sorry, but no amount of **** or free music is worth $1700. Thanks chief.

Anyways, I was wondering if there was any backwoods solutions to fixing this or am I just completely screwed?

Luckily I have 95% of my music on the laptop and my mp3 player, so that can be replaced, but I did lose all my **** and some programs. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

Probably nothing that can't be replaced, but it's just frustrating to lose all that stuff.

Maybe I'll buy 2 drives, leave one attached and just fill up the other one with the same stuff and stash it away somewhere.

/rant.

On a side note, I need some recommendations for external harddrive brands. The one that crapped out on me was a maxtor, so other brands would be appreciated. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Is this a laptop hdd based external or full size?
File scavenger and a night in the freezer can get you 80% of your data bro.

 

[IamDeMan 5,000+ posts]

Next time use more redundancy you ***.

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

It's called backing up your data!
/thread

Well, if he's like me... he doesn't have enough room.

I only have 160 GB on this computer, 200 GB on my slave/server computer...

They're both filled with... >_>

Files.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/sneaky.gif.7189749b3a3f769e8815b47e8ae87f88.gif

Point is, if one drive fails, that info is gone for good.

You choose your battles. What's important you save. But if you can get a drive working again, more power to you.

 

[IamDeMan 5,000+ posts]

Well, if he's like me... he doesn't have enough room.
I only have 160 GB on this computer, 200 GB on my slave/server computer...

They're both filled with... >_>

Files.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/sneaky.gif.7189749b3a3f769e8815b47e8ae87f88.gif

Point is, if one drive fails, that info is gone for good.

You choose your battles. What's important you save. But if you can get a drive working again, more power to you.

Then you all fail. I havew 1.5TB of RAID5 network storage and a 1TB external. Haven't lost anything in 10 years.

Leave my lounge you piss ant.

 

[BoomBoomBoy 10+ year member]

Well, if he's like me... he doesn't have enough room.
I only have 160 GB on this computer, 200 GB on my slave/server computer...

They're both filled with... >_>

Files.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/sneaky.gif.7189749b3a3f769e8815b47e8ae87f88.gif

Point is, if one drive fails, that info is gone for good.

You choose your battles. What's important you save. But if you can get a drive working again, more power to you.

I back up all my pics and important data monthly. Anything else I don't care about. You'll never see me post a thread about me losing my data.

 

[tommyk90 5,000+ posts]

Now, dude. Very important. VERY IMPORTANT, that I forgot. Remember to touch a piece of unpainted metal before you touch anything on the inside of your computer. I also, to be extra cautious, I wear rubber-soled shoes... and if you can, work on a surface that isn't carpet. Like wood or tile. The last thing you wanna do is blow a resistor.

Wood floor and I unplugged the tower before I did anything. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

No static.

It's called backing up your data! 

/thread

The external harddrive technically was my backup. I just didn't have enough room on the internal harddrive to store all my vids and shit.

Thus why I said it wasn't a huge loss, just annoying.

Is this a laptop hdd based external or full size?
File scavenger and a night in the freezer can get you 80% of your data bro.

See below for results.

Next time use more redundancy you ***.

Which is why all my music and pics are on my laptop, and my pics are burned to a cd I update every few months. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Now, on to the best part...

THANK YOU IDSkoT!!!!!!

I did exactly what you said and now the drive works perfectly!

I can't thank you enough man. If there's something I can do for you, don't hesitate to ask.

Some people might think that something like this was common knowledge, but I didn't. Thanks for the step by step instructions and basically saving me a lot of trouble and frustration!

You're my hero.

 

[BASS_WARRIOR 10+ year member]

Both of you guys are super fucking cool!

 

[tommyk90 5,000+ posts]

On a side note, i'm tempted to mail this piece of shit case back to maxtor with a note that says "thanks for nothing you money hungry assbags"

$1700. **** my dick.

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

I back up all my pics and important data monthly. Anything else I don't care about. You'll never see me post a thread about me losing my data.

Well, yeah. The important stuff gets saved on a 20gb disk I had laying around. I installed it in my server PC, and once a month (or whenever I do a really big paper for class), I switch over IDE ports to it and store my files on it. I don't think anyone computer savvy will lose important data. I like my whole spare HD for back-up. The odds of a drive that is never used failing is really low.

Then you all fail. I havew 1.5TB of RAID5 network storage and a 1TB external. Haven't lost anything in 10 years.

Leave my lounge you piss ant.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wow.gif.23d729408e9177caa2a0ed6a2ba6588e.gif

2.5TB? I'd be in heaven. How much did that cost you?

I haven't messed with RAID since it came out... and even then I didn't even get to see the effects. I just set it up for someone's computer I built.

THANK YOU IDSkoT!!!!!!
I did exactly what you said and now the drive works perfectly!

I can't thank you enough man. If there's something I can do for you, don't hesitate to ask.

Some people might think that something like this was common knowledge, but I didn't. Thanks for the step by step instructions and basically saving me a lot of trouble and frustration!

You're my hero.

No problem.

BTW... if you still wanna keep that as an external, any old IDE Case will work. You can snag one off of http://www.tigerdirect.com or http://www.newegg.com

I think TD has cheaper cases, but you should check newegg, too. Just incase. However, make sure it gets good reviews. You don't wanna spend $15-30 bucks on something that will break in a few months.

 

[tommyk90 5,000+ posts]

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wow.gif.23d729408e9177caa2a0ed6a2ba6588e.gif
2.5TB? I'd be in heaven. How much did that cost you?

I haven't messed with RAID since it came out... and even then I didn't even get to see the effects. I just set it up for someone's computer I built.

No problem.

BTW... if you still wanna keep that as an external, any old IDE Case will work. You can snag one off of http://www.tigerdirect.com or http://www.newegg.com

I think TD has cheaper cases, but you should check newegg, too. Just incase. However, make sure it gets good reviews. You don't wanna spend $15-30 bucks on something that will break in a few months.

No need to make it external. I only use it for the desktop.

Any harm on just keeping it in my computer tower?