My external hard drive is always busy when I turn it on...

[madnesdragon]

When I turn on my external hard drive, all it does is make a busy, always in use noise and the amber light is on telling me its busy. it doesnt always show up on 'my computer' and it sometimes slow down my computer. i cant open it up the files cos theres nothing to click on.

i suspect it might be because one time when it was busy i switched off the hard drive without clicking on 'safely remove hardware'.

its a hitachi 80GB external hard drive.

 

[cdogg]

External hard drives are built just like internal ones for the most part. They should be stationary at all times until they have been powered down. Usually most manufacturers recommend that you disconnect the connection to the PC and AC power, and then wait 30 seconds before moving the external drive. That gives it time to "spin down".

So from the sound of it, you might have damaged the drive. I would try it on another PC that has never had it attached before to be sure.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[madnesdragon]

If its damaged is there anyway to retrive the files on the hard drive?

 

[cdogg]

Yes, I'm sure others can step in here and offer solutions. There are some freebies and low-cost options, but for the most part, data recovery is quite expensive when it comes to a high success rate (that means going with a professional recovery solution).

Hopefully it's not, which attaching to another PC should help determine.

Good luck!


~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884