External hard drive occasional "clicking"

"John L @yahoo.com" john_stlmoremovethis wrote in message
...
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...

I built my own. I put a WD drive in one of these..
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
but they need holes drilled in the base as there appears to be no air inlet
for the mini fan on the back.

Hi,

Yes, you're right - found a great little monitor program -- and nothing is
accessing the drive when it goes into it's clicking routine...

Looking for recommendations on best external drive - do any come with a
cooling fan?

Thanks for all the help...

John

"Eric Gisin" wrote in message
...
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.

"Yes, you're right - found a great little monitor program"
What program did you found? Can you give us the address?

Dan

Probably filemon - sysinternals.com .

"Dan" wrote in message
ups.com...
"Yes, you're right - found a great little monitor program"
What program did you found? Can you give us the address?

Dan

Sure, it's even freeware - "Filemon" at http://www.sysinternals.com/ tracks
all activity to any drive you specify - really nice.

It allowed me to see that although a few programs were accessing the drive
(Norton Protect - Windows SVCexe, etc.,) the 'clickings' didn't correspond
to the access times - so it wasn't a software issue after all - just a hard
drive going bad as everyone said...

Rant: That's the second external drive that went bad within 2 years of
purchase. One Seagate, one WD. I'm beginning to think they're just not worth
the money.

John

"Dan" wrote in message
ups.com...
"Yes, you're right - found a great little monitor program"
What program did you found? Can you give us the address?

Dan

John L @yahoo.com john_stlmoremovethis wrote
in message ...

Sure, it's even freeware - "Filemon" at http://www.sysinternals.com/
tracks all activity to any drive you specify - really nice.

It allowed me to see that although a few programs were accessing
the drive (Norton Protect - Windows SVCexe, etc.,) the 'clickings'
didn't correspond to the access times - so it wasn't a software
issue after all - just a hard drive going bad as everyone said...

Rant: That's the second external drive that went bad
within 2 years of purchase. One Seagate, one WD.
I'm beginning to think they're just not worth the money.

Best get one in a decent case that keep it cool next time.


Dan wrote

"Yes, you're right - found a great little monitor program"
What program did you found? Can you give us the address?

On Thu, 21 Apr 2005 14:43:45 -0500, "John L"
wrote:

Sure, it's even freeware - "Filemon" at http://www.sysinternals.com/ tracks
all activity to any drive you specify - really nice.

It allowed me to see that although a few programs were accessing the drive
(Norton Protect - Windows SVCexe, etc.,) the 'clickings' didn't correspond
to the access times - so it wasn't a software issue after all - just a hard
drive going bad as everyone said...

Rant: That's the second external drive that went bad within 2 years of
purchase. One Seagate, one WD. I'm beginning to think they're just not worth
the money.

John

That's why most HDD's only come with a one year warranty now. They
know they are prone to failure. The average lifespan of a HDD is
supposed to be 3-5 years though. I've got two HDD's in my PC and one
of them clicks occasionally but I can't figure out which one it is.
I've ran chkdsk /r on both and no problems show up and both drives are
functioning normally. I'm thinking maybe it's just the second drive
parking the head for some reason because it's not in use most of the
time but I have power saving turned off so it shouldn't do that, or it
could be on its way to failure too. I just hope it's not my main 160gb
HDD.

"Aldwyn Edain" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 21 Apr 2005 14:43:45 -0500, "John L"
wrote:

Sure, it's even freeware - "Filemon" at http://www.sysinternals.com/ tracks
all activity to any drive you specify - really nice.

It allowed me to see that although a few programs were accessing the drive
(Norton Protect - Windows SVCexe, etc.,) the 'clickings' didn't correspond
to the access times - so it wasn't a software issue after all - just a hard
drive going bad as everyone said...

Rant: That's the second external drive that went bad within 2 years of
purchase. One Seagate, one WD. I'm beginning to think they're just not worth
the money.

That's why most HDD's only come with a one year warranty now.

Wrong. And Seagate has just gone up to 5 years.

They know they are prone to failure.

Fraid that isnt the reason.

The average lifespan of a HDD is supposed to be 3-5 years though.

Wrong again, its quite a bit longer than that.

I've got two HDD's in my PC and one of them clicks
occasionally but I can't figure out which one it is.

It might well show up in the SMART data for the drives.
Try http://www.lavalys.com/products/over...ng=en&pageid=1

I've ran chkdsk /r on both and no problems show up and both drives are
functioning normally. I'm thinking maybe it's just the second drive parking
the head for some reason because it's not in use most of the time

It wont be that, that should be silent.

but I have power saving turned off so it shouldn't do that,

And that doesnt sound like that either.

or it could be on its way to failure too.

Very likely. Backup what you'll slash your wrists if you
lose, even if you have to buy a DVD burner to do that.

I just hope it's not my main 160gb HDD.

Its usually the least convenient that dies.

"John L @yahoo.com" john_stlmoremovethis wrote in message
...
Sure, it's even freeware - "Filemon" at http://www.sysinternals.com/
tracks
all activity to any drive you specify - really nice.

It allowed me to see that although a few programs were accessing the drive
(Norton Protect - Windows SVCexe, etc.,) the 'clickings' didn't correspond
to the access times - so it wasn't a software issue after all - just a
hard
drive going bad as everyone said...

Rant: That's the second external drive that went bad within 2 years of
purchase. One Seagate, one WD. I'm beginning to think they're just not
worth
the money.

John

"Dan" wrote in message
ups.com...
"Yes, you're right - found a great little monitor program"
What program did you found? Can you give us the address?

Dan



External hard drives are the same as internal hard drives. The drive is
just put into an enclosure. You can just buy a new internal drive and switch
it out with the old one. The problem could be heat buildup. Those USB
enclosures don't seem to have any air flow at all. Hard drive can generate a
good amount of heat.

On Fri, 22 Apr 2005 09:05:22 +1000, "Rod Speed"
wrote:


That's why most HDD's only come with a one year warranty now.

Wrong. And Seagate has just gone up to 5 years.

That's just a recent change. Most were dropping down to one year.


Fraid that isnt the reason.

It's common knowledge that HDD's fail quite frequently.

The average lifespan of a HDD is supposed to be 3-5 years though.

Wrong again, its quite a bit longer than that.

Funny, that's what I just read on a tech site just a few days ago.
What's your estimate then? Ten years?


It might well show up in the SMART data for the drives.
Try http://www.lavalys.com/products/over...ng=en&pageid=1

Well, at least you gave me something of use even if you did have to go
about it a bit godlike. Thx.