3rd external SimpleTech hard drive crash

DPUMA8DPUMA8
edited July 2005 in Hardware
I have a Simple Tech 250GB Hard Drive that I have had for one month. I have had three corrupted Data Problems where I had to reformat. The problem I have is that sometimes when I go to bed, I turn off the computer but forget to turn off the hard drive first. So my heart sinks everytime I see the next morning that my external is on but my computer isn't.

I am very forgetful so I was wondering if it was possible to set some pop up warning that tells me that "the G drive (My external Drive location) is still open, would you want to turn it off before shutting off off the computer?" warning.

Plus my SimpleTech Hard Drive doesn't have a fan cooling it so the unit gets hot pretty quickly. Do I need to worry as to how long I have before I need to quit because it is so hot? Or is it made to work propery when it is very warm. (It is never so hot that I can't pick it up).

Thanks a lot!

Comments

  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    Does it connect via USB or firewire? I'm not familiar with Simpletech hard drives.

    If it does connect through USB or firewire, leaving it on when the computer shuts off shouldn't damage it. Overheating might, but few enclosures are so bad that the drive actually overheats. I would start to wonder about the product itself if three have failed on you.
  • DPUMA8DPUMA8
    edited June 2005
    Oops! I am sorry. It is hooked up to the computer with Firewire but it does have USB 2 also on it. I ma not on my third external Drive, but this is the third time the drive has corrupted and I had to reformat.

    I leave it on all night and turn off the computer and the next morning the drive is cool but corrupted. Is this normal for drives or is this a defect? Is there a way to set a reminder on the computer every time I try to shutdown the computer?
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    That is strange. I've never damaged files on my external drive (Seagate IDE drive in aluminum enclosure) shutting down the computer with the drive running - USB 2.0 and Firewire.

    Your power supply for the drive is independent of the computer, right?
    (It is never so hot that I can't pick it up).
    "Hot" is hard to quantify. I don't have a measurement for you, but your drive should not get much above 'warm' or 'highly warm'.

    Sorry, don't how you could install a pop up warning or such. I'm sure there's a way.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited June 2005
    Leonardo wrote:
    ...Sorry, don't how you could install a pop up warning or such. I'm sure there's a way.
    I have no idea how to do it myself, but you may find this useful. :)
  • TexTex Dallas/Ft. Worth
    edited June 2005
    but I am not getting why your formating instead of just cleaning the filesystem? You know.. just "fixing" the original problem so you don't lose the data?

    Tex
  • DPUMA8DPUMA8
    edited June 2005
    I am not very computer savvy. When I called the support tech for the product, they said to download a hotfix and then reformat. So I have been reformatting my drive every single time. Once again, are there any FAQS or online guides on how to fix these problems?
  • TexTex Dallas/Ft. Worth
    edited June 2005
    It just sounds like your getting a corrupted Filesystem BUT you have not detailed alot about the symptoms you get either.

    Is the drive letter gone completly or is it just not accessible or ?

    Tex

    I have no experiance with THAT companies tech support but in general many companies emply chimpanzies regularly for the front line phone support. Their primary mission isnt to fix your problem but rather get you off the phone ASAP.
  • DPUMA8DPUMA8
    edited June 2005
    Yes you are right about them getting me off the phone.

    When the file is corrupted, the drive letter shows up and when I click on it, a pop up shows saying that the drive is not accessable and is corrupted. When I check the properties of the drive it says it is 0 bytes. Then I usually right click and choose format.

    Once again, thanks for the help.
  • TexTex Dallas/Ft. Worth
    edited June 2005
    No problem. We all try to help at this site.

    Next time try and right click. Go to properties/tools and go to error checking. That SHOULD fix a corruted filesystem.

    Tex
  • DPUMA8DPUMA8
    edited July 2005
    I tried to right click and fix it. Nothing happens.
    I am looking into Getbackdata but I don't have the instruction manual anymore. Is there a way to tell if it is NSTC or FAT?
  • TexTex Dallas/Ft. Worth
    edited July 2005
    It defaults to ntfs when you format. So unless you intentionaly change and you SHOULD NOT BE... as fat32 is much less stable and gets corrupted easier then its ntfs.

    You might verify that get data back works with external drives via firewire or usb connections as many programs don't.

    Remember also that get data back needs ANOTHER drive with enough free space to recover the data onto. It doesnt recover it in place so to speak.

    Tex
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