Dropped USB 1TB HD - OUCH

[photokev1]

Recently I had a small 2.5 1T Seagate drive fall to the floor- while it was playing back a video file.
Since this happened it seems to randomly un-mount and then hang or actually re-mount.
It usually dies when getting moved a little or "streaming music or videos".
Strange thing is when I used SyncBack software to backup all the files to the new drive it ran for over 6 hrs without unmounting- Strange.

Any thoughts on this, I have been using the bad drive for about a month like, and it would usually work for a hour or so, but never, ever that long.
I guess I am lucky that I was able to transfer all the files but it is still strange.

What brought me over the edge was that I was watching some Formula 1 racing over the weekend and couldn't stand it interrupting my race so I got a new drive. ;-)

 

[John_VanKirk]

Hello,

When a HDD is dropped while reading or writing, the slider heads are out over the platter/s and can easily cut into the platter surface or be bent ever so slightly. If the heads are parked off the platters as when off, on idle, they don't hurt anything. There must be tons of "college laptops" that dropped every year and most survive.

There is no point in doing anything else to the HDD, just copy off the data if possible and replace it. You were lucky to be able to access the data and transfer it "to a safe location"

Took one of my old 1 GB HDD's apart (remember that from about 1995) and it was an experience to see how sturdy they actually are built, how they are aligned, the spindle, the air vent, and how strong the rare earth magnets are. Actually magnatized a jeweler's screwdriver during that adventure. Think ahead another 10 years, we will all be using SSD's with no moving parts, so it will become a non issue.

 

[photokev1]

Thanks John, its just still strange to me that I could run it for hours with a sync program and can't stream my music or videos from the drive. I was thinking that it was just harder for the drive or something like that, not really sure.

I usually tear into any piece of hardware that fails just for the fun of it, I have taken a powered 3.5 inch drive external and changed enclosures with success, just not sure about these little USB drive.

~ My Sailboats cabinets are secured by those strong magnets! They are great for RV's also, Even large doors say shut.

PK

 

[photokev1]

Best answer selected by photokev1.