External HDD Power Supply Problems

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Milet

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#65685 5-Aug-2010 19:08

Hey Everyone.

I have a 1TB External HDD that I bought off pconline.co.nz last year. It doesn't seem to have a brand, it just says 3.5 Inch ATA USB 2.0 (when I bought it, the site called it POS 1TB External HDD POS351TB) but I'm having problems with the Power Supply.

Last week it just stopped working. I tried getting hold of pconline over and over but they never get back to me. So I tried trademe, I couldn't find the exact model so I found one that had the exact same amount of pins and same Input and Output in terms of power so I bought it. I plugged it into the hard drive but when I turned it on at the wall it blew up and blew the fuse too.. My original power supply was model ET-CASE35-G but the model i got off TM was GXP34-12.0/5.0-2000 but I thought since the Pins ( 6 Pin (Type - A)), the INPUT (100-240VAC,50/60Hz,0.5A) and the OUTPUT (12V 2A, 5V 2A) were the same that it would work.

Can anyone help me? When the new power supply blew up, would it have stuffed up my HDD? Does anyone know where I can get the same power supply from? Or am I able to pull apart the HDD and install it into my PC somehow?

I just need to get it working, all my photos and work is on it. Thanks in advance!!

Regs

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Snowflake

#363860 5-Aug-2010 19:54

you should be able to remove the HDD from the enclosure and insert directly into your pc, or into another cheap enclosure that you can buy from various computer stores. It is possible the disk itself is damaged, but more likely just the bit of circuitry between the power input and the hdd.

The power supplies should normally be interchangeable, assuming they were both DC or both AC. if you stick an AC power supply into a DC unit you're going to get wierdness and possibly explosions... of course your relying on some cheap product actually stating the parameters correctly on the box - if it was a cheap box out of china, it could easily be different from that stated...

interesting model name, btw. What does POS stand for? ;)

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Milet

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#363878 5-Aug-2010 20:20

Thanks Regs, I am a complete noob when it comes to things like this. It was a cheap bottom line HDD..

I am comfortable installing RAM etc but have not installed a hard drive before. If i just want to install it as a storage disk and not run an OS on it, how do I do this?

thanks again

Regs

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Snowflake

#363925 5-Aug-2010 21:25

installing an HDD is fairly trivial. first you need to determine if it is IDE or SATA, check you have the right cables and power, then plug them in. You normally dont need to mess with the BIOS.

for SATA disk try this link:
http://computershopper.com/hard-drives-burners/howto/install-a-new-hard-drive-in-five-easy-steps

for IDE disk, try this link:
http://www.helpwithpcs.com/upgrading/install-hard-drive.htm

alternatively, a new external enclosure is quite cheap - possibly cheaper than extra sata/ide cable if you dont already have one.... try this link $35+gst: http://www.xpcomputers.co.nz/product-ne_usb2.0_to_sata_hdd_3.5_inch_hard_drive_enclousre-4772

an alternative to the external enclosure is an external dock. if you have a sata disk, you can drop it into the dock and plug the dock into your USB and away you go. a dock is listed here for $45+gst:
http://www.xpcomputers.co.nz/product-welland_2.5'___3.5'_sata_external_dock___black_plastic_w__esata,_usb_2.0,_otb-5572

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pgs2050

281 posts

Ultimate Geek

#364066 6-Aug-2010 09:38

Hi Guys,

I have a fairly similar problem with my external 3.5" IDE hard drive enclosure. The enclosure is not powering up anymore and I have removed the 320GB drive from it.

On my PC I have just one IDE connector, so only 2 IDE devices can be connected. My problem is that I already have 2 80GB IDE drives connected. Originally, I had the XP operating system on the master drive. I subsequently installed Windows 7 on the slave drive. So when I boot the PC I can choose between XP and Windows 7. These 2 operating systems have been installed on the 2 separate 80GB drives.

The trouble is that when I disable the XP drive, and replace it with the non-bootable 320GB drive from the enclosure, Windows 7 does not load. Gives a message that some NTLOADR (?) files are missing and then the system hangs. If I disable the Windows 7 drive instead of the XP drive, I am presented with the option to run (1) older operating system or (2) Windows 7. If I choose option (1), XP loads and I am able to access the 320GB drive.

The question is, why does Windows 7 not load? Do I have to load Windows 7 again as the sole operating system in order to be able to switch the secondary drives whenever I need?

Is there are quick solution to this, until I get a new 3.5" IDE external enclosure?

Ragnor

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#364111 6-Aug-2010 10:53

Milet: I tried getting hold of pconline over and over but they never get back to me.

Sadly this sort of thing always happens when you buy from the cheapest etailer on pricespy and you later have a problem.

I recommend in future you pay the $5-10 extra and buy from shops that have been around for awhile, ones that have a real physical store and good support and service eg: Computer Lounge, Playtech, Ascent, Pb Tech etc

Regs

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Snowflake

#364529 7-Aug-2010 00:57

pgs2050:
The trouble is that when I disable the XP drive, and replace it with the non-bootable 320GB drive from the enclosure, Windows 7 does not load. Gives a message that some NTLOADR (?) files are missing and then the system hangs. If I disable the Windows 7 drive instead of the XP drive, I am presented with the option to run (1) older operating system or (2) Windows 7. If I choose option (1), XP loads and I am able to access the 320GB drive.

The question is, why does Windows 7 not load? Do I have to load Windows 7 again as the sole operating system in order to be able to switch the secondary drives whenever I need?

Is there are quick solution to this, until I get a new 3.5" IDE external enclosure?

your XP drive is obviously the "system" drive and has the bootloader configured on it. You can add a bootloader on to the windows 7 disk using the windows 7 install media with repair mode and bootrec.exe if you follow the instructions here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

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