Is my external HD fried?
 

I just bought a one TB external HD and I've been transferring everything from my 250GB HD over to it...it's all mp3's. I got pretty much everything I want over on the new HD, but the old one is starting to concern me.

When I tried to move this one particular folder over to the new HD, I got a cyclic redundancy check error. In another folder, when I tried to delete a particular mp3, nothing happened...the HD just froze. And with the latter, it's causing my whole system to slow down.

I've error-checked this HD, ran chkdsk/ f on it and even downloaded the Eraser program...none of them got rid of that pesky CRC file. I can't run defrag on it because it finds that CRC file. And now the HD is getting finicky when I just plug it in via USB. Sometimes, I have to disconnect the power, then plug that back in for it to show up.

So...how can I tell if it's just these rogue files or the actual HD that's crap?

also run a memory check. That can look like hd problems.

Here are a couple of programs to test memory.

http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

http://www.totms.co.uk/archives/2007/11/entry_57.html

LMAO

I clicked on this as a "new post" link and wasn't thinking about the thread title. I started to click on memtest thinking it was to test MY memory.

FAIL! :)

I couldn't figure out how to use memtest, but I'm pretty certain it's the HD now. I just hooked it up to my desktop computer and am having the same problems. And I'm pretty confident that I don't have 2 computers with RAM issues.

Makes sense.

Go back. Start over. First look at your symptoms which say nothing about a memory problem.

A disk drive consists of two parts: a computer and a disk platter. CRC error occurs when the disk drive computer reads data off the platter erroneously.

Do not try to fix anything - ie run a defrag. Diagnostics mean breaking a problem down into parts. Long before that other part - fixing something - first identify the problem.

Now, how does this external drive get connected - USB? Some USB ports do not provide sufficient power or a marginal voltage when a largest load is applied. USB ports are limited to ten watts. Disk drives consume something less than ten watts. Was the drive designed with a ten percent margin or error? Well, first confirm the problem stays with the drive on numerous USB ports of other systems.

A responsible disk drive manufacturer will provide comprehensive hardware diagnostics. That is a tool to discover if the drive is reliable on one USB port and not on another.

Typically a CRC error is either a defective disk platter or a problem with the read write heads and electronics. However, a low USB voltage can make numerous and contradictory errors. Worse, trying to fix this during low voltage could eventually trash the entire drive.

Diagnostics are step one: how to first identify the problem long before fixing anything. Trying to fix something without doing step one can even make the problem exponentially more complex.