is this it for my external hard drive?

[theswimmer]

I think my ext hard drive is toast.

First it worked fine. Then, it worked sometimes. Now, when I plug it in, it makes an "ih, ih, ih, ih, ih ..." and so on sound. Is this thing toast? Can it be fixed? Can the data be saved?

Thanks.

[nizzy1115]

sounds like it died. You could open up the case, and stick in a regular computer hard drive in there and it could save you a few bucks over getting a new external hard drive.

[theswimmer]

Okay, thanks for the tip. But what about getting the thing fixed? Seems to me, that since all the pieces are there, it's logical that it can be repaired. But I have heard otherwise...

[nizzy1115]

Typically when a hard drive dies, it is usually not possible to fix it. However, if it is, it will be much more costly than to buy a new one. Hard drives usually only last a few years (less if external because of heat issues). When they do go, you just buy a new one and chuck the old. (Trust me, I replace about 5-6 hard drives a week.)

[shaval]

This could be a bad drive, defective AC power adapter, bad usb cables or there may not be enough power being supplied on the usb ports.

[goldeagle2005]

Naaah. Generally, the sound he described (called the click of death, FYI) signifies the death of a drive. Data recovery is an expensive proposition, with no guarantee as to how much of it can be recovered. You'll need to go for a new drive and replace from backups. (You did take backups, didn't you?)

[firestorm613]

like the first guy said, u need to open up the enclosure and take out the hard drive - then plug it into the computer as u would for an internal hard drive. This is the only chance u have to MAYBE save the hard drive. I did it and it worked for me.... but I was lucky. Be prepared to shell out some cash to buy a new hard drive though. good luck.