USB 200 GB hard drive wont connect

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lynn McGuire
  • Start date Start date
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Lynn McGuire

I have a 200 GB external USB hard drive that wont connect
all of a sudden. I plug it in, it spins up but does not connect
to my Windows XP PC. Does anyone have a clue what to
do next ?

Thanks,
Lynn
 
[email protected]>,
(e-mail address removed) says...
I have a 200 GB external USB hard drive that wont connect
all of a sudden. I plug it in, it spins up but does not connect
to my Windows XP PC. Does anyone have a clue what to
do next ?
Click to expand...

1) Check cables, try new USB cables

2) Could be power-related (but you do hear it spin up...
or do you just hear the fan?) That will require either
trying to connect the drive in another USB enclosure or
putting it inside the PC.

3) Could be heat-related, maybe the drive is overheating
inside the enclosure. What's the ambient temperature of
the room where the computer is? Does the USB enclosure
have a fan to pull air across the drive?

If it's heat-related, *sometimes* you can get the drive
to run for short periods of time by cooling the unit off
(cool it down to 50F by putting it in a cold, dry place
such as a garage). Be careful not to cause dew to form
on the drive.

However, usually, once you cook a drive, it's dead.

(Which is why I only use 5400rpm drives in external USB
enclosures. Or make sure I buy an enclosure that has a
dedicated hard drive fan to keep it cool.)
 
1) Check cables, try new USB cables

I checked my other external USB drive, works OK on the
same cables.
2) Could be power-related (but you do hear it spin up...
or do you just hear the fan?) That will require either
trying to connect the drive in another USB enclosure or
putting it inside the PC.
Click to expand...

I do hear the drive spin up. And the access light comes on.
3) Could be heat-related, maybe the drive is overheating
inside the enclosure. What's the ambient temperature of
the room where the computer is? Does the USB enclosure
have a fan to pull air across the drive?
Click to expand...

70 to 75 F.
If it's heat-related, *sometimes* you can get the drive
to run for short periods of time by cooling the unit off
(cool it down to 50F by putting it in a cold, dry place
such as a garage). Be careful not to cause dew to form
on the drive.
Click to expand...

My garage is about 100+ F.
However, usually, once you cook a drive, it's dead.

(Which is why I only use 5400rpm drives in external USB
enclosures. Or make sure I buy an enclosure that has a
dedicated hard drive fan to keep it cool.)
Click to expand...

These are 200 GB drives. I think that they only come in 7200 rpm.

I guess I will probably get another 200 GB bare drive and slip
it in the enclosure.

Thanks,
Lynn
 
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