# WD External Hard Drive Problem



## floelynn

I have these problems with my 80GB WD External hard drive - 
1. My computer could not detect my hard drive for some reason and sometimes it can
2. Because of that it freaks me out so I try to transfer everything in there to another hard drive. And when I do so, some of the files are transferable and some when I transfer them will take a very long time. The ones that took very long to transfer ended up being not transferred - windows says " cyclic redundancy" or something like that.

I don't want to reformat my harddrive before transferring every files in the WD because they are important. What can I do? Is there any other way to resolve this besides reformating the harddrive? Please help thank you


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## AppleDude

How old is your external drive? Your drive could be going bad or is damaged. Have you run a chkdsk on the external drive? Are you using a USB or firewire connection? Your cable could be bad. I would check the cable first by using a known good cable and then run a CHKDSK on the drive to see if it is going bad. If you get this message, "cyclic redundancy", it means that the file being read by your PC or software is corrupted. However, it does not mean all the data is lost forever. When data is transfered, it is usually in small blocks and each block is given a CRC value. If something goes wrong with the data between the time it leaves the source and arrives at its destination, the CRC sent at the source will no longer match the one that is calculated when the data arrives - this is when the *cyclic redundancy check* error will appear. The most common times you will see the cyclic redundancy check error message is when trying to read data from a damaged CD or DVD or hard drive. Also, If you have lots of zip files on your hard drive and want to check to make sure they are still valid, get a copy of CRC Checker - it's free and can validate zip or rar files in batches - which is much easier than doing it one at a time. This program is worth downloading and keeping on hand for when problems strike. Hope this helps.


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## floelynn

thank you AppleDude for the prompt reply. I really appreciate it.
My HD is 2-3 years old and I'm using the USB to connect my HD to the computer. My files are consist not mainly of zip and rar files but I do have other kinds of files. I will try to do what you have adviced and see how it goes. btw.
how do I use the Crcheck32? Thank you again for your help.


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## AppleDude

To run CHKDSK in Windows XP, click start, then run; where it says Open: type in *chkdsk* and click OK. Let it run. Don't be alarmed by the WARNING! F parameter not specified. We want to run in the read-only mode anyway. If you come up with errors, post the results of the chkdsk here and we will go from there. If there are no errors, chkdsk will finish running and you will be sent back to the desktop, which is good. Then that means that it is not the hard drive that is the problem and something else. I will be tied up for the next day or so, but someone else may jump in and pick up if I can't get back right away.


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## johnwill

If the files are important, you may want to consider connecting the hard drive as a secondary on a desktop for more direct access. I've had several USB <> IDE controllers die and appear to be a hard disk failure, no sense fighting a problem that can be bypassed.


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## norin

a simple change could resolve the issue. it goes overlooked sooo many times. try setting the EXTernal HDD to master. and connect that way after you reboot.


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## floelynn

I just bought a new USB cable.. it's still the same.. but i have yet to try setting the HD as a secondary drive.. I'll keep updating.. Still figuring out the stubborn HD. Hate this stupid HD.. Thanks a lot guys..!


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## floelynn

norin said:



> a simple change could resolve the issue. it goes overlooked sooo many times. try setting the EXTernal HDD to master. and connect that way after you reboot.


Can you please tell me how to do it? If you don't mind.. I'm not really good with computer stuff. Thanks a bunch. :smooch:


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## floelynn

AppleDude said:


> To run CHKDSK in Windows XP, click start, then run; where it says Open: type in *chkdsk* and click OK. Let it run. Don't be alarmed by the WARNING! F parameter not specified. We want to run in the read-only mode anyway. If you come up with errors, post the results of the chkdsk here and we will go from there. If there are no errors, chkdsk will finish running and you will be sent back to the desktop, which is good. Then that means that it is not the hard drive that is the problem and something else. I will be tied up for the next day or so, but someone else may jump in and pick up if I can't get back right away.


I've done CHKDSK but there seem to be no error.. What do you think is the problem? what can I do to help you diagnosed my HD? It's crazy.. getting on my nerves.. sometimes the computer can detect and sometimesit can't, being most of the time it can't. Anyway.. Thanks a bunch.. really appreciate the help.


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## norin

changing jumpers is easy all you need is a pair of tweezers, remove the HDD from the enclosure and look at where you connect the IDE ribbon cable and the power cord in there in between them should be four sets of two pins mebbe it varys with different HDDs. look at the label and see what the Jumper seetting should be for master yours is most likely set to slave or possible CS [Cable Select]


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## loveuforever

:sigh: I have these problems with my 80GB WD External Hard Driver WD 320 Gb 
1. My computer could detect my hard drive but i cannot copy some file movie (avi...) to other hard driver. it says cyclic redundancy check error.

2. I have used this EHD for 2 years. I read some recommendation to use Regcure to fix this problem. this soft ware is expensive (30 bucks) and i am not sure it is suitable to my HD error. 

What can I do? Is there any other way to resolve this besides reformating the harddrive? Please help thank you[/QUOTE]


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## id104335409

I have a Western Digital My Book - WD5000H (500GB)
It used to work perfectly for a year, then the AC adaptor short circuited. I replaced it and everything was allright for about 6 monts.
The problem is that now the hdd acts inadequate - Sometimes it:
refuses to go to sleep
refuses to start (clicking sound)
spins ot of controll when nobody uses it
resets for no reason while I'm using it
This happends sometimes freaquently, and sometimes not at all for monts. The worst is when it decides to be a BIT*H and begins to reset in a loop. It can't hold active for a minute. It must be a power problem, but can it cause so much different things and why so sporadical?


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## Gerald2003

If you have a cyclic redundancy check it is nothing that you have done to the external drive. It occurs when you have a cheap or faulty harddrive. It can work fine for weeks even months and then one day you will get that message and unfortunately for you there is nothing you can do to recover your files. Brands like toshiba, western digital, and Others are known for it. My old wd hard drive did it too me three times in 4 months before i got a new one have a sony external now for over a year and not one problem. If it occurs buy a new one dont waste your time formatting it its useless. Power blackouts can cause them too. That happened to me two out of three times. Get a new one.
Gerald.


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## LauReola

AppleDude said:


> To run CHKDSK in Windows XP, click start, then run; where it says Open: type in *chkdsk* and click OK. Let it run. Don't be alarmed by the WARNING! F parameter not specified. We want to run in the read-only mode anyway. If you come up with errors, post the results of the chkdsk here and we will go from there. If there are no errors, chkdsk will finish running and you will be sent back to the desktop, which is good. Then that means that it is not the hard drive that is the problem and something else. I will be tied up for the next day or so, but someone else may jump in and pick up if I can't get back right away.


i have followed your instruction, and come up warning " cannot open volume for direct access. " can you explain.. thank you.


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