External Harddrive Problems!

[rhodges 6]

I have used a Western Digital Model WD6400E035-00 External Harddrive for some time to backup my files and folders, implementing Syncback.

 

I now find that when I plug it in, or restart my computer I get an error window that pops up and tells me that the drive is not formatted. I format it, and back up my files and everything looks fine. However, after I close it and/or restart my computer, I again get the same error. I disconnected and tried connection to another computer and now get the following message when I try to access this drive:

 

"Location is not available. H:\is not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable.

 

When I look at the drive by opening the control panel Device Manager, it states that the drive is working properly.

 

I have reformatted several times, both quick and the long total method and gone through this whole routine several times. Consistently I get the failure after I leave the drive and then try to open it again.

 

Before I discard it, bite the bullet and purchase a new drive, I thought I would make this post to see if anyone has any helpful input.

 

 

Any ideas?

 

Respectfully:

RTH

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dogtrack 18]

You could try running Chkdisk on the drive to see if there are any errors stopping normal use.

 

Open My Computer, Right click the drive in question and select Properties, click Tools Tab, under Error Checking click the Check Now button.

It can take a long time...many hours depending on drive capacity...best done overnight..

 

This all has to be done at a point where the PC can see the drive obviously, which from what you say can be forced.

 

No promises but worth a try.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es0VivQ_xQI

[meshman 109]

The drive should be SMART, in that it will give a report if it's going bad and you have software to read that data.

 

You could also take the HD out of the enclosure and (if there's room!) install it inside the computer to see how it functions. It's very possible that the enclosure is going south and the HD is fine. If so, external enclosures are pretty inexpensive and easy to set up, so that you have the external operational again.