Topic: External HD question (Read 7122 times)

tweek · « **on:** February 01, 2007, 11:54:31 PM »

I recently bought a 250 gig USB external hard drive. I needed to free up some room on my computers internal hard drive. Anyway, I've transfered all the data (85 gigs) onto the drive and now whenever I need access to those files, I just turn the drive on and hurray!

My problem comes when I no longer need to use the drive. Rather than simply shutting it off, I use the Safely Remove Hardware function. Problem is, half the time I get a message telling me that the disk can't be stopped right now, and I should try again later. This is frustrating when I'm getting ready to turn my computer off.

My question is, is it safe to simple shut my computer down then shut off the drive? I don't want data loss, but I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to just disconnect the drive, or put my computer into sleep mode. Leaving it on all the time is hardly ideal either.

12AX7 · « **Reply #1 on:** February 02, 2007, 08:40:18 AM »

Any particular reason you can't leave it on? I'm sure it probably doesn't cost more than a few cents, if that's the case. You're not really saving anything if those few cents are negated by it being frustrating alla time.
My guess would be something in your page file is still looking towards that drive when you get that message, so just turning it off would be fine. Again that's my GUESS. Sorry , I know that doesn't help much, but that's all I got, man.

tweek · « **Reply #2 on:** February 02, 2007, 09:36:09 AM »

I don't mind leaving it on in the day when this happens, but at night I like to shut everything off. I've got a hard enough time sleeping without the sound of my computer running beneath my bed.

dcrog · « **Reply #3 on:** February 02, 2007, 10:28:05 AM »

Tweek if you shut down the computer it should automatically shut down any open programs that may be writing, reading, or using data on the external. That is what the message is trying to say. After the computer is off there shouldn't be anything with the possibility of writing to it so turning it of shouldn't be a problem.

You don't have a P2P running with the shared folder on the external, do you?

tweek · « **Reply #4 on:** February 02, 2007, 11:00:06 AM »

No, students using file sharing programs have their connections suspended.

Thank god porn is still allowed.

dcrog · « **Reply #5 on:** February 02, 2007, 12:04:51 PM »

It does sound like you have some kind of data on there linked back to your main drive though. Or some program that simply doesn't want to turn loose of it.

tweek · « **Reply #6 on:** February 02, 2007, 01:02:30 PM »

I went into the task manager and found some components of MusicMatch Jukebox still running even though I closed the program. Once I terminated them, I was able to safely remove the drive.

Demosthenes · « **Reply #7 on:** February 02, 2007, 06:58:56 PM »

I have one Windows machine at work that ALWAYS tells me that "the device cannot be stopped" when I try to stop a USB device (like a flash drive or an external CD burner or something). Whenever that happens, I just physically disconnect the device anyway.

Windows is kind of dumb that way sometimes.

tweek · « **Reply #8 on:** February 27, 2007, 09:51:36 PM »

New problem. I can't get the drive to be recongnized by anyone else's computer. I've tried 4 different machines. All give me a message saying that either the drive has malfunctioned or windows doesn't recognize it. I really need to be able to hook this up to other computers. Anyone know why this is happening?

Demosthenes · « **Reply #9 on:** February 27, 2007, 10:21:09 PM »

Probably something wrong with the partition. I'd back up the data on it and reformat it.

tweek · « **Reply #10 on:** February 27, 2007, 11:26:18 PM »

I'm too drunk and too far away from my computer to do that now. ANy other suggestions? Not that I don't appreciate your advice Demo. I love you!

Chris · « **Reply #11 on:** February 27, 2007, 11:28:38 PM »

Wait until you're not drunk.

hackess · « **Reply #12 on:** February 28, 2007, 12:03:26 AM »

Run Knoppix and see if it recognizes the drive/partition.

tweek · « **Reply #13 on:** February 28, 2007, 12:59:21 AM »

I'm only sort of drunk. My friend is puking right now. Oh well. I went to Walmart. Me and this girl, or... THIS GIRL AND I, went to Walmart when we realized the adult bookstore was closed. It's sad. Oh well. Hehe, we couldn't watch the movies on my harddrive that I wanted to anyway. I would still like to know what is up though. I love Detta and Cat. Oh and Timberwolf.

I'm too drunk to figure much out right now. Sorry, I'll try again later. I don't have internet at my house right now. Not that I'm at my house. I'm at a friends apartmantment right now. I'll staighten this out later. Sorry.

tweek · « **Reply #14 on:** February 28, 2007, 02:11:43 AM »

We're making my friend drink water. I'm sobering up quite well. Anyway, I don't want to derail my own thread. Back on the subject. I'm not in much of a condition to try that program Cat. Maybe tomorrow if I can use my girlfriend laptop.

12AX7 · « **Reply #15 on:** February 28, 2007, 06:30:13 AM »

It's an OS, not a program, but you'll see. Good luck!

tweek · « **Reply #16 on:** March 04, 2007, 08:10:27 PM »

It's not working on my regular computer either. I can't back up the data on it either. I've got most of it on dvds, but I'd still lose 15 gigs or so in a reformat.

Okay, as far as Knoppix goes, what do I need to do. How will an OS help me?

tweek · « **Reply #17 on:** March 04, 2007, 08:26:22 PM »

Let me see if I've got this. I download Knoppix, put it on a thumb drive, boot to it on start up, and see if it recognizes the partition on my external?

Edit: This for instance?

Will it allow me to recover the data from the drive if I need to reformat, or will it allow me to repair the drive?

Another question, what may have caused this? I didn't drop the drive. I've been very gentle with it, I don't think the write heads jarred the disks or anything. I also did the whole "remove hardware safely" thing before I disconnected it before my trip.

Chris · « **Reply #18 on:** March 04, 2007, 10:03:29 PM »

Quote from: tweek on March 04, 2007, 08:26:22 PM

Another question, what may have caused this? I didn't drop the drive. I've been very gentle with it, I don't think the write heads jarred the disks or anything. I also did the whole "remove hardware safely" thing before I disconnected it before my trip.

Though somewhat uncommon, it is possible for drives to simply "crap out" due to defects or other mechanical malfunctions.

For example, if you have a drive manufactured with bad sectors on it, it may last months with bad sectors before finally kicking the bucket, whereas in other cases it can kick the bucket very quickly.

tweek · « **Reply #19 on:** March 05, 2007, 10:59:36 AM »

Quote from: 12AX7 on February 28, 2007, 06:30:13 AM

It's an OS, not a program, but you'll see. Good luck!

That smiley makes me nervous. HTML2K.bat anyone? Will installing Knoppix cause me to lose windows? I hardly want to do something that may be irreversible.

milifist · « **Reply #20 on:** March 05, 2007, 11:21:29 AM »

You might want to check out THIS article. It is a little out of date, but it might be useful.

You should be using knoppix as a boot cd/usb drive, in which case it shouldn't affect your normal OS.

tweek · « **Reply #21 on:** March 05, 2007, 01:15:02 PM »

I booted into Knoppix but it didn't notice the external either.

I don't know what to do, I can hardly format the drive and start over because the computer doesn't recognize it in the first place.

milifist · « **Reply #22 on:** March 05, 2007, 01:53:08 PM »

That is not good.

One long shot is to try a different usb cable. There might also be a problem with the enclosure. You could get one of THESE to check. However, both of these possibilities are not too likely.

Other than that, seek professional help or kiss the sucker goodbye.

ivan · « **Reply #23 on:** March 05, 2007, 01:54:28 PM »

Be sure you disconnect power before you kiss it.

Unless, of course, you're into that sort of thing.

tweek · « **Reply #24 on:** March 05, 2007, 03:34:58 PM »

It's definitely still under warranty. I think I might have to try that. The possibility of a faulty cable also occurred to me. I'm not sure where I could find a working one to test it though. A/B cables aren't that common as far as I can tell.

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Author Topic: External HD question (Read 7122 times)

12AX7

12AX7