My Iomega external hard drive died... Any chance of getting it going again? Or getting the drive(s) out and into another case? [more inside]
posted by rleamon on Dec 4, 2009 - 7 answers

until today, my laptop wont read and open up my external hard drive. i haven't unplugged it without safely removing it or anything either. it also makes this constant tapping noise, like the sound of a tap dripping. (which it never used to make) does anyone know what i can do to make my laptop find my external or fix it? cheers
posted by sockpim on Sep 5, 2009 - 9 answers

Why Can't I Copy My iTunes Library to an External Drive? [more inside]
posted by Gingercat on Mar 3, 2009 - 11 answers

Anyone own one of these? MvixBOX. I'm wondering if it lived up to your expectations.
posted by Area Control on Feb 8, 2009 - 3 answers

I have an AirPort Extreme with a printer and two external hard drives connected via a USB hub. Quite frequently one or more of these USB devices won't appear in the AirPort Utility and I can't access them. Rebooting sometimes helps. Where does the problem lie? [more inside]
posted by krunk on Jan 29, 2009 - 10 answers

How can I change the generic name "USB Mass Storage Device" in my Vista system tray "Safely Remove Hardware" dialog? [more inside]
posted by msbrauer on Dec 30, 2008 - 6 answers

Will operating an external hard drive at a 45 degree angle significantly reduce its life? [more inside]
posted by pseudonick on Dec 21, 2008 - 14 answers

I've just bought an external hard drive for carrying around my music, movies, and pictures. Is there a portable media centre program I could also put on it? [more inside]
posted by edbyford on Dec 16, 2008 - 7 answers

What kind of external drive setup should I use for my new Macbook Pro? [more inside]
posted by semblance on Oct 2, 2008 - 15 answers

Can I use B: as a drive letter, on a modern windows PC, without messing things up? [more inside]
posted by penciltopper on Sep 29, 2008 - 11 answers

My external hard drive just crashed so can anyone suggest a Portland, OR, based data recovery service?
posted by tangyraspberry on Aug 25, 2008 - 9 answers

My Seagate FreeAgent external HD may have been damaged in a move. Making clicking noises and not being detected by my computer. [more inside]
posted by Mr_Crazyhorse on Aug 19, 2008 - 9 answers

Can I get my WD external hard drive back to the way it was? [more inside]
posted by droplet on Aug 19, 2008 - 8 answers

Great MeFites, I come bearing but a humble request. I bought a MacBook Pro about six months before Leopard was released. When it finally came out, I installed it on a partition on an external drive, which I would boot from (because OS X is awesome like that, amirite?) so I could test out all my apps. Now I'm ready to commit to Leopard full-time - what's the best way to go about transplanting my Leopard partition? [more inside]
posted by indiewizard on Aug 18, 2008 - 6 answers

Is there a desktop search solution that will index my external hard drives? So far I have had no luck with Google Desktop search.
posted by greenknightwatch on Aug 16, 2008 - 9 answers

External hard showing "weird". Better known as, sharing an external/portable hard drive between osx and winxp. [more inside]
posted by jadepearl on Jun 23, 2008 - 10 answers

My external hard-drive's on the fritz. What can I do to make sure I get all my data off it before it goes? [more inside]
posted by djgh on Jun 3, 2008 - 5 answers

Tools > Photoshop > Batch... doesn't work when the selected files in Bridge are on an external drive? [more inside]
posted by JulianDay on May 17, 2008 - 1 answer

What kind of external hard drive should I buy? [more inside]
posted by missjamielynn on Apr 20, 2008 - 27 answers

I think I'm finally switching to Ubuntu on my main machine. I have two 160GB external drives, currently both with NTFS, currently mirrored (by software, not a RAID). With what and how should I format/use these guys? [more inside]
posted by tmcw on Mar 14, 2008 - 8 answers

I have a big external USB hard drive with three partitions for infrequently used files and backup. I was wondering what kind of file to make to have it automatically open a folder showing the drive when I power on the device and not ask me what I'd like to do with each of the other drives. [more inside]
posted by royalchinook on Feb 21, 2008 - 7 answers

What kind of transfer speeds should I be expecting from my new external Firewire 800 drive? [more inside]
posted by Venadium on Jan 29, 2008 - 10 answers

I have an external hard drive on my Christmas list. I'd like to make the shopping easy on them by giving specific choices. I've done some searching (here and via Gooooogle) but I need that extra oomph from the genius that is the hive mind. [more inside]
posted by Epsilon-minus semi moron on Dec 9, 2007 - 12 answers

External firewire drive was working fine with Mac laptop, now won't mount. I hear it make its usual startup noises and then I feel it spinning happily, but the OS can't see it. I've tried lots of troubleshooting steps (list inside); can you think of others I should try? [more inside]
posted by sparrows on Dec 3, 2007 - 9 answers

Are there any particularly awesome external firewire hard drive enclosures that I should be aware about? [more inside]
posted by chunking express on Oct 29, 2007 - 7 answers

When using an external hard-drive with a Mac, is a speed advantage gained by using a drive formatted with HFS+ (over FAT32/etc.)? And while I'm asking... [more inside]
posted by wavejumper on Oct 29, 2007 - 11 answers

What 500Gb+ external HDD should I buy? Quietness, coolness, and reliability are a priority. [more inside]
posted by lemonfridge on Oct 24, 2007 - 20 answers

I have a Mac laptop, which replaced my PC which I used for many years.....I recently found out that there is some files and such on my PC that I need to take of my computer and store onto my new external hard drive....Yes, I should of did this before hand.... [more inside]
posted by TwilightKid on Sep 20, 2007 - 12 answers

External Hard drive USB device not recognized, how do I fix? [more inside]
posted by complience on May 26, 2007 - 9 answers

External hard drive failure: halp! [more inside]
posted by Lockeownzj00 on Apr 22, 2007 - 5 answers

Is there any way to get my western digital external hard drive to properly display the disappeared files & folders on it so that I can back them up? [more inside]
posted by pantufla on Mar 30, 2007 - 7 answers

Suggestions for backup solutions for a small daily paper? Long story after the break. [more inside]
posted by The Behatted Wild Man of Greenfield on Mar 21, 2007 - 5 answers

Why does the drive letter for my external hard drive keep changing? [more inside]
posted by Joleta on Feb 28, 2007 - 10 answers

Why can I use a usb drive interchangeably between my Mac and PC, but not an external drive? [more inside]
posted by horsemuth on Jan 11, 2007 - 8 answers

My Lacie Big D2 500gb external hard drive is no longer seen on my powerbook or pc – how would I retrieve the data off it without handing it to a data recovery company? [more inside]
posted by Johnny Showbiz on Jan 5, 2007 - 10 answers

How do I configure a 2.5" 60 gig usb external drive to boot Windows XP on a PC as well as be able to boot Mac OS X 10.4 on an Intel MacBook?
posted by h2 on Oct 10, 2006 - 4 answers

I have a hard disk that I pulled out of a dead computer. It has been formated and has data on it. Are there any external adapters that I can plug it into so that I can use it as an external drive?
posted by mtstover on Sep 30, 2006 - 13 answers

I will be traveling to Japan with my digital camera, but how do i download my pics to a external drive so that my camera doesn't get full? [more inside]
posted by matthelm on Sep 15, 2006 - 20 answers

A little help please in getting my computer to fully recognize an external hard drive. [more inside]
posted by gfrobe on Jan 21, 2006 - 5 answers

My external USB Hard Drive is freezing my PC! [more inside]
posted by Kiwi on Jan 12, 2006 - 4 answers

How can I get an External Hard Drive to show up in WinXP SP2 again? [more inside]
posted by mdbell79 on Dec 18, 2005 - 4 answers

Firewire and Windows XP: I bought an external Firewire Drive on Ebay. When I plug it into a PC, it's not recognized, and the driver search does not go well. Similarly, if I start up my Powerbook G4 as a Firewire device, and hook it to my PC, Windows is again puzzled. What can I do to help Win XP succesfully work with these devices? Or should I send back the drive and pick my Firewire devices more carefully? [more inside]
posted by weston on Dec 12, 2005 - 25 answers

A few questions about our Pro-Tools setup. [more inside]
posted by jon_kill on Dec 12, 2005 - 7 answers

I am turning to the Meta community for help since I am at a loss on how to answer this question. A good friend of mine has suddenly lost a lot of data from an external drive that he keeps on all the time. He has a Western Digital 320GB drive that stores mostly live recording of the DMB. The drive reads as 298GB total size and 78GB free space, but the only folder on the external is showing that there is only 123GB of data being stored (therefore ~98GB of data is missing). He has searched the drive for the folders but they are not showing up. Any idea of what could have happened to his files? Also, would it be safe to shut down the external (since its always on) and see if that fixes the problem?
posted by Number27 on Dec 8, 2005 - 12 answers

Best external hard drive for backing up & additional storage for a Powerbook G4 with OS X 10.4? [more inside]
posted by cahlers on Nov 30, 2005 - 11 answers

I've overfilled my laptop and want to move files to external drives. But moving keeps getting stopped for various reasons (and what the hell is a cyclic redundancy??) and I'm going nuts. Please send me your speed tips and procedure suggestions! The specifics: Toshiba satellite running windows xp; total c drive size 55.8gb, free space 12.6. External drives: f (in fat 32 which I'd like to reformat to ntfs) has a capacity of 152gb, and has only 66.1 free. Newest drive g (i've just formatted it to ntfs) has a capacity of 111gb, with 103 left after my abortive attempts to put an image disc of c on it. Thanks ... [more inside]
posted by thewhynotgirl on Nov 1, 2005 - 14 answers

My work computer's motherboard crashed and fried itself. My IT guy was able to salvage the hard drive, which is now an external hard drive, but the major program that I need from it has not been running. Could the move into the external hard drive shell have damaged the program? [more inside]
posted by Sara Anne on Aug 30, 2005 - 14 answers

How can I access a non-responding folder on my LaCie 160GB external USB hard drive? [more inside]
posted by FlamingBore on Jul 1, 2005 - 8 answers

How robust/durable are LaCie firewire drives? [+] [more inside]
posted by psmealey on Feb 7, 2005 - 14 answers