Usb 2 0 to ide & sata cable driver

Sounds like a bad drive. One way of telling if the disk is bad is to put it up to your ear once it is plugged in. If the disk is bad you should hear spinning and clicking sounds from the inside.

ngrego- thanks, i had thought it was a software issue with Windows due to the vgaoem,fon message, but when it stopped dead in the middle of my Windows 7 reading and checking files it really had me wondering...as to hearing clicking sounds- i'll hook it back up and listen, but my WD 750GB Caviar Black in my own build will make noises like a subdued clicking and nothing seems to be a problem with it? it was quiet for the first couple of years, but starting making those noises a while back.... thank you for your reply, it really is appreciated. if it wasn't for these forums, i think that many with questions would really have no where to go; so my thanks to one and all....

the hp way to test a hdd http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=bph...

If the disk is damaged then the spinning and clicking sound should be continuous. It will sound something like a long spin then a click then a long spin and a click, the same thing over and over.
I agree some healthy drives do make some noise especially seagates, they are well known for the ruckus they make!

ngrego-- i've hooked the HDD (Hitachi 250GB, 5400) back up to my USB adapter and have had Windows 7 check the disc for errors and attempt to fix or recover bad sectors.. same thing happened- just stopped at 179,555 files checked. so i held it up to my ear and there is a repeating set of rapid clicks in a dot-dot-dash pattern with a short duration of quiet spinning in between. sounds like what you've mentioned. i agree with you on seagates noise issue; one reason i'm a WD fan. thanks for the input..

thanks, scout, for the link.. i'll try that next and see if it backs up what's going on with this Hitachi drive. sure wish more people would do a back-up once in a while.. looks like this lady will be losing her photos; tried reading the files but access denied...again, thanks to one and all who give their time and expertise and help many with otherwise very difficult problems. and 'scout', i agree with your philosophy; if one is able to help, one ought to try to do so. of course, it's gotten me into trouble sometimes, but i will still try to help in whatever capacity i'm able to...

now that was strange. put the drive back in and plugged power back in and laptop started up and went directly to an HP calendar.. when i closed that window, the laptop shut down..?? i think that this laptop is very confused! with laptop powered back up, i can get as far as 'system recovery options' which shows no os listed..(btw, it's W Vista)..reinstall Windows shows upgrade or clean install... would like to try to keep old info but looks like either clean install or new drive are only real choices...

if you did not have done the reinstall put the drive back inthe external case and try to recover the picture if you could not see files try this could help if the drive have not been format http://www.piriform.com/recuva