External Hard drive stops working sometimes

[Kuolemaratsu]

I have an 8 TB Seagate Hub that's is about half full with movies and games. Randomly after some time my computer stops being able to read the drive. I can still see the drive but I can't access it anymore, it just says the drives name and letter and ex-fat. When this happens there are several other weird issues, like windows Explorer not working and weirdest of all, steam closing and not being able to be relaunched, even though steam is not on that drive. Unplugging and plugging back in the drive fixes the issue.

I have run numerous virus scans on the drive, tried to so the scan and repair option on it with no errors being found, and changed the drive letter with nothing fixing the issue. I had the same drive plugged into another computer and it did not have the same issues.

Do I just need to replace it? I've had it for less than 6 months and am at wits end with it

I'm running windows 10 which is fully up to date

[Kuolemaratsu]

57 minutes ago, wONKEyeYEs said:

Maybe Disable USB suspend?

 

Thanks for the answer. Ill try it and let you know if it works. Here is a screenshot of what My Pc looks like after the drive stops working.

[Kuolemaratsu]

On 11/9/2023 at 8:09 PM, wONKEyeYEs said:

Maybe Disable USB suspend?

 

Nope didn't work. Just got a new harddrive instead of figuring it out more

[chtorogu]

I've found external drives never last long. I used to use them for convenience but I found they'd often break within a year or less. They also seemed to be way more sensitive to bumps than internal ones. I believe the lowest quality drives end up as external. Better to get a USB caddy and use a good quality internal one. 2.5" can just be powered straight from USB 3 through a simple adapter.

[Kuolemaratsu]

46 minutes ago, chtorogu said:

I've found external drives never last long. I used to use them for convenience but I found they'd often break within a year or less. They also seemed to be way more sensitive to bumps than internal ones. I believe the lowest quality drives end up as external. Better to get a USB caddy and use a good quality internal one. 2.5" can just be powered straight from USB 3 through a simple adapter.

Thanks for the feedback. Just confused on why it works with my other computer but not my main one?

[silencer12]

47 minutes ago, Kuolemaratsu said:

Thanks for the feedback. Just confused on why it works with my other computer but not my main one?

Bad input connector on the main one?

[Kuolemaratsu]

48 minutes ago, silencer12 said:

Bad input connector on the main one?

When i use a working drive i have on the same usb it works fine. so maybe a bad cable? Thanks for the suggestion

[Mark Kaine]

2 hours ago, chtorogu said:

I've found external drives never last long. I used to use them for convenience but I found they'd often break within a year or less. They also seemed to be way more sensitive to bumps than internal ones. I believe the lowest quality drives end up as external. Better to get a USB caddy and use a good quality internal one. 2.5" can just be powered straight from USB 3 through a simple adapter.

mine both going strong* for years, decades even (i mean all 3 of them actually lol) 

 

not sure what's wrong with yours...

 

 

* actually, correction: all 8 of them ! (plus a few random ones which im not counting out of laziness rn)

 

 

(all 8 pictured, trust me bro ;) )

[Mark Kaine]

3 hours ago, chtorogu said:

I've found external drives never last long.

ps: my oldest currently in use gotta be a ca. 2010 2.5 Toshiba "SSHD"... nothing wrong with it, still as fast as day one!

 

Tldr;  NO! 

 

 

ps2: you're also mixing several form factors wildly -- not my problem,  not a gacha -- the form factor is irrelevant in regards to longevity,  its the quality of the drive and the care being taken that's relevant.  

[Mark Kaine]

On 11/10/2023 at 2:25 AM, Kuolemaratsu said:

have an 8 TB Seagate Hub

ok, do you mean hard drive?  whats the model name/number?

 

i suspect some compatibility issues, but i never used a "hub" i like to keep it simple (and reliable)  

[chtorogu]

14 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

ps: my oldest currently in use gotta be a ca. 2010 2.5 Toshiba "SSHD"... nothing wrong with it, still as fast as day one!

 

Tldr;  NO! 

I must have been very unlucky then. I had one at 500 GB (unsure of brand, not noname though) that after maybe a while longer than a year just started getting slower and slower until it was useless. Another 2 TB (WD, I think) started cutting out during transfers after I think closer to two years. Also had a 800 GB 2.5 that was just weeks old when I forgot I had it taped to the top of my PC and it fell maybe 5 cm or so when I layed the PC on its side. Next time I used it I got the clicks of death and it was soon gone. i've had internal ones survive much worse accidents over the years.

[Mark Kaine]

Just now, chtorogu said:

I must have been very unlucky then. I had one at 500 GB (unsure of brand, not noname though) that after maybe a while longer than a year just started getting slower and slower until it was useless. Another 2 TB (WD, I think) started cutting out during transfers after I think closer to two years. Also had a 800 GB 2.5 that was just weeks old when I forgot I had it taped to the top of my PC which fell maybe 5 cm or so when I layed the PC on its side. Next time I used it I got the clicks of death and it was soon gone. i've had internal ones survive much worse accidents over the years.

it really depends on quality tho... like say if you buy a wd "green" or a Kinston a400... dont be surprised if it dies on you within a year...

 

i mean i get it,  its possible,  just not my experience,  i think i never had a hard drive outright die on me in (umm ~40 years?) except indeed a Kingston a400 came close... phison controller... basically user error... lol. needless to say i don't buy Kingston anymore...

 

i even still have 30 yo CDs working perfectly fine... and yet there's people complaining how quickly CDs break... simply user error,  nothing more nothing less, if you take care of CDs they basically last forever,  same as hard drives,  especially mechanical ones.... i guess SSDs might have more issues with that, but not much is known about that, as the tech is still too new.

 

[chtorogu]

18 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

it really depends on quality tho... like say if you buy a wd "green" or a Kinston a400... dont be surprised if it dies on you within a year...

 

i mean i get it,  its possible,  just not my experience,  i think i never had a hard drive outright die on me in (umm ~40 years?) except indeed a Kingston a400 came close... phison controller... basically user error... lol. needless to say i don't buy Kingston anymore...

 

i even still have 30 yo CDs working perfectly fine... and yet there's people complaining how quickly CDs break... simply user error,  nothing more nothing less, if you take care of CDs they basically last forever,  same as hard drives,  especially mechanical ones.... i guess SSDs might have more issues with that, but not much is known about that, as the tech is still too new.

 

I've never been one to buy the cheapest stuff and none of the external drives were, with the possible exception of the first one. I take good care of my stuff though over years accidents happen. The other two drives never suffered any trauma, just lived and died on my desk. Regarding WD Green, I've found my internal 3 TB one to be quite durable. It's around 10 years old and has suffered a few bumps but keeps on going no worse for wear as of yet. Same with a couple even older 1 TB Seagate Barracudas. That's why I've surmised that internal ones are of better quality than external of similar price class or even higher.

 

I'm also very careful with my optical media and don't touch anything but the edges if I can help it. As of yet I haven't come across any that no longer work.

[Mark Kaine]

6 hours ago, chtorogu said:

That's why I've surmised that internal ones are of better quality than external of similar price class or even higher.

i get it... but generally there's no difference,  except often external drives are actually better,  ie enterprise grade instead of consumer grade*.

Spoiler

here's my "wd black" which is actually some fancy high end enterprise/server grade drive, which runs a lot hotter than consumer drives, and is also about twice as fast, in practice,  the thing even has a fan, since its obviously not in a server rack how its originally designed for!

 

pretty much silent btw, also has some other advantages over normal consumer grade stuff

 

however,  personally i think it makes no sense to distinguish between external and internal since they're basically the same product.

 

anyways, sorry for "off topic"... still curious what "hub" op actually uses... i don't understand how hub = hard drive...

[Kuolemaratsu]

23 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

i get it... but generally there's no difference,  except often external drives are actually better,  ie enterprise grade instead of consumer grade*.

  Reveal hidden contents

here's my "wd black" which is actually some fancy high end enterprise/server grade drive, which runs a lot hotter than consumer drives, and is also about twice as fast, in practice,  the thing even has a fan, since its obviously not in a server rack how its originally designed for!

 

pretty much silent btw, also has some other advantages over normal consumer grade stuff

 

however,  personally i think it makes no sense to distinguish between external and internal since they're basically the same product.

 

anyways, sorry for "off topic"... still curious what "hub" op actually uses... i don't understand how hub = hard drive...

"Hub" is the name of the product as seen here https://www.microcenter.com/product/646357/seagate-8tb-one-touch-hub-external-usb-c-and-usb-30-desktop-hard-drive-with-rescue-data-recovery-services