External Hard Drive Problems

[dvd12345]

Hey there, i have an external seagate 300 GB hard drive that is split up into 5 seperate partitions. The problem is that when i try to copy some video files from the drive to my desktop, it freezes and i can hear the hard drive trying over and over again, however it does not make clicking noises. The strange thing is that i can fully watch the videos from the exteral drive, i just cant copy it. Is the problem caused because i have so many partitions on a USB drive? Or is it something else? Thanks in Advance.

 

[ski]

How big are the files?
How much free space is on the partition that you're trying to copy the files to?
Does the HD copy files elsewhere, e.g., to a CD burner?

 

[dvd12345]

Thabks for the speedy response. The files are around 175 MB, and the destination drive has around 40 GB left. And when i try to burn the file it also freezes. Thanks again.

 

[ski]

You're welcome.
See if the files can be copied to the Desktop in Safe mode.
If successful, then do a clean boot to troubleshoot the problem.

 

[dvd12345]

nope. still no luck. i don't think its because of the os, its probally something to do with the actual drive. First of all, is having many partitions on a usb drive problematic, and would running spinrite make it better. Thanks in advance.

 

[ski]

Oops, forgot that USB is not available in Safe mode. Sorry 'bout that.

See if the external drive works on another system.
If successful, then reconnect it to your system, and disconnect all USB devices except the HD.
If the problem still happens, then try a different USB port.
If still no luck, then do a clean boot.

If the problem also happens on another system, then try a different known working USB cable.