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Dying External Hard Drive

MoonKnightBlack
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Go to solution Solved by Captain_WD,
1 hour ago, MoonKnightBlack said:

~snip~

 

Hello there :)

The S.M.A.R.T. status indicates that your drive has one sector that the drive has troubles operating with. This may be an indication that it has a bad sector and it may begin to fail on you. I would suggest to run a diagnostic tool from the manufacturer and see if it confirms the data.
If this is just a stuck sector you may be able to fix it by filling the drive with zeros and thus reset the drive to its factory settings. Do have in mind that this wipes the drive from any data that it may have. 

If the drive is under warranty I would suggest to simply apply for a RMA procedure and get the drive exchanged with a replacement. 

Post back if you have further questions :)

Captain_WD.

Posted

I think that my external hard drive is dying.I tested it with Crystal disk info and there is something wrong with it.I have already made a backup for most of the important files but do not have storage to transfer everything.Should I format the Hard Drive? Also is there any other good software to test it?

 

This is the hard drive http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-Military-Tested-External-TS1TSJ25H3B/dp/B00J0XR14Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1454415546&sr=8-2&keywords=Transcend+1+TB

1111Capture.PNG

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How old is the drive? You say external drive but how have you got it connected to the pc? it says sata 3 but it is capable of sata 6? Take Crystal disk with a pinch of salt - it may keep going for months but then just stop working so...RMA?

DISPLAYS: LG 27UL500 IPS 4k60hz + HDR and LG 27GL650F IPS 1080p 144hz + HDR

 

LAPTOP: Lenovo Legion 5 CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800H GPU: RTX 3070 8GB RAM: 16GB 3200MHz (2x8GB DDR4) STORAGE: 4TB Crucial P3 NVMe SSD + 2TB Samsung 970 evo plus NVMe SSD DISPLAY: 1080p 165hz IPS OS: Windows 11 Pro x64

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7 minutes ago, Kirky2k15 said:

How old is the drive? You say external drive but how have you got it connected to the pc? it says sata 3 but it is capable of sata 6? Take Crystal disk with a pinch of salt - it may keep going for months but then just stop working so...RMA?

It is connected via a USB 2.O, I bought it 2 years ago and rarely used it.Is it possible to RMA? The device is working

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1 minute ago, MoonKnightBlack said:

It is connected via a USB 2.O, I bought it 2 years ago and rarely used it.Is it possible to RMA? The device is working

Probably not if its 2 years old most only come with 1 year warranty... check the serial number on the manufacturer's web site to see if its still under warranty...

DISPLAYS: LG 27UL500 IPS 4k60hz + HDR and LG 27GL650F IPS 1080p 144hz + HDR

 

LAPTOP: Lenovo Legion 5 CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800H GPU: RTX 3070 8GB RAM: 16GB 3200MHz (2x8GB DDR4) STORAGE: 4TB Crucial P3 NVMe SSD + 2TB Samsung 970 evo plus NVMe SSD DISPLAY: 1080p 165hz IPS OS: Windows 11 Pro x64

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17 minutes ago, Kirky2k15 said:

Probably not if its 2 years old most only come with 1 year warranty... check the serial number on the manufacturer's web site to see if its still under warranty...

I just checked and it is still under warranty.Also is it possible to connect it via sata?

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1 minute ago, MoonKnightBlack said:

I just checked and it is still under warranty.Also is it possible to connect it via sata?

Possibly.. you'd have to take it apart for that though... good luck RMA'ing it :-)

DISPLAYS: LG 27UL500 IPS 4k60hz + HDR and LG 27GL650F IPS 1080p 144hz + HDR

 

LAPTOP: Lenovo Legion 5 CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800H GPU: RTX 3070 8GB RAM: 16GB 3200MHz (2x8GB DDR4) STORAGE: 4TB Crucial P3 NVMe SSD + 2TB Samsung 970 evo plus NVMe SSD DISPLAY: 1080p 165hz IPS OS: Windows 11 Pro x64

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1 minute ago, MoonKnightBlack said:

Also is it possible to RMA it and should I do it?

You said its still in warranty right? So yes...

DISPLAYS: LG 27UL500 IPS 4k60hz + HDR and LG 27GL650F IPS 1080p 144hz + HDR

 

LAPTOP: Lenovo Legion 5 CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800H GPU: RTX 3070 8GB RAM: 16GB 3200MHz (2x8GB DDR4) STORAGE: 4TB Crucial P3 NVMe SSD + 2TB Samsung 970 evo plus NVMe SSD DISPLAY: 1080p 165hz IPS OS: Windows 11 Pro x64

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1 hour ago, MoonKnightBlack said:

~snip~

 

Hello there :)

The S.M.A.R.T. status indicates that your drive has one sector that the drive has troubles operating with. This may be an indication that it has a bad sector and it may begin to fail on you. I would suggest to run a diagnostic tool from the manufacturer and see if it confirms the data.
If this is just a stuck sector you may be able to fix it by filling the drive with zeros and thus reset the drive to its factory settings. Do have in mind that this wipes the drive from any data that it may have. 

If the drive is under warranty I would suggest to simply apply for a RMA procedure and get the drive exchanged with a replacement. 

Post back if you have further questions :)

Captain_WD.

If this helped you, like and choose it as best answer - you might help someone else with the same issue. ^_^
WDC Representative, http://www.wdc.com/ 

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31 minutes ago, Captain_WD said:

 

Hello there :)

The S.M.A.R.T. status indicates that your drive has one sector that the drive has troubles operating with. This may be an indication that it has a bad sector and it may begin to fail on you. I would suggest to run a diagnostic tool from the manufacturer and see if it confirms the data.
If this is just a stuck sector you may be able to fix it by filling the drive with zeros and thus reset the drive to its factory settings. Do have in mind that this wipes the drive from any data that it may have. 

If the drive is under warranty I would suggest to simply apply for a RMA procedure and get the drive exchanged with a replacement. 

Post back if you have further questions :)

Captain_WD.

Hello,

  I can't find the diagnostic tool from the manufacturer.Will updating the firmware or formatting help?What are the chances that it will fail?

The device is still under serial warranty but I don't have the receipt.

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Most vendors will do what you just did, and use the serial to validate warranty. You might get a month less or a month extra from the date of purchase depending on how long it took the vendor to sell it.

Just start the RMA process, and put down an approx. date of purchase.

I definitely would not take it apart if you're going to RMA it.

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42 minutes ago, MoonKnightBlack said:

~snip~

 

I would contact the live support of the manufacturer for the diagnostic tool and how to get it. :)
Updating the firmware can't really help with bad sectors. The case is the same with formatting. A full format would fill the drive with zeros and might reset the sectors if its just blocked, as I explained, so I'd back up everything from the drive and try it and then run the tests again. :)

The warranty can be checked via the serial number so the receipt shouldn't be an issue. I'd also remove the serial number from the screenshot! 

Captain_WD.

If this helped you, like and choose it as best answer - you might help someone else with the same issue. ^_^
WDC Representative, http://www.wdc.com/ 

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29 minutes ago, Mikensan said:

Most vendors will do what you just did, and use the serial to validate warranty. You might get a month less or a month extra from the date of purchase depending on how long it took the vendor to sell it.

Just start the RMA process, and put down an approx. date of purchase.

I definitely would not take it apart if you're going to RMA it.

I still have 1 year of warranty left on the serial number but I don't think that they will RMA it without the warranty.I sent them an email

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16 minutes ago, Captain_WD said:

 

I would contact the live support of the manufacturer for the diagnostic tool and how to get it. :)
Updating the firmware can't really help with bad sectors. The case is the same with formatting. A full format would fill the drive with zeros and might reset the sectors if its just blocked, as I explained, so I'd back up everything from the drive and try it and then run the tests again. :)

The warranty can be checked via the serial number so the receipt shouldn't be an issue. I'd also remove the serial number from the screenshot! 

Captain_WD.

Should I stop using the Hard drive to prevent any further damage? I would contact the manufacturer for the diagnostic tool.I really hope they do an RMA without the receipt as I still have 1 year warranty left.Thank you for the help, I appreciate it.

Edit: Also what should I tell the manufacturer? The device seems to work normally 

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5 minutes ago, MoonKnightBlack said:

~snip~

Not using would be the better option. :) Simply tell them that you see one pending sector with the tool that you are using and the guys will know what to do. They should give you guidance on how to further test the drive and give you info if you are eligible for a RMA procedure. 

If this helped you, like and choose it as best answer - you might help someone else with the same issue. ^_^
WDC Representative, http://www.wdc.com/ 

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2 minutes ago, Captain_WD said:

Not using would be the better option. :) Simply tell them that you see one pending sector with the tool that you are using and the guys will know what to do. They should give you guidance on how to further test the drive and give you info if you are eligible for a RMA procedure. 

Thank you for the help.

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