Mart
Tue Jun 22 06:11:54 CDT 2004
Hi Carol, thanks for keeping us posted.
> ... the idea of a good hard drive gone bad had not entered my mind!
Oh, they can Carol - and they do <g>
But good luck with the rest of the exercise and whatever the result, at
least you are still (just) within the warranty period. My own experience
with Maxtor's returns service has been good.
Please let us know the final results.
Mart
"caroloyl" <pandoranospam@getgoin.net> wrote in message
news:cb8njt01ccr@enews4.newsguy.com...
> Hi Mart,
>
> Sorry for the long delay. When I read your word "failing" I immediately
> turned a whiter shade of pale and decided to call Maxtor pronto since the
> external drive was less than a year old. After describing my problems to
> the tech he said it was possible that the drive had gone bad but more
likely
> that the file system was messed up. He, also, suggested I copy whatever I
> wanted and could get off from it to some other place (got about 4 GBs of
it
> on my C drive now), and then when I was finished--but before July 17th
when
> the warranty expires--to call back so someone could walk me through
> reformatting it.
>
> The only window I could access the drive from was the single pane one that
> came up when I plugged the thing in after booting and I soon found that
just
> highlighting and copying folders to C wasn't going to work in every case.
> Some folders I had to go through subfolder by subfolder and copy a
> window-full of files at a time--because every now and then there'd be one
> that was "in use and couldn't be copied" that would stop the folder-copy
> process. Alas none of those files was in use!--they were evidently
> corrupted, and I soon noticed all of them were dated between the
> beginning of May and the beginning of June this year. This actually made
> the copying a bit easier: I sorted the files by date and saved trying to
> copy the latest until I had all the rest taken care of--but the painfully
> slow process took me the whole of a day!
>
> I then had to wait for good weather before I could call Maxtor again
> (because it's t-storm season here) and today was just about perfect--so
it's
> freshly reformatted but not yet ScanDisked (Windows has suggested I
> perform a thorough version of that operation before using the drive--which
I
> expect will take hours). I also need to be putting files on it soon to
see
> if any problems remain.
>
> Thanks again for responding to a damsel in distress--the idea of a good
hard
> drive gone bad had not entered my mind!
>
> carol
>
>
> "Mart" <mart(NoSpam)@nospam.com> wrote in message
> news:eMeW9glUEHA.1012@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> > Carol, I'm a bit concerned that you *MAY* have a failing drive which
> *might
> > not* like being written-to. Before you do try a scandisk, it might be
> > prudent to attempt to back-up (copy) any of your more important data
> first -
> > I realize that 10GB's worth is an awful lot - or at least as much as you
> > can, just in case <g>
> >
> > Hopefully, the disk is OK and running a thorough scandisk will fix any
> > errors.
> >
> > Good luck and I await the 'good news' <bg>
> >
> > Mart
> >
> >
> > "caroloyl" <pandoranospam@getgoin.net> wrote in message
> > news:cakori017hk@enews4.newsguy.com...
> > > Hi Mart,
> > >
> > > Thanks for the suggestion! I didn't think to try that but I will, for
> > sure,
> > > today.
> > >
> > > carol
> > >
> > > "Mart" <mart(NoSpam)@nospam.com> wrote in message
> > > news:ube#KLfUEHA.4048@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> > > > Not sure If I missed it, but have you tried running scandisk AFTER
you
> > > > plugged the external drive in but BEFORE you accessed its files?
> > > >
> > > > Press and hold the shift key for a few moments when you plug the USB
> > disk
> > > > in - it suppresses the 'autorun'. Then run scandisk (on your
external
> > > drive)
> > > > through System Tools. See if that improves things.
> > > >
> > > > Mart
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > "caroloyl" <pandoranospam@getgoin.net> wrote in message
> > > > news:cajf4h02be4@enews4.newsguy.com...
> > > > > Saturday afternoon I was tooling along in Windows ME doing the
> little
> > > > things
> > > > > I do everyday. I had a few programs open, was online (dial-up)
and
> > > > creating
> > > > > stationery in OE when suddenly everything froze up solid.
CtlAltDel
> > > > > wouldn't work so I flipped the switch on the surge protector,
waited
> > > half
> > > > a
> > > > > minute, then flipped it back on. I expected to have a run through
> > > > ScanDisk
> > > > > and when it came up it had all my drives in its list--the 20 GB C,
> the
> > 8
> > > > GB
> > > > > D, and an external drive I keep backups on--an 80 GB Maxtor that I
> > > > acquired
> > > > > new last year. ScanDisk went through the C and D drives with only
a
> > few
> > > > > restarts--but when it was half-way through the G it locked up, so
I
> > had
> > > to
> > > > > power off again and start over.
> > > > >
> > > > > The subsequent ScanDisk attempt locked the computer up promptly,
so
> I
> > > > > powered off again and unplugged the G drive from its USB port.
Once
> > > more
> > > > I
> > > > > powered up and ScanDisk behaved normally--but now I can't have G
> > plugged
> > > > in
> > > > > at boot-up because ScanDisk loads to check it and before it or I
can
> > do
> > > > > anything ME is locked up again. However, if I plug the external
in
> > > after
> > > > > boot-up, a single-pane Explorer window opens for it and I can
> > > double-click
> > > > > and view what's on it; I can also access its files from my
graphics
> > > > > program! But if I close its initial window then try use to
Windows
> > > > Explorer
> > > > > or My Computer to browse it the 'puter locks up solid with the G
> drive
> > > > busy
> > > > > light on.
> > > > >
> > > > > The external drive has about 10 GB of files on it. I don't run
> > anything
> > > > > from it--not even installs--nor do I link to its files when I use
> them
> > > in
> > > > > stationery, etc.--but I'd saved a couple of jpgs with normal names
> to
> > it
> > > > > that day. I've since played with the piece of stationery that
> seemed
> > to
> > > > be
> > > > > the troublemaker, but nothing's gone wrong--and both the C and D
> > drives
> > > > are
> > > > > behaving in WE and My Computer. I haven't installed any new
> programs
> > > > since
> > > > > May 8.
> > > > >
> > > > > What can or should I do about this? I haven't tried a Restore
> > although
> > > I
> > > > > have a choice of two available from Friday, because I wasn't sure
if
> I
> > > > > should have the G drive plugged in to do that. Is there any way I
> can
> > > get
> > > > > ScanDisk to finish its job?? Any help much appreciated!
> > > > >
> > > > > carol
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
>