It's keeeeeeling me!

January 9, 2007 10:11 AM

Please help me figure out why my computer stops reading my 1TB WD My Book Premium II external storage thinger before I punch it.

I've searched for an answer all over the internets, but my Googlefu is weak on this one. I bought it about three months ago, I have a Dell machine with WindowsXP. I'm using regular ol' USB. Sometimes, it works for days on end without issues. Sometimes, it stops every few minutes. Here is what happens;

The external makes a clicking sound, the lights on the ring go dark for a second, then go warm in the middle and another light makes it's way around the circle like an Xb360 controller. Meanwhile, my computer just stops reading the drive. I have to unplug the power supply from the back of the storage unit, then plug it back in for Windows to sense it again. Sometimes when I do this, it changes drive letters (J:, K:, whatever). I wouldn't care so much if I didn't think this was probably fragmenting the heck out of all my info stored on the unit. Please? Help? I'll give you a cookie.

posted by Bageena to computers & internet (8 comments total)

The clicking makes me wonder if there's a problem with the drive itself. Have you called WD's tech support?
posted by nathan_teske at 10:30 AM on January 9, 2007

Save all your data to a different drive, and take the 1TB drive back for a replacement.

Other than a single click when starting up or shutting down, hard drives shouldn't make any clicking sounds. Loud drives may make a ticking sound as they read and write data, but then you would hear that all the time. Clicking combined with a light cycle seems like the drive is trying to reboot itself.

Hard drives also tend to fail progressively. As soon as you see a warning sign, copy your data off and replace. Drives never get better, they always get worse.
posted by b1tr0t at 10:31 AM on January 9, 2007

Clicking in a hard drive usually means total failure is right around the corner. Any chance you have a warranty? I would definately back up your important information on that drive right away.
posted by aznhalf at 10:31 AM on January 9, 2007

My MyBook makes the clicking sound when it spins down and goes idle, or turns off. The next time I want to access the drive, it takes a second for it to spin back up.

Does the drive disappear from the list of connected devices or does it simply stop responding when this happens?
posted by roomwithaview at 10:41 AM on January 9, 2007

Clicking occasionally is OK and is (usually) a result of thermal-related recalibration. Clicking often with other noises and lights is bad, take it back.
posted by kcm at 10:54 AM on January 9, 2007

Roomwithaview, it just disappears from the list of connected devices.... and the click only happens when it disappears, and it's not that loud or anything.
posted by Bageena at 12:58 PM on January 9, 2007

it just disappears from the list of connected devices.... and the click only happens when it disappears, and it's not that loud or anything.

Does it do this after you haven't accessed it for some time?

If so, it is just powering down the disk to save energy, then spinning back up when you need it
posted by b1tr0t at 1:06 PM on January 9, 2007

Sometimes it does it while I'm using it. Listening to music, watching movies... crap, I really don't want to have to send it back to replace it. I have nowhere to put all the stuff I have on it. lol. CRAP!
posted by Bageena at 1:56 PM on January 9, 2007