External hard drive occasional "clicking"

"John L @yahoo.com" john_stlmoremovethis wrote in message
...
My external WD hard drive has recently starting 'clicking' on occasion -
like resetting itself over and over. Usually it's quiet, works fine, but
sometimes it will just start clicking like some program is accessing it
but
having problems. Reboot the system and everything is fine until next time
(it can be an hour, day, or even a week) until it happens again - no set
pattern.

I really don't believe it's a hard drive malfunction as it just doesn't
come
across like that. For what it's worth, virus checks show nothing - Norton
Disk, PC Tools and Hard Drive Mechanic, all say the drive is "A Okay" when
they check it...

Is there a easy way to track down what program is accessing the drive when
it does this? Something along the lines of a good PC 'task monitor'
application?

Thanks for any tips.


John:
Any "noise" (such as a clicking sound) that's out of the ordinary emanating
from a HD is *always* a cause of concern. The fact that the diagnostic
utilities you mentioned did not find any problem with the drive is not
compelling. You *must* use Western Digital's hard drive diagnostic utility
(Data Lifeguard Tools version 11) to determine if there's a problem with the
drive. If that diagnostic tool doesn't find any problem with the drive, then
you'll pursue other possible causes if it's not software related, including
any problem with the USB enclosure itself, its cabling, and the USB ports.
Anna
Anna

after diag. try
look for indexing software
media sniffers
office 'find fast'

"John L @yahoo.com" john_stlmoremovethis wrote in message
...
My external WD hard drive has recently starting 'clicking' on occasion -
like resetting itself over and over. Usually it's quiet, works fine, but
sometimes it will just start clicking like some program is accessing it
but
having problems. Reboot the system and everything is fine until next time
(it can be an hour, day, or even a week) until it happens again - no set
pattern.

I really don't believe it's a hard drive malfunction as it just doesn't
come
across like that. For what it's worth, virus checks show nothing - Norton
Disk, PC Tools and Hard Drive Mechanic, all say the drive is "A Okay" when
they check it...

Is there a easy way to track down what program is accessing the drive when
it does this? Something along the lines of a good PC 'task monitor'
application?

Thanks for any tips.

My external WD hard drive has recently starting 'clicking' on occasion -
like resetting itself over and over. Usually it's quiet, works fine, but
sometimes it will just start clicking like some program is accessing it but
having problems. Reboot the system and everything is fine until next time
(it can be an hour, day, or even a week) until it happens again - no set
pattern.

I really don't believe it's a hard drive malfunction as it just doesn't come
across like that. For what it's worth, virus checks show nothing - Norton
Disk, PC Tools and Hard Drive Mechanic, all say the drive is "A Okay" when
they check it...

Is there a easy way to track down what program is accessing the drive when
it does this? Something along the lines of a good PC 'task monitor'
application?

Thanks for any tips.

Hi Anna thanks for the very quick response...

Yes, I believe the problem to be software related - that's why I'm looking
for task monitor type program to find out which program is accessing the
drive and causing the problem.

Thanks again for your help.

"John L @yahoo.com" john_stlmoremovethis wrote in message
...
My external WD hard drive has recently starting 'clicking' on occasion -

snip
Thanks for any tips.



John,

My hard drive has started doing this recently as well, which has turned out
to be bad sectors on the drive. I looked in Event Viewer under System and
it reports problems with the drive.

Have a look at yours (Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Event Viewer
in XP, similar in others), as it should report any problems it's come across
while trying to access data.

I have since run the Seagate diagnostic tools and found out that I need to
send it back .

Grendel.

John L

My external WD hard drive has recently starting 'clicking' on occasion -
like resetting itself over and over. Usually it's quiet, works fine, but
sometimes it will just start clicking like some program is accessing it but
having problems. Reboot the system and everything is fine until next time
(it can be an hour, day, or even a week) until it happens again - no set
pattern.

I really don't believe it's a hard drive malfunction as it just doesn't come
across like that. For what it's worth, virus checks show nothing - Norton
Disk, PC Tools and Hard Drive Mechanic, all say the drive is "A Okay" when
they check it...

Is there a easy way to track down what program is accessing the drive when
it does this? Something along the lines of a good PC 'task monitor'
application?

Thanks for any tips.



While you're searching for programs that might be causing it do a backup
because my bet is it'll die shortly.

The sound people generally describe as 'clicking' is almost always caused
by a bad sector read as the heads slam home to recalibrate head position.

It's not a software problem. I know of no monitoring programs.

You may have a bad sector. "Chkdsk /r" will tell you what file.

USB enclosure are notorious for drive failures due to heat.

"John L @yahoo.com" john_stlmoremovethis wrote in message
...
Hi Anna thanks for the very quick response...

Yes, I believe the problem to be software related - that's why I'm looking
for task monitor type program to find out which program is accessing the
drive and causing the problem.

"John L @yahoo.com" john_stlmoremovethis wrote in message
...
My external WD hard drive has recently starting 'clicking' on occasion -
like resetting itself over and over. Usually it's quiet, works fine, but
sometimes it will just start clicking like some program is accessing it
but
having problems. Reboot the system and everything is fine until next time
(it can be an hour, day, or even a week) until it happens again - no set
pattern.

Make sure you do a full backup anyway.

"Eric Gisin" wrote in message
...
USB enclosure are notorious for drive failures due to heat.

If you can find one of these and don't mind

a) drilling some holes in the bottom
b) it's size
c) it's external power adaptor
d) the fan

...then they run about as cool as you can get...
http://www.stardom.com.tw/web/pro-U71.htm
they do a nice stack as well..
http://www.stardom.com.tw/web/pro-U74.htm

I removed everything 'important' from the drive when the problem started and
everything on there now is already backed up to DVDs.

Backups of a backup of a backup - it's getting rather silly...

This drive only lasted about 7 months - anybody care to recommend an
external backup drive with some longevity - something you've personally had
good luck with?

Thanks for all the help...