I need help with my hardrive

[jamesbleu2003]

whenever i plug my hardrive in,it says the device has malfunctioned,windows does not recognise it,but if i keep trying it might evenually come up and i can access the data on it..but this happens rarely,pls help

 

[evongugg]

Welcome to the forums!

Look for a bios update.
It may be a motherboard problem.
Run manufacturer hard disk diagnostics to stay on the safe side.

 

[howardp6]

I would check the hard drive cable first and see if the connector is fully seated. Then try another cable. How old is the drive, a little more information would be help such as model number of the motherboard, drive and the type of interface, PATA, SCSI, SATA, ESATA, Firewire or USB. I am assuming it is not the system drive otherwise trhe system would not boot. I would check the system event log to check for error messages and warning and supply us with more information.

 

[Paperdoc]

More info needed, especially your exact mobo maker / model, and make / model of HDD unit. For example, this performance could be a result of a newer SATA II HDD connected to an older mobo with support only for the original (slower) SATA standard. But we can't tell that without knowing those details.

 

[jamesbleu2003]

its an LG HXD2 external HDD( a usb device)...its plugged correctly and if i try plugging my phone with the cord to the laptop,it works perfectly...like i said,if i keep trying for a very long time,it might work,but it goes off not long after. pls help.........its 250 gb and i almost filled it up,i cant lose all that data!

 

[Paperdoc]

Ah, it's an external connected by USB. In that case my example of mismatch between SATA speeds is less likely - if you bought a complete external drive, no doubt the components were matched. But maybe the USB enclosure or the connection is not right.

I suggest two troubleshooting tests you could try. First, try connecting the unit to one or more other computers to see if the problem happens there. If it does, you have a problem with the external unit; if not, there's a problem with your laptop's ability to deal with the device on the USB port.

If the problem is in the external system, you could try opening the external drive and removing the hard disk from it, then mounting that drive as an internal HDD in another computer. If it works that way, you have to suspect the flaw is in the external case. But if the drive malfunctions when in another computer as an internal, you know the drive itself if flawed. In that case, get as much data backed up from it as you can as soon as possible. Then go looking for a replacement.

It's also possible that the problem is a loose connection within the external drive unit, and you might find it and fix it simply by taking the disk out of the case and then replacing it. May not be likely, but possible, anyway.