Is my External HDD about to fail? Help!

I bought a WD my book for mac 1TB, towards end of Jan. I have a 2008 13" unibody Macbook running Snow leopard 10.6.2. the external HDD had been working perfectly fine with time machine, backing up regularly as it should without any issues. However today I ran into my first problem, where it simply got stuck on 'indexing backup' for several hours. After losing patience I used disk utility which confirmed there was a problem, and told me the disk could not be repaired and needs to be formatted. Luckily I was still able to access the disk and was able to copy over a few important files. I just formatted the disk using disk utility and i am running a fresh backup as I write this. My question is whether this is a warning sign of impending hard drive failure, or is this a perfectly normal occurrence that happens every so often? I'd rather act now than wait and lose anything important because of a dodgy hard drive.

Its got USB input, I would never pull out hte cable without ejecting in a proper way. However there were times whenr the error message saying, 'the disk has been unplugged without being ejected properly', would pop up, despite the USB still being connected to my macbook. It would then reconnect itself and go back to normal. It was doing that regularly, though it has happened for a week or two now. Is there a serious problem underlying all this?

Similar Messages

My HP Pavillion w/Windows XP will not recognize my new External HDD

HP Pavillion w/Windows XP Media Center m7267c Desktop PC
Is it necessary to pay a outside Driver manager to restor the ability of my PC to instal Driver Software for devices that the specific Mfg states should already have present on my OS?
I purchased a Western Digital 2TB External Drive ( WDBAAUOO20HBK-01 ) to free up my packed Internal HDD. I made sure it was a "USB 2.0" device. But the PC will not recognize the external HDD device.
Please help if you can

BTW...the Drivers that are supposed to work are :
c:\\windows\system.32\DRIVERS\disk.sys
c:\\windows\system.32\drivers\partmgr.sys
....at least those are the Windows drivers that are loaded off my newer Dell PC when the Ext. HDD is plugged into it.

X1 Carbon Preload Windows 7-64bit failed to create 1st backup to external HDD

Hi everyone!
I using X1c with Preload Win7 Pro 64bit from Lenovo. I failed to create backup in "C" drive and also in external HDD. After I run the backup process, data will copy to "Z" drive (about 1.76GB), then its will try to copy to my external HDD,then occur an error. i'll try to post the error msg soon.
Any users got same error?

Hi, Anonymous77
How exactly are you trying to create the backup? If you navigate to Control Panel, there should be an option called "Recovery." If you select this, Windows should walk you through the steps and correct procedure to create a backup. Have you tried this route? Also, please post the exact error message you received when you get a chance.
Thanks in advance,
Adam
Did someone help you today? Press the star on the left to thank them with a Kudo!
If you find a post helpful and it answers your question, please mark it as an "Accepted Solution!" This will help the rest of the community with similar issues identify the verified solution and benefit from it.

Help please: iOmega external HDD not mounting

Hello,
I hope someone can help me 1) solve this problem and 2) give me some tips on how to avoid if it was self induced.
My iOmega external HDD won't automatically mount. It does not display in Disk Profiler. In System Profiler I can see an unknown Firewire device which I believe is it. It has data on it currently so I'd prefer not to have to format it! I tried searching some other threads but they tend to be very specific.
Thanks!

Hi, za_. Is this a bus-powered portable USB2 drive? If so, it probably demands a little more power than the port it's connected to can provide. In that case, the problem can be resolved by supplying power to it from (a) an auxiliary power cable that draws additional power from your Powerbook's second USB port, or (b) its own AC adapter, if it came with one, or if one is available as an option for it. If the drive enclosure has no port on it for an auxiliary power input, then (c) you'll have to interpose an AC-powered USB hub between the computer and the drive. Option A is the best, because it isn't bulky and preserves the portability of the drive. Option C is the worst, because it's the bulkiest of the three.
If your drive isn't a 2.5" portable unit, please supply exact details about what model it is and how it's powered, and we'll see about other explanations for the problem.

Help connecting external HDD to AT300 tablet.

I want to know if and how it would be possible to connect an external HDD to a AT300 tablet. Both the tablet and the HDD have micro usb ports, but I can not locate a micro to micro cable online. Am I completly wrong about this even being possible? Any help would be great.
Thanks in advance.

For a flash drive, you use a thing callled a USB "OTG" ("On-the-Go" or "host mode") cable. If you search the forum you can find a previous post with some good hints how to find one of these.
Cannot say I've ever tried my AT305 with a hard disk--as opposed to a flash drive. I'd be concerned about current supply capability for some of the larger capsacity ones (many of which draw more than the USB is specified to provide and some hosts have more headroom above the spec than others). I'd also be concerned that some disk formats might not work with Android. I'm sure it's documented somewhere which ones do and which ones don't. But some research would be in order before betting this will work painlessly first time.

HELP!! My External HDD won't show up

Hi all,
I've got a WD external My Book 750GB plugged into my MacBook Pro 13 inch via USB. The drive powers up but never shows on Mac nor on disk utility.
What should I do?
I have wedding photos from recently which need to be processed and given to clients!
Thanks,
Fred

Hi everyone,
I've got a similar problem, but with a different external HDD, doesn't seem to be too much off-topic though.
I have had a Buffalo 300GB USB external HDD (can't remember the exact model name, but here's a picture http://www.techfuels.com/attachments/storage/530d1203230298-external-hard-disk-b uffalo-300gb-drive-station-hd-hbu2-series-drive.jpg) for a few years now and have never had any problems. I've only got my first Mac about a week ago and when I plug the drive into my Mac it just doesn't show up, although the lights go on and the disk starts spinning. Disc Utility doesn't see it either.
Meanwhile, my home PC, my old Fujitsu Siemens Laptop and my mother's Sony laptop are all able to read it perfectly fine. BUT, and I think this is important, I have used this external drive about a year ago on my friend's Mac to get some stuff and it worked fine. I tried connecting it again to the same Mac a couple of weeks ago and it didn't see the drive (again, lights on, disk spinning)! Using different USB ports or restarting the system didn't help.
Conclusion:
-the hardrive isn't faulty, because works fine with three Windows computers
-the problem is not with my own Macbook Pro, since another Macbook has the same problem
-since it worked before it can't be that the HDD is intrinsically Mac-incompatible
Any suggestions?

I have question about hooking up an external hdd to a time capsule and still have my printer hooked up as well. Anyone got any tips for me, how to do it and what brand of harddrive that will work best for me 1 or 2 TB

i have question about hooking up an external hdd to a time capsule and still have my printer hooked up as well. Anyone got any tips for me, how to do it and what brand of harddrive that will work best for me 1 or 2 TB

You just need a powered hub.. if you already use one then fine.
Plug in just about any external hard disk will work fine. Format has to be readable by the TC.. ie fat32.. or much better HFS+.. plug it into a Mac to prepare the drive.
Pick whatever size suits.. nowadays 2TB are most economical.
WD, Seagate have goobled up all the minor players.. so pick one.
Whatever suits your budget and asthetics.
NOTE.. The USB on the TC is fine for printers.. IMHO it is the wrong way to go with USB disks.. use the internal disk of the TC.. USB is less than half the native speed plugged into a Mac.. TC to USB is slow.. far slower than internal drive.. or using external drive as external.

I am new with iMac and I am trying to copy some file from my external HDD but it does not let me also I can't delete anything from this HDD using the finder. Can somebody help me , please?

I am new with iMac and I am trying to copy some file from my external HDD that a used with my PC but it does not let me also I can't delete anything from this HDD using the finder. Can somebody help me , please?

No, unfortunately, when you format a drive, it will erase all the contents. So you will need to find a temporary "storage" place to put the stuff using a PC so you have access to it. Then reformat using Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities). If only using with mac, format Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and use GUID Partition scheme under Partitions/Options. After formatting, you can drag the files back.

Mountain Lion 10.8.2 not showing big folders from External HDD, please help ?

Hello guys,
The problem appeared after I did a clean install of Mountain Lion 10.8.2. The OS works nicely except it does not show my big Movie (around 200 GB) folder from my External HDD. This Movie folder is not related to any Apple software such as iTunes etc.. What's funny is that my LG TV shows the folder, and I can access it to open any movie. But when I mount the HDD to my MacBook Pro with Mountain Lion now, all folders are shown except this one. The HDD is NTFS and had no problems with Snow Leopard (my previous OS).
I tried defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE and I see hidden folders in External HDD, but the Movie folder is still not shown.
Is this issue related to the size of this folder ? any help & ideas are greatly appreciated, thanks!

Hi all,
I see its been 2 months since the last post. Did someone find the solution? I have the same problem with 10.8.2 update. Macbook pro mid 2010 with Crucial 256 m4 ssd (latest firmware 010G). Since yesterday my mac refuses to start.
What I did so far:
1. Impossible to start os x 10.8.2, stuck at spinning circle below the apple logo at startup. Disk check ok, permissions ok. Startup in "safe mode" stucks on spinning wheel as well.
2. Impossible to format the drive for a new clean install. What I find strange is that I cannot format the ssd with any utility. So far I tried with windows, linux and with disk utility on os x. I put the ssd in a usb casing and I am able to read it as an external drive, can copy some smaller files from it but cannot change anything on it (no permissions).
3. Did a clean install on original hd of my mac. Data transfer (1 user) from time machine or the ssd goes through 85-95% then stops. And now impossible to format the original drive with the 10.8.2 installed to downgrade to 10.7.
4. Pram reset
Does anyone have any idea what to do now?
Thanks!

Hi, can someone help me with my External HDD??? Please

Hi, Can someone help me with my Extenal HDD???
Please

After you have all of the files from the External HDD you want to save, to format the HDD:
Open Launchpad
Open Utilities
Open Disk Utility
Select Hard Drive to format (the external HDD)
If you want to change partition size or number select Partition Table
Select number of partitions and adjust sizes if more than one
Name the partitions
Select the format from the pop-up menu (use Mac OS Extended (Journaled))
If it is not already selected, select GUID Partition Table
Click OK
Click Apply
And it should do the formatting for you.
Note: giving a name may come after the format selection, I sometimes get that out of order but it will lead you through the process.

Just bought a mac air with OS X v.10.7 Lion, for work I need to read and write NTFS drives, I install MacFuse and NTFS-3G, but it can not mount (recognize?) External HDD, in my MBP with Snow Lepard it work just perfectly... help please.

Just bought a mac air with OS X v.10.7 Lion, for work I need to read and write NTFS drives, I install MacFuse and NTFS-3G, but it can not mount (recognize?) External HDD, in my MBP with Snow lepard it work just perfectly... help please.

Reinstall MacFuse with the one from http://www.tuxera.com/mac/macfuse-core-10.5-2.1.9.dmg. If that doesn't work, you can use Paragon NTFS for Mac 9.0 which has been designed to work with Lion.

Just bought a mac air with OS X v.10.7 Lion, for work I need to read and write NTFS drives, I install MacFuse and NTFS-3G, but it can not mount (recognize?) External HDD, in my MBP with Lion it work just perfectly... help please.

Just bought a mac air with OS X v.10.7 Lion, for work I need to read and write NTFS drives, I install MacFuse and NTFS-3G, but it can not mount (recognize?) External HDD, in my MBP with Lion it work just perfectly... help please.

Sorry in my MBP Snow lepard it work.. don't have Lion In MBP

Need help with pictures on an external HDD and windows labtop to Ipad3

Hallo everybody!
This week (I finally) bought an Ipad 3 and an Apple TV!
For the time being I still have a windows labtop and an external HDD full with photo's.
The ICloud software for windows has been installed because I would like to stream the pictures from this external HDD to my Ipad and then ofcourse on my flatscreen TV (via Apple TV). And ofcourse back, when I have taken a photo or a movie on the Ipad 3.
I would appreciate some help with the following questions:
do I have add all pictures from the HDD into a new map on the windows labtop. So that via Icloud the contain could become 'in the cloud'.
or do I have to add all the pictures from the HDD into the Itunes map on the windows labtop.
I have connected the Ipad to the windows labtop and via Itunes I have synchroniced a lot of pictures to the Ipad. I asume these are copies? And is it possible to remove them from the Ipad, because it will take a lot of memory (currently already 35 GB from the 64 GB).
Well I hope somebody could help me.
Many thanks in advance!
Ronald from the Netherland

I just found out that ICloud isen't really a storage place for photo's. Just a passing throw station to your other devices.

HELP! Library on my External HDD shows up and doesn't show up on another

So I've been working on this project last night (from my external hdd), and completed it halfway before calling it a night. I just close the laptop and let it sleep. Now, I'm trying to open my project I don't see my external's library, which is normal sometimes, so I click my "Open library" and select my external hard drive's library. I get the usual loading bar at the top of the screen, but when it finishes loading, nothing appears! So I click "Open library" and select my external library again, then I get this message:
I have the latest FCPX 10.1.1 and my project library has already been updated. The part that I don't understand is that, I also have another external hdd that I use, but it opens the library on that external hard drive just fine. Is there some sort of preference file I should delete to fix this?? Your help is appreciated!!

@ Tom - I changed everything to Read/write, but still nothing. So I made a new user and it appeared! But my project folder was empty and the event, for which the project I was working on (titled "Jordan & Kaley Wedding"), was empty as well. Like this:
It shows that I have no projects in my project folder, but it opened with one of my projects that I had worked on previously on my external, so I don't understand how its working.

I backup to an external hdd with Time Machine, when it ran out of space it did not delete old backups, now my internal hdd says its full when before it had heaps of space. I have searched for extra files but cant find any. Can anyone help, please.

I backup to an external hdd with Time Machine, when it ran out of space it did not delete old backups, now my internal hdd says its full when before it had heaps of space. I have searched for extra files but cant find any. Can anyone help, please.

First, empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. Then reboot. That will temporarily free up some space.
To locate large files, you can use Spotlight as described here. That method may not find large folders that contain a lot of small files.
You can also use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one.
Proceed further only if the problem hasn't been solved.
ODS can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
Back up all data now.
Install ODS in the Applications folder as usual.
Triple-click the line of text below to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C):sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means.
When you're done with ODS, quit it and also quit Terminal.

Is my External HDD about to fail? Help!

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for