Strange external HDD behavior

JanisK

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Mar 17, 2014
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I have a toshiba 2.5'' external drive. When I connect it to my laptop, my computer does not recognize it and the drive makes lound clicking sounds. Ar first I thought that drive is broken and wanted to send it for exchange. But then I tried it on other computer and it works perfectly fine and does not make the clicking sound. Now I don't know what to make of it. The probably wont exchange it for another by warranty terms, because actually it works. Ant suggestions ?
 
Solution
use the other pc to backup all the data on the drive. then delete partitions and format, making sure to check for bad sectors. report back here if it still persists.

TyrOd

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Aug 16, 2013
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What are you talking about? The drive is clicking meaning it won't come ready at least intermittently and is physically unstable. It's well beyond backing up at this point.

Even if it is an issue just with the bridge board, you should exchange it. Of course, if you have critical data on the drive, you'll need to decide if taking the drive out of the enclosure to test if it's just the bridge board is worth voiding the warranty.

It's more likely to be a electronic(PCB) or mechanical issue(heads/HRA) than it is a bridge board issue, so I would recommend getting a free diag done by a lab that won't void the warranty if you need the data.
 

popatim

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Did you miss the part where the OP said he can connect the drive to another pc and it works "Perfectly Fine" ?

jbseven's advice seems fine to me.
 

TyrOd

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A consumer SATA generally cannot cause an otherwise stable drive to click and a stable drive will come ready without repetitive clicking, so i doubt it's an isolated case with the PC it's being plugged into.

Obviously, you can run a utility like Seatools to look for red flags as well, and I would strongly suggest making an image of the drive before attempting a file-level backup of the drive.
If you run into further problems with making an image on the PC it seems to run stable on, then that's a sure sign you have issues with the drive.

 

jbseven

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Dec 2, 2011
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Tyrod,

I've had cases where a usb drive (250gb wd passport) would click and be unreadable on one pc but work fine on all other pcs. The problem was attributed to several, but not all usb ports on the first pc, which revealed itself to have powering issues with various other devices. My advice to OP is based on my observation that this experience is possible.

That being said, when the drive starts clicking, and i am able to access it on a different pc, i would rush at this opportunity to back up considering the cost of professional hard drive recovery.
 

TyrOd

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That makes sense. I may be a bit biased on this since I've always gone the route of getting a free diag done by someone I trust to know for sure, but of course if the drive is otherwise stable on that system, there shouldn't be a problem with making a backup.
 

JanisK

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Mar 17, 2014
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Thank you for the answers! I was trying to back up all data on another computer, but after a while copying it got stuck and started the clicking sound. So I guess I should return it.. ?
 

TyrOd

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Looks like I was right and you killed your drive trying to do a file level backup. Obviously, that doesn't mean it's beyond recovering your data, only that you've made it significantly worse.

If you're data isn't worth the money to recover, then you're only step left is to replace.