Is my USB Hard drive defective?

[Jeanick]

I have a Simpletech MINI Signature series 320GB that my laptop cannot detect anymore... Is there a fix when the guy at tech support tells me it's defective?

 

[wuzy]

Is there a fix when the guy at tech support tells me it's defective?

Care to elaborate?

 

[jsc]

There's a possibility that the USB drive interface is bad, not the hard drive itself.

You can test this if the drive is a SATA unit. Take the USB drive apart, pull the drive mechanism out, and hook it up to a desktop computer. If the drive is good, simply get another empty USB drive enclosure.

 

[Jeanick]

Is there a fix when the guy at tech support tells me it's defective?

Care to elaborate?

Hi and thanks! Well, it sounds like it is spinning while plugged in but it cannot be detected by my Laptop. It used to... The tech guy asked me to power it up with a Radio Shack charger, but this did not help. I did a restart on my laptop (running Vista) and I tried to plug it in to all the different USB ports. There is this red light, but there used to be a blue light before... I was wondering if it could be a driver issue, but I red somewhere that the driver that I need is already part of Windows Vista.
I hate spending 80 bucks and get a defective product!
Thanks for reading!
Nicolas

 

[Jeanick]

There's a possibility that the USB drive interface is bad, not the hard drive itself.

You can test this if the drive is a SATA unit. Take the USB drive apart, pull the drive mechanism out, and hook it up to a desktop computer. If the drive is good, simply get another empty USB drive enclosure.

Thanks for your reply!

That's a good idea! I purchased this unit brand new but from Ebay... I have submited a claim for warranty but they might decline it since it was purchased on Ebay (my Paypal receipt states "brand new" so I might still have a chance to go throught the warranty process.

If that does not work out then I will open this guy... Good suggestion! I happen to have 1 additional enclosure for this size HD that is still wrapped up in its original packaging...

Thank you! I will let you know...

 

[Jeanick]

There's a possibility that the USB drive interface is bad, not the hard drive itself.

You can test this if the drive is a SATA unit. Take the USB drive apart, pull the drive mechanism out, and hook it up to a desktop computer. If the drive is good, simply get another empty USB drive enclosure.

Thanks for your reply!

That's a good idea! I purchased this unit brand new but from Ebay... I have submited a claim for warranty but they might decline it since it was purchased on Ebay (my Paypal receipt states "brand new" so I might still have a chance to go throught the warranty process.

If that does not work out then I will open this guy... Good suggestion! I happen to have 1 additional enclosure for this size HD that is still wrapped up in its original packaging...

Thank you! I will let you know...