My External plug in USB hard drives have crashed - recovery of data?

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lostsoulal2

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I have been using powered plug-in external USB drives for backups/ storage of my photos for quite a number of years and they have worked well.................. until earlier this year, when I have suffered no less than 3 USB drive failures within a space of a month including the backup of my backups!:thumbsdown:

So unless I have just been very unlucky I did wonder if there was something that could have contributed to the drives failures? - My PC although old, works well running Windows XP and is kept up to date with all the latest drivers, although I am told now that XP does not handle external drives well.......... perhaps having all my drives set to continuous defragmentation could be the cause? but then I have been doing that too for years.

The drives before failing started giving error messages:

"The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error"

"{Delayed Write Failed}
Windows was unable to save all the data for the file x.
The data has been lost.
This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware or network connection. Please try to save this file elsewhere."

Once this had occurred Windows Explorer could still see the drive, but no data was visible - switching off and on restored the folder structure, but it reported that each folder was empty.

[I backup my data each night and once this had occurred I started a Restore process onto a Brand New external hard drive, but the restore failed due a corrupted backup catalog file and then the new hard drive reported the same errors as above.]

I found if I left the original failed USB drive switched off for a week or more and started it up again, that I was able to transfer some of the data onto yet another hard drive. But after copying a few files, I could see the speed of transfer was decreasing then the same error messages appeared and the drive was unable to be used. I have done this several times and got back about 5% of my data, but the time to failure is rapidly increasing each time I switch it back on again.

Researching online does not give up much hope, people suggest using Chkdsk / f, but this fails due to the "I/O error message.

I have seen in other threads that it has been suggested that the internal USB hard drive may be OK and its the controller that has failed/failing and that I should place the drive in an external caddy /docking station to see if the drive will then function.

The drives will still be under warranty (purchased in 2008 with a 5 year warranty) but I am reluctant to send it back as they will not attempt to recover the data, and assume they will just replace the drive.

The USB drive in question is a Seagate Freeagent 500gb External USB drive (has own power supply) and the question is assuming I am able to get the drive out of its case (there are a few Youtube tutorials) without damaging the drive exactly what type of caddy/docking station will I require?

Or if any one has any other bright ideas as to what may be happening with the drives? :shrug:

Regards
 
Have you tried a different cable and a different computer? I'm thinking dodgy USB socket or PC hardware and/or cable fault.
 
RobertP said:
Have you tried a different cable and a different computer? I'm thinking dodgy USB socket or PC hardware and/or cable fault.
Click to expand...

Yes, I have tried both different USB cables, power supplies and a different computer, in fact my wife's PC running Windows 7 currently refuses to see the drive at all, and re-plugging it back into the XP machine it then sees the files, but attempting to copy anything results in an almost immediate error:

{Delayed Write Failed}
Windows was unable to save all the data for the file x.
The data has been lost.
This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware or network connection. Please try to save this file elsewhere.
 
Sticking the drive in the freezer can sometimes help it to survive longer and give more time to get data off. I have had it work for me but usually it makes no difference :)

This is what I use to connect hard drives no longer in the computer. It takes IDE and SATA 2.5" and 3.5" but the pitch of the IDE sockets means that Western digital IDE drives don't fit but all other makes do.
 
As suggested try the drive in a different enclosure.

Can I ask why your drives are set to continuous defragging?

I defrag the drives about once a month, if I remember, mainly because it is supposed to be a good thing, but I can't say I have ever noticed any different from a defragged drive.

Doesn't continuous defragmentation mean the drives are in constant use?

Dave
 
Sorry, double post.
 
RobertP said:
Sticking the drive in the freezer can sometimes help it to survive longer and give more time to get data off. I have had it work for me but usually it makes no difference :)

This is what I use to connect hard drives no longer in the computer. It takes IDE and SATA 2.5" and 3.5" but the pitch of the IDE sockets means that Western digital IDE drives don't fit but all other makes do.
Click to expand...

- the 'freezer trick' might explain why the drive works for a limited time after turning it off for a week or so..................

And the docking station looks to be a neat solution, so will get one to try it out and see if the hard drive will then miraculously spring back to life:thumbs:

Thank you.
 
Tringa said:
As suggested try the drive in a different enclosure.

Can I ask why your drives are set to continuous defragging?

I defrag the drives about once a month, if I remember, mainly because it is supposed to be a good thing, but I can't say I have ever noticed any different from a defragged drive.

Doesn't continuous defragmentation mean the drives are in constant use?

Dave
Click to expand...

'continuous defragging' was perhaps the wrong term - I use the Executive Diskkeeper software and my drives are set using their Smart Scheduling option - which means it will defrag only if the drive needs it, which could be every couple of hours or weeks...............

I had restricted the Smart Scheduling to between 4-7am, but did wonder if this could have been a factor in keeping the hard drive live all the time as well as using the USB drive to store all "My Documents and Emails" in preparation for an eventual move to a new PC - that too could have kept the drives alive all the time?

But as mentioned later some people question the need to defrag at all, I defrag possibly out of habit from the time when disks were formatted using FAT.
 
I would pop it into a CPU shop. Should have the knowledge and software to get a lot more off the drive...
 
Schots said:
I would pop it into a CPU shop. Should have the knowledge and software to get a lot more off the drive...
Click to expand...

I will try using an external enclosure / docking station before I go down the route of employing a data recovery company.
 
If the drive is clicking when it tries to start up then its no good.
Its going to cost about £400 to get the data off by a specialist
 
neil_g said:
Not necessarily, I've seen an enclosure fault cause a drive to make some really odd noises
Click to expand...

Thanks Neil for the balanced reply - I was getting worried as I can hear some clicking noises coming from the defective hard drive, but then I can also hear similar noises coming from my remaining good drives.

I am just waiting for my docking station (as suggested by RobertP above) to arrive and then will attempt to remove the drive from the enclosure case (Seagate Freeagent 500gb) which looks like it may be a fight based on the Youtube video tutorials.....................:thumbsdown:
 
If you have ordered the same one you don't need the little CD that comes with it. Just fit the drive, plug it in, turn on with the rocker switch on the back and it works. Oh and the card reader on it is very fast. Easily as fast as my Lexar udma reader.
 
RobertP said:
If you have ordered the same one you don't need the little CD that comes with it. Just fit the drive, plug it in, turn on with the rocker switch on the back and it works. Oh and the card reader on it is very fast. Easily as fast as my Lexar udma reader.
Click to expand...

Yes I ordered the same one from eBay, and it looks very good value at sub £20 but although it said it was a UK based auction as its been almost a week I think it may be coming from China.......:thumbsdown: - although our mail has been a bit erratic this week even from couriers - the Xmas mail rush has started earlier this year.

Hopefully it will arrive before Xmas and if it will allow me to restore my lost files that will be my best present. :)
 
Mine came in 2 days from the UK not China :)

Another ebay item from the UK ordered last week took ages so I'd agree the post is slow now.
 
I had a hard drive crash some time ago, it was a manufacture fault,I thought I had lost all my business clients but I have a fantastic small computer shop near me who managed to recover the vital data . He then sent the faulty hard drive back to Maxtor the makers and they send back a new one with a bigger capacity . Will PM you with name and addy if thats any help

Realspeed
 
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Well the docking station arrived yesterday (posted from the UK) and I then spent a while getting the hard drive out of its enclosure.

But unfortunately when I placed the hard drive in the docking station it was not recognised by my computer.................:thumbsdown:

I then tried the freezer trick mentioned above and at first the drive was recognised:thumbs:

- but after a minute or two it then failed:thumbsdown::thumbsdown:, so it seems the hard drive itself was the issue and not the enclosure case and that if I want to recover any files I will have to look for help from a data recovery company.

Thanks for all your advices.
 
A long usb lead and run it inside the freezer?

:lol:

Shame it didn't work out for you.
 
RobertP said:
A long usb lead and run it inside the freezer?

:lol:

Shame it didn't work out for you.
Click to expand...

I did think about that, but would have also needed a long SATA cable too, will have to wait until the New Year now as companies are shutting down for the Xmas break.

Thanks again.
 
Interesting, the freezer trick shouldn't vary whether the drive shows up as its generally used for unsticking platters and read heads. If it was a platter/head issue it should still show, just be unresponsive.
 
I lost a similar drive myself this year, it was a maxtor external drive ( but I'm pretty sure it's a seagate drive inside). The power light just sat there flashing and googling suggested it was an enclosure fault, so I bought a neat little adaptor device to read the bare drive from another machine in the hope of reading off the data.

Didn't work, the power light on the supply for that flashed the same as the original enclosure , so I decided the drive must be seized and causing excessive current draw thus turning off. Might try the freezer trick to see if it'll crack it..
 
k4stn said:
If the drive is clicking when it tries to start up then its no good.
Its going to cost about £400 to get the data off by a specialist
Click to expand...

Possibly, or if it is USB powered it could mean the USB port is not providing enough electricity. Normally a two USB into in should sort that out, and many PC's are notorious for barely meeting the USB standard. Considering you have had three drives fail like that in this year my guess would be not enough power.

Buy a Mac and get the full upto 10v or get one of those Gigabyte motherboards that have plenty of power and even have passthrough charging when it is switched off.
 
dejongj said:
Possibly, or if it is USB powered it could mean the USB port is not providing enough electricity. Normally a two USB into in should sort that out, and many PC's are notorious for barely meeting the USB standard. Considering you have had three drives fail like that in this year my guess would be not enough power.

Buy a Mac and get the full upto 10v or get one of those Gigabyte motherboards that have plenty of power and even have passthrough charging when it is switched off.
Click to expand...

Or download the asus app that works on any motherboard
 
you can send it off to get it recovered if you can get data off of it a couple of minutes at a time it suggests the platters maybe ok and it's the heads/driver board/ or motor. When you send it off to a specialist the buy the same drive you have and then swap the internals either way it won't be cheap to get done.
Hope you didn't have a lot of important stuff on it had the same issue and now back up all of my important stuff to 2 separate places and also offsite online.

Good luck!
 
thomas30 said:
Well. it may be a virus problem. Just install some anti virus if you dont already have and then scan the system as well as usb drive and then try.
Click to expand...

I already run a constant anti virus suite, but did check for this just in case something had slipped though, but as I have discovered later it was a physical defect with the drive.


digitalfailure said:
I lost a similar drive myself this year, it was a maxtor external drive ( but I'm pretty sure it's a seagate drive inside). The power light just sat there flashing and googling suggested it was an enclosure fault, so I bought a neat little adaptor device to read the bare drive from another machine in the hope of reading off the data.

Didn't work, the power light on the supply for that flashed the same as the original enclosure , so I decided the drive must be seized and causing excessive current draw thus turning off. Might try the freezer trick to see if it'll crack it..
Click to expand...

My USB drive was the Seagate Agent and the drive internally once I had removed it was the 500Gb Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 - which seems to be a very popular unit, but there are some reports that they will fail unexpectedly and will not be recognised by a PC - hope the freezer trick works for you.............

dejongj said:
Possibly, or if it is USB powered it could mean the USB port is not providing enough electricity. Normally a two USB into in should sort that out, and many PC's are notorious for barely meeting the USB standard. Considering you have had three drives fail like that in this year my guess would be not enough power.

Buy a Mac and get the full upto 10v or get one of those Gigabyte motherboards that have plenty of power and even have passthrough charging when it is switched off.
Click to expand...

The USB drives I have been using are all mains powered so am not using the power from the PC, but it is a good point and you can also use use an external power supply (USB Hub - brick) to supply the necessary power requirements for a non mains powered USB drive.

pablo_paul said:
you can send it off to get it recovered if you can get data off of it a couple of minutes at a time it suggests the platters maybe ok and it's the heads/driver board/ or motor. When you send it off to a specialist the buy the same drive you have and then swap the internals either way it won't be cheap to get done.
Hope you didn't have a lot of important stuff on it had the same issue and now back up all of my important stuff to 2 separate places and also offsite online.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Yes, I realise it will not be a cheap option to recover the data on the drive, luckily due to my injuries I have not been using my camera much the last year or so, so for that period accordingly had not much to lose!

- I am also currently trying to restore an older back up that had a corrupted index catalogue and if this is successful it may only be the last 18-24 months that will be lost.

I know that a hard drive whether its an internal or an external USB drive can fail at any time as they just after all mechanical devices, but the internal drives do seem to be more robust and I am going to use internal drives as part of my future backup routine.
 
Wouldnt say internal drives are more robust persay, the drives are the same it's just the cheap enclosure that lets them down.

I opt for Samsung drives and icybox enclosures these days.
 
neil_g said:
Wouldnt say internal drives are more robust persay, the drives are the same it's just the cheap enclosure that lets them down.

I opt for Samsung drives and icybox enclosures these days.
Click to expand...

I could only go on my limited experiences, but have also gone for Samsung internal drives:thumbs: - although Seagate has now taken over Samsung hard drive business, lets hope the quality does not deteriorate................
 
Have you tried an alternative O/S to Windows? I recently butchered the partition table on a disk, and was able to recover everything using Ultimate Boot CD (google it). I installed it onto a USB stick and then booted up from the USB stick, loaded Parted Magic which brings up a full User Interface. I then attached an additional USB HDD to restore to (never try to restore files to the original disk as you may end up overwriting your original files) and fired up PhotoRec. It's ugly but effective! When you have finished (it can take a while) just reboot, pull out the USB stick and you boot back into Windows.

Cheers
Mark
 
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