External Hard Drive Not spinning

krj118 · Newbie Joined: Jun 01, 2008 Posts: 6

Hello. I have an external hard drive with music files on it. (All my Cd's on back-up since I move a lot.) The hard drive suddenly stopped spinning. To avoid having to re-make all my Cd's into MP3's again, is there anything I can do to get it running? Any help is great! Thnkx.

PreferredUser · Newbie Joined: Jan 01, 2007 Posts: 1130 Location: USA

Probably a silly question, but does it power up? What makes you think it is not spinning? Could it be an issue where the system is not recognizing the drive and thus no reason for it to spin?

ilikemycomputer · Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 2:17 am Post subject:

Did you test the power cord to check for a current (ohms meter)? Also, did you try a different outlet?

krj118 · Newbie Joined: Jun 01, 2008 Posts: 6

I will look into it more carefully this evening and post what it is doing exactly. Sorry - I should have done that before I posted. Duh! Embarassed

Complete · Newbie Joined: Aug 20, 2006 Posts: 287

Might also try putting the drive into a different enclosure or connecting it directly to your computer.

PreferredUser · Newbie Joined: Jan 01, 2007 Posts: 1130 Location: USA

RobertR · Newbie Joined: Jun 04, 2007 Posts: 149 Location: Arizona

Ditto what everyone else has mentioned here.... the vast majority of reported external drive failure I have been exposed to are really just power supplies that has gone the way of the dinosaurs.....

Break out that Volt Ohm meter and test that sucka.

nomarjrb · Newbie Joined: Jun 03, 2008 Posts: 12

Just in case there is an issue with your hard drive - try SpinRite. This is a data recovery and drive maintenance product. I have not personally used it but I know a handful of techs that do use it and swear by it.

krj118 · Newbie Joined: Jun 01, 2008 Posts: 6

Okay, so it is getting power, but the drive itself just sits there like a bump on a log. No whirring noise that used to accompany it when it was operational. I will try some of the recommendations and see what happens. Thanks everyone! I'll keep you posted.

krj118 · Newbie Joined: Jun 01, 2008 Posts: 6

Does anyone know of a good how-to article/book etc for me to do this? At this point, I dont know much of what I am doing, but since it's basically a paper weight, I'm looking to use this as a learning tool. Any assistance greatly appreciated!! Thanks for all the input. BTW, it is no longer powering up. And did I mention that it was purchased overseas different voltage for the unit? Thanks!

chuck378 · Newbie Joined: Jan 28, 2005 Posts: 20

Did you try myharddrivedieddotcom. It's a web site by Scott Moulton. He is very good in recovering data from hard drives that are dead. You should also search for his name on Youyube. He has several presentations. I have really learned a lot from him about the inner workings of hard drives. Hope it helps.

krj118 · Newbie Joined: Jun 01, 2008 Posts: 6

Thaks for that website. I will be sure to have a look at it. I ordered a new enclosure for it yesterday. I'll keep you all posted! Cross your fingers for me. There's a ton of backups and music files on it. I'd hate to see it all gone. Geez, what do you do when your back-ups need to be backed up?

PreferredUser · Newbie Joined: Jan 01, 2007 Posts: 1130 Location: USA

krj118 · Newbie Joined: Jun 01, 2008 Posts: 6

No , I didn't even know that such a thing
(adapter) existed. I am new to the whole hardware side of things. I am now thinking from reading here of going through A+ certification. You can never know too much, ya know? and actually, the external HDD was doing pretty well for the last..... five or so years for regular household backups. But given this situation, does anyone, (or you) have any other recommendation? I have a lot of music files, tons of pictures of the tricycle motors and our two house ponies (big dogs), but other than that, nothing really huge that needs to be backed up. Thanks!

ilikemycomputer · Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 2:21 am Post subject:

Just do a search on Newegg (d0t) com (or whatever you prefer) for hard drive enclosures...


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