External HD Buzzing

It's about a brand new 1TB external HD that I've been using for only about a month (CnMemory). Today it suddenly starded buzzing oddly and not connecting to the laptop after I dropped it. Yes, I know, but I want to check out every option before declaring it dead... it has more than 300GB of near-irreplaceable data.

The 'drop' wasn't as much of a drop as a slide with the USB deconnecting. The table it was sitting on only had about 25-30cm in height, and below it was a soft carpet (not pillow soft, but brand new and thick soft), plus that the fall was slightly cushioned by its own short USB chord that got unplugged right then. It's not the first time it's been suddenly unplugged or jostled (I have to carry it around, but I always wrap it up in towels and other soft clothes and make sure it sits as unmoving as I can make it). This time it was connected to a laptop that got dragged around a lot.

I had been downloading two torrents that had a combined speed of <150kb when this happened and had various files open, but idling. It had been accidentally unplugged while downloading much bigger torrents before (and I blame laptops and people who can't leave them be), but the torrents always just stopped. It isn't the first time it slid off this stupid table either, but nothing happened before.

Also, the buzzing sound sounds a lot like the buzzing of a failing fan (or this might just be my last hope speaking). It also stops if I move it (like, pick it up) or give a light slap against the ventilation holes region, but starts again as soon as I still my hand or pt it down.

I'm almost panicking and desperately hope that it's a problem than can be remedied. Please help me

Edited by kiraly, 01 January 2010 - 03:06 PM.

I left it plugged in for half an hour and the computer detected it. Eventually. The buzzing and clicking stopped too. At first it was only visible in Device Manager, but after changing the port a few times it appeared in My Computer too.

The problem now... is that it doesn't have a file system. Properties says it's RAW.

Can I recover my files? Can I get it working again? If I can, how likely is this to happen again?

Leave the External HD unplugged for sometime and try connecting it to another PC.

If that fails, try using a Linux-based LiveCD like Knoppix, to access the External HD and try to recover your data.

I'm guessing some internal components in the HD were affected by the subsequent falls.

Last resort : Take it to a store that specializes in hard disk data recovery. These guys should be able to replace the affected components and successfully recover your data but AT A PRICE.

Edited by ReviverSoft, 04 January 2010 - 05:18 PM.

You can recover your files.

You would have to remove the actual hard drive from the enclosure it's currently in.

You can either try a linux-based CD to retrieve your files...or you can try data-recovery software.

Data recovery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_recovery

Recuva - Undelete, Unerase, File Recovery - Home - http://www.recuva.com/

There are other programs that provide this capability, the above is just an example.

Louis

Easus data recovery has not failed me yet. You can download the software for free and make sure it can recover your files BEFORE paying for it. Its worth the price IMO.

Thank you for your replies.

I moved back to my own computer, which I trust a lot more and for which there's no chance for a sudden disconnect or fall (power outage aside). Despite the train ride that just had to be traumatic, it connected to my computer - now I'm copying files at an extremely slow rate and hoping it won't die on me while I do so.

After files have been successfully recovered...my next step would be to remove the hard drive itself from the enclosure...to isolate the exact problem. Either/both could be responsible for the situation.

I would directly attach the hard drive to my system, as a test procedure.

Louis