External drive failure?

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Arachan

85 posts

Master Geek

#84412 30-May-2011 17:53

Hello,

I have a reasonably old external 40GB 2.5" USB drive, the kind that plugs into two USB ports for power. It doesn't seem to have a model number or brand name on it.

I lent it to a friend of mine, and it was working fine this morning. When I got it back this afternoon I tried to plug it in and access it, but it simply won't show up.

I have tried it on three different computers with three different OSs (Ubuntu Linux, Windows XP, Windows 7). In XP it came up with a message saying something like, "this drive could not be recognised". Both Ubuntu and 7 didn't show any sign of recognising it.

The drive was formatted with a single FAT32 partition.

Are there any tests I can do or things I can try to work out if it is completely dead? I'm assuming my friend dropped it or knocked it against something, but he didn't think he had. What could cause this kind of issue?

Thanks,
Arachan.

tardtasticx

3075 posts

Uber Geek

#475859 30-May-2011 18:28

Does it show up in Windows Disk Manager?
If you don't mind losing your stuff on it, try this: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=50&topicid=84404

I was OP xD

So happy when i got my pendrive working. Give it a shot if you want. Best of luck

Arachan

85 posts

Master Geek

#475861 30-May-2011 18:31

As I said before, this drive doesn't seem to show up anywhere.

Thanks anyway.

Arachan.

Arachan

85 posts

Master Geek

#475874 30-May-2011 18:52

I forgot to mention that in each OS, once plugged in the drive audibly spins up and the light turns on.

Thanks,
Arachan.

tardtasticx

3075 posts

Uber Geek

#475881 30-May-2011 19:03

oh sorry. ummm. well one of my old external hard drives, a 160gb portable. Like yours it uses those 2 usb cables, one for power one for data. It does the exact same thing. Plug it in, hear it spin for a sec, the light turns on. HDD stops spinning but light stays. Windows said driver installation failed. I usually have to plug and unplug it a billion times (slight exaggeration xD) but yeh, it eventually sorts itself out. One day I pulled it apart carefully, and unplugged the drive, and plugged it back in. Reassembled it and it worked perfect for a few days. But its gone back to its old self. I wish I could be more help but I got no clue now. Be interested to see what everyone else says. I think it might be a hardware fault.