Discussion
I have an ICY BOX 320gig External HD that has suddenly decided to stop working.
When I turn it on the green light on the box comes on but nothing else. It doesn't spin into life etc. There's normally a red light that indicated the disk is being read also its not the quitest device in the world but at the moment its silent. The HD isn't even spinning.
The HD in the box is a Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200.
We've been having lots of power cuts in the house etc which probably doesn't help. My mate has another ICY BOX so we're going to swap the drives around and see if it works.
Is there another way of recovering the data off the disk if this doesn't work?
Thanks,
Phill
When I turn it on the green light on the box comes on but nothing else. It doesn't spin into life etc. There's normally a red light that indicated the disk is being read also its not the quitest device in the world but at the moment its silent. The HD isn't even spinning.
The HD in the box is a Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200.
We've been having lots of power cuts in the house etc which probably doesn't help. My mate has another ICY BOX so we're going to swap the drives around and see if it works.
Is there another way of recovering the data off the disk if this doesn't work?
Thanks,
Phill
There are companys who will recover data (within reason) from duff harddisks. So if it's really important and worth spending money to recover then it can (probably) be recovered.
edit:Oh and personally i'll never buy another Western Digital disk agin!.... They are the only disks I have ever had fail... I've never had a seagate fail on me so they tend to be my preferance now....
>> Edited by munter on Friday 5th May 12:54
edit:Oh and personally i'll never buy another Western Digital disk agin!.... They are the only disks I have ever had fail... I've never had a seagate fail on me so they tend to be my preferance now....
>> Edited by munter on Friday 5th May 12:54
www.vogon.co.uk for instance.
Its not cheap though so unless its essential data I'd take it as a learning experience...
Its not cheap though so unless its essential data I'd take it as a learning experience...
BliarOut said:
Yes, but it'll cost. If the drive electronics have failed a decent data recovery company will rebuild it, but it's not cheap. I take it you've no backup?
This is my backup!
The problem is i've started to copy lots of CD's/DVD's to it in readiness for getting a MediaCentre PC over the Summer. Pain in the arse!
I think (read as hope) the drive is ok and its just something wrong with the external box. I guess i'll find out later at my mates.
>> Edited by pmanson on Friday 5th May 12:58
pmanson said:
Now let that be a lesson young man. Backup, backup, backup
It is my backup! Thats the problem with having a laptop with only a 40gb HD - You start using your backup disc as normal storage!
Really should buy another HD. I want a NAS rather than a USB one though.
If you backup to a different device, always make sure you can take your 'backup' and restore it somewhere else.
A static device like a External Drive is really cheating, and effectively only 'additional' storage, rather than true backup.
The only backup worth having is Tape backup, and you still get nervous with that stuff...
[quote=neil_cardiff
If you backup to a different device, always make sure you can take your 'backup' and restore it somewhere else.
A static device like a External Drive is really cheating, and effectively only 'additional' storage, rather than true backup.
The only backup worth having is Tape backup, and you still get nervous with that stuff...[/quote]
True. The stuff I store doesn't really warrant a TapeDrive as its not critical data just a pain if it all goes. O
nce i've got a job and got some money together i'll probably get a Buffallo linkstation (or similar) and have the External drive as my backup (Take it to the office or somewhere off site in case of fire or theft)
If you backup to a different device, always make sure you can take your 'backup' and restore it somewhere else.
A static device like a External Drive is really cheating, and effectively only 'additional' storage, rather than true backup.
The only backup worth having is Tape backup, and you still get nervous with that stuff...[/quote]
True. The stuff I store doesn't really warrant a TapeDrive as its not critical data just a pain if it all goes. O
nce i've got a job and got some money together i'll probably get a Buffallo linkstation (or similar) and have the External drive as my backup (Take it to the office or somewhere off site in case of fire or theft)
BliarOut said:
Yes, but it'll cost. If the drive electronics have failed a decent data recovery company will rebuild it, but it's not cheap. I take it you've no backup?
You're looking at a starting price around £1K. Depends on how much your data is worth.
not true - we got data recovered for £350+VAT about 4 years ago. I forget the name of the company, but they are based in Baldock.
munter said:
Oh and personally i'll never buy another Western Digital disk agin!.... They are the only disks I have ever had fail... I've never had a seagate fail on me so they tend to be my preferance now....
I've had two seagates fail on me, my WD is fine! I don't let it affect my outlook on the drives though, although maybe it should - I have had 10 Seagate 250GB drives, and two failures in 2.5 years...hmmm
dcw@pr said:
Oh and personally i'll never buy another Western Digital disk agin!.... They are the only disks I have ever had fail... I've never had a seagate fail on me so they tend to be my preferance now....
I've had two seagates fail on me, my WD is fine! I don't let it affect my outlook on the drives though, although maybe it should - I have had 10 Seagate 250GB drives, and two failures in 2.5 years...hmmm
i tell a lie, the two that failed were Maxtors. Not particularly good news considering I have just taken delivery of another 4...
>> Edited by dcw@pr on Friday 12th May 18:54
I would personally never buy a huge capacity hard drive, most do seem to have a shelf life of around 2 years, and if all you have on the drives is personal files/pics/music, there is no need for such a capacity. I save my work onto 2 seperate 120GB hard drives, and after 2 years, I buy another another and transfer the work files onto that (and DVD of course!), sure enough a month or so later, the oldest hard drive fails, that gets binned and the new one is in its place.
They certainly don't make 'em like they used to!
They certainly don't make 'em like they used to!
chris watton said:
I would personally never buy a huge capacity hard drive, most do seem to have a shelf life of around 2 years, and if all you have on the drives is personal files/pics/music, there is no need for such a capacity. I save my work onto 2 seperate 120GB hard drives, and after 2 years, I buy another another and transfer the work files onto that (and DVD of course!), sure enough a month or so later, the oldest hard drive fails, that gets binned and the new one is in its place.
They certainly don't make 'em like they used to!
sometimes you don't have a choice - I have to store about 40-50GB a month of new data, and I need access to the last year or two as well. Up until this afternoon I had been using what was effectively a RAID 0+1 setup, so that when I have had my failures, it has never been a problem. I've had three HD failures in my time, one was a 10gb laptop drive, about 18 months old, one was a 6 month old Maxtor 250 and the other was a 26 month old Maxtor 250 (happened two days ago).
On the same subject, we currently backup onto DVDs as well, but what is the longevity like on these? Should I be considering a tape system, and if so, which one is best?
dcw@pr said:
They certainly don't make 'em like they used to!
maybe true, but some drive, like the WD raptor, come with a 5 year warranty, so they must be reasonably confident? Not to mention they are 10k too...
I have 2 of those (74GB versions) in RAID0 for the main OS and program drive, one died in spectacular fashion last year, but they sent a new one out very quickly, under warranty. I have 2x120GB Maxtor drives too, for work back up.. I agree that id you need loads of storage space, you need large capacity drives, I was only talking about the 'normal home PC' user, who think they need 500GB for their photo album.
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff