Need help please for External Hard Drive

[funhouse8]

Hi, My external Hard-drive (Seagate goflex) started to make a clicking noice and then stopped working. When I unplugged it and plugged it back in this message came on screen, "Power surge on hubport usb device has exceeded the power limits of it's hubport" ... I have all our pictures on this drive. When we purchased it my DH said store everything on the external it's safer. I do have things uploaded to shutterfly but not everything. I brought this to the geeks at bestbuy today and he told me that the drive is fried and it would cost 250 to look at it and maybe around 750 to possibly get the pictures off of this. I do not have that kind of money, He said not to even plug it in it will just corrupt more files. Please tell me what I can do. I'm just sick over this. Thanks,

 

[dansamy]

If the computer recognizes it as a valid drive, you can purchase a recovery software to scan the drive & recover as much as you can.

 

[SkaGoat]

Hi, My external Hard-drive (Seagate goflex) started to make a clicking noice and then stopped working. When I unplugged it and plugged it back in this message came on screen, "Power surge on hubport usb device has exceeded the power limits of it's hubport" ... I have all our pictures on this drive. When we purchased it my DH said store everything on the external it's safer. I do have things uploaded to shutterfly but not everything. I brought this to the geeks at bestbuy today and he told me that the drive is fried and it would cost 250 to look at it and maybe around 750 to possibly get the pictures off of this. I do not have that kind of money, He said not to even plug it in it will just corrupt more files. Please tell me what I can do. I'm just sick over this. Thanks,

It's possible it's just the external enclosure that's died, you can pick something like this up and see if the drive mounts onto your computer.

If it does copy all the data off the drive, go buy a new external hard drive then copy you're files to it.

In the future, I suggest something like Carbonite, or some other offsite backup (even rotating out drives to an offisite location like work every week works) The idea is to always have 2 or even 3 copies of everything.

 

[funhouse8]

It's possible it's just the external enclosure that's died, you can pick something like this up and see if the drive mounts onto your computer.

If it does copy all the data off the drive, go buy a new external hard drive then copy you're files to it.

In the future, I suggest something like Carbonite, or some other offsite backup (even rotating out drives to an offisite location like work every week works) The idea is to always have 2 or even 3 copies of everything.

The Geek in Bestbuy took it into the back and then told me it was fried. He said it's like a needle is scratching a record. Do you think he would know if it was just the external enclosure? He told me not to even plug it in because I would cause more damage. Is this true?

 

[PoohLover78]

I wonder if he meant that the head got stuck? I had that happen once on an external. It kinda sounds like That's what he meant with the needle. If the head gets stuck and you turn on the drive, it will start scratching and ruining the drive. Sometimes you can fix this and get the head unstuck. It sounds weird but I have successfully done this twice and got all data off the drive before I replaced it. If it doesn't work, no harm done. Take the drive out of the enclosure. Put it into a zip lock back. Make sure it's completely sealed. Put it in the freezer for a couple hours. Yes, you read that right. Freeze it. After you've taken it out, immediately remove it from the zip lock bag so no condensation will happen. Attach the drive to the computer while it is still ice cold (do not put it back in the enclosure, attach it either internally in a desktop or use a simple USB->Sata cable). If the head was the problem, it will have become unstuck during freezing because the metal contracted. As long as the drive is still partially frozen, the head will remain unstuck and will move. You will then be able to get data off the drive. Again, this will only work if the head got stuck and as long as the drive is frozen. If some parts are fried, this won't work.

 

[funhouse8]

I wonder if he meant that the head got stuck? I had that happen once on an external. It kinda sounds like That's what he meant with the needle. If the head gets stuck and you turn on the drive, it will start scratching and ruining the drive. Sometimes you can fix this and get the head unstuck. It sounds weird but I have successfully done this twice and got all data off the drive before I replaced it. If it doesn't work, no harm done. Take the drive out of the enclosure. Put it into a zip lock back. Make sure it's completely sealed. Put it in the freezer for a couple hours. Yes, you read that right. Freeze it. After you've taken it out, immediately remove it from the zip lock bag so no condensation will happen. Attach the drive to the computer while it is still ice cold (do not put it back in the enclosure, attach it either internally in a desktop or use a simple USB->Sata cable). If the head was the problem, it will have become unstuck during freezing because the metal contracted. As long as the drive is still partially frozen, the head will remain unstuck and will move. You will then be able to get data off the drive. Again, this will only work if the head got stuck and as long as the drive is frozen. If some parts are fried, this won't work.

Thanks, i think I will have my son try this. If this isn't the problem will it cause any more damage? Someone I know works for a computer company and can get me a number where I mail it to them and they will let me know how much data they can restore and how much it will cost before they do anything Do you think i should go this route or try to freeze it first?

 

[PoohLover78]

Freezing won't harm the drive if you make sure there's no condensation. If some electronics are fried, freezing won't matter. You just have to make sure that when you turn on the drive and you hear the clacking sound again, turn it off immediately! Then the head is seriously stuck and any further movement will damage the drive.

I learned this from someone who works in the Microsoft server room

 

[hakepb]

The freezing trick intrigues me (I've heard it before), but it really sounds like an either-or situation.

 

[photo_chick]

Hi, My external Hard-drive (Seagate goflex) started to make a clicking noice and then stopped working. When I unplugged it and plugged it back in this message came on screen, "Power surge on hubport usb device has exceeded the power limits of it's hubport" ... I have all our pictures on this drive. When we purchased it my DH said store everything on the external it's safer. I do have things uploaded to shutterfly but not everything. I brought this to the geeks at bestbuy today and he told me that the drive is fried and it would cost 250 to look at it and maybe around 750 to possibly get the pictures off of this. I do not have that kind of money, He said not to even plug it in it will just corrupt more files. Please tell me what I can do. I'm just sick over this. Thanks,

The clicking is common on Seagate drives when they die (I've had a couple do this). It is a mechanical failure and I agree with the geek to not plug it in. You're physically damaging the part where it records data when you do. About the only thing you can do is have a professional (or someone who knows what they're doing) pull it apart to get whatever data is recoverable off.

Unfortunately you've just learned that external drives are no safer than any other kind of hard drive. All media will fail which is why backups are so important.

 

[SkaGoat]

The clicking is common on Seagate drives when they die (I've had a couple do this). It is a mechanical failure and I agree with the geek to not plug it in. You're physically damaging the part where it records data when you do. About the only thing you can do is have a professional (or someone who knows what they're doing) pull it apart to get whatever data is recoverable off.

Unfortunately you've just learned that external drives are no safer than any other kind of hard drive. All media will fail which is why backups are so important.

It's not necessarily true.... I had an external drive fail, and it was clicking like described. It turns out the clicking was the enclosure telling the hard drive inside to park it's read/write head. When I put the drive into a new enclosure I was able to get the files off no problems.

The error saying it's drawing too much power tells me it could be something with the enclosure, not the actual drive.

 

[photo_chick]

It's not necessarily true.... I had an external drive fail, and it was clicking like described. It turns out the clicking was the enclosure telling the hard drive inside to park it's read/write head. When I put the drive into a new enclosure I was able to get the files off no problems.

The error saying it's drawing too much power tells me it could be something with the enclosure, not the actual drive.

I'd rather err on the side of caution if it's the only copy of the files then risk damaging the drive further.

 

[SkaGoat]

I'd rather err on the side of caution if it's the only copy of the files then risk damaging the drive further.

Unless you don't plan to spend the $1000 to recover it....

 

[photo_chick]

Unless you don't plan to spend the $1000 to recover it....

Good point... I have completely flubbered failed drives that I had no intention of recovering in the process of trying to recover data off them. But I had backups. Given the OP seems to have no backup I would assume that they want to attempt a recovery at some point in time. Maybe not today, but sometime. Though I could very well be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

 

[The Grays]

before you do anything else, is it under warranty? I think they have a 2 year warranty.

If it is call them and send it back. If you continue to run it or try to with the clicking you can damage it more.
I had the same thing go wrong with the same drive as you have. I have now gone to all LaCie hard drives. I have found them to be more reliable and built better.