My external hard drive loses files

[jpmcc]

I maintain my music files on an external HD. Periodically a folder here and there or partial folders disappear. Any idea what could be causing this and is there a remedy?

 

[phil22]

All hard drives fail eventually, it's usually a gradual process as first one sector becomes damaged, then two and so on. Files mysteriously disappearing is a typical symptom of this. There is no remedy other than replacing the drive. It may not be deteriorating but only testing it will confirm one way or the other.

Back up the drive's contents to another drive ASAP, then test the drive with "SeaTools for Windows": http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/seatools/

 

[jpmcc]

All hard drives fail eventually, it's usually a gradual process as first one sector becomes damaged, then two and so on. Files mysteriously disappearing is a typical symptom of this. There is no remedy other than replacing the drive. It may not be deteriorating but only testing it will confirm one way or the other.

Back up the drive's contents to another drive ASAP, then test the drive with "SeaTools for Windows": http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/seatools/

Thanks, Phil22. I downloaded Seatools but it doesn't recognize my Maxtor external 250GB HD. Your response confirms my suspicions though. It's not an old drive, maybe 2 years old.

 

[jpmcc]

Best answer selected by jpmcc.