Dropped External 4tb HDD WD ultra now it won't read

robby10101 · 21 Mar 2019

Hello

I dropped the 3.5 inch HDD from height less than half feet on floor,( WD ultra passport )and now it won't read in Windows 7. I get error I/o error not readable.

Win7 takes lot of time to detect it and I get message.to format it which I click to no. I am able to remove using mass USB option and see drive also detected there.

I hear HDD rotating when plugged in and light blinking too.

When removing it, it gives one beep, which might not be there before.
What to do ?

Ranger4 · 21 Mar 2019

Hard drive are very fragile & even a very small knock over or shock can ruin it. The only repair is to replace it.

robby10101 · 21 Mar 2019

Yup i decided to open it up and now it completely stopped working,

those for spokes which are suppose to be on the spinning wheel keep going back and forward. It's giving continuous beep sounds.

Lady Fitzgerald · 21 Mar 2019

robby10101 said:

Yup i decided to open it up and now it completely stopped working,

those for spokes which are suppose to be on the spinning wheel keep going back and forward. It's giving continuous beep sounds.

If by opening it up you mean the HDD itself, then that was absolutely the worst thing you could have done.

LMiller7 · 21 Mar 2019

There is nothing in a modern hard drive that is user serviceable. The manufacturing tolerances are extremely fine, as they must be with modern data densities. Drives are manufactured in a special "Clean room" that is at least 1000 times cleaner than what would normally qualify as a clean room. During operation the read write heads fly above the platter surface at a height smaller than common dust particles. Even some bacteria are larger. A read-write head hitting such a dust particle on the platter surface would cause considerable damage to the head and the platter surface. You would typically not be able to see such damage.

A hard drive can only be safely opened in a special "clean room" meeting standards used during manufacture. Even then there are special precautions that must be taken. I understand that even the cover screws must be tightened to a specified torque.

A drive could be damaged by the fall described. Much depends on exactly how it lands.

Time for a new drive.

robby10101 · 22 Mar 2019

When i had bought 4TB, my main concern was that if it crashes for what ever reason entire 4TB will go and it seems that what has happened yesterday.

I wish i had asked here before, if opening HDD was a good idea.

really waiting for SSD 4TB prices to drop drastically, looking forward to it. Its been way too long since we have been relaying on spinning wheel tech which is this fragile. A non connected HDD should be easily be able to take small falls as they have so much data on them, they cant be this fragile.

1. Can anyone let me know which is more powerful to handle data processing like flv format videos Segate backup plus or WD Passport/Elements ? As another WD elements i got last year seems to loose its speed and goes on crawling speed if i convert couple of VIdeos on it. I am running defrag on it , which i have never run before and its taking hours. ( i did not drop this hDD )

thanks again all for your help, always a pleasure to be on sevenforums :)
@LMiller7 ty for details response to let me know what might have got screwed up.

SIW2 · 22 Mar 2019

if you have a spare 5.25 in bay, you might be interested in something lke this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00K5TJJ..._t2_B00P28XNG8

It has a switch so can be turned on only when you need it. Use ahci mode in bios for hotswapping.

Lady Fitzgerald · 22 Mar 2019

robby10101 said:

When i had bought 4TB, my main concern was that if it crashes for what ever reason entire 4TB will go and it seems that what has happened yesterday.

I wish i had asked here before, if opening HDD was a good idea.

really waiting for SSD 4TB prices to drop drastically, looking forward to it. Its been way too long since we have been relaying on spinning wheel tech which is this fragile. A non connected HDD should be easily be able to take small falls as they have so much data on them, they cant be this fragile.

1. Can anyone let me know which is more powerful to handle data processing like flv format videos Segate backup plus or WD Passport/Elements ? As another WD elements i got last year seems to loose its speed and goes on crawling speed if i convert couple of VIdeos on it. I am running defrag on it , which i have never run before and its taking hours. ( i did not drop this hDD )

thanks again all for your help, always a pleasure to be on sevenforums :)
@LMiller7 ty for details response to let me know what might have got screwed up.

What were you using the external HDD for? Backups? Data overflow? Were you leaving the external drive connected to the computer for extended periods (I suspect not but I have to ask)?

Any media, be it HDD, SSD, OD (optical disc), floppy disc, paper, whatever, are subject to sudden failure with irrecoverable data loss, no matter the size, age, or brand. I once even had a brand new, higher end, WD Black HDD arrive DOA. The only way to reasonably ensure the safety of data is for it to exist in three, separate places. For most people, this would mean on a drive in the computer, on an onsite backup drive, and on an offsite backup drive. For a backup drive to be a true backup drive, it must be kept powered down and disconnected from the computer except while updating the backups. Also, offsite and onsite backup drives should be swapped out as often as practical to keep the offsite backups as up to date as possible.

HDDs still remain the most practical, cost effective solution for data storage and backups. SSDs are far more impact resistant than HDDs but are far more more expensive making them impractical for data storage for most people (and this coming from the old broad who abandoned HDDs a few years ago), despite their many advantages (they also have other disadvantages but that's a topic for another thread). Both need periodic maintenance to keep them in tip top shape. You will just have to be more careful when handling HDDs (pretend they are eggs?). I don't think I've ever dropped an HDD despite the fact I've always been clumsy and getting clumsier to older I get.

Btw, if you finally decide to pull the trigger on a 4TB SSD, stay away from Samsung's new QVO model. QLC (such as the QVO) simply isn't ready for prime time yet, much like the 840 EVOs (early TLC) weren't. Since the 840s, the Samsung EVOs have been excellent drives (I have a boatload of the 850 EVOs and none have
given me trouble yet). The current 860 EVOs don't cost all that much more than the new 860 QVOs but are umpteen times better.

robby10101 · 23 Mar 2019

I leave 2 external HDD usually running all the time,
I only have elements now and one passport, both WD. I leave them on as I use it for primary work. Then disconnect it when they get full or not using. But usage is heavy when ever using.

Lady Fitzgerald · 23 Mar 2019

robby10101 said:

I leave 2 external HDD usually running all the time,
I only have elements now and one passport, both WD. I leave them on as I use it for primary work. Then disconnect it when they get full or not using. But usage is heavy when ever using.

With your present usage, your data is at rsk for loss. If you have room inside the computer, I suggest you get one or two HDDs, depending on how much storage space you need and install them inside the computer to use like you are using the externals now. It's not difficult, albeit it a bit tedious. Then use at least one same size external drive for each internal drive you have to back up the internal drives. Go back to my previous post to see what I had to say about backups and backup drives.