My Seagate expansion's fudged up! please help! :(


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im guessing there has to be a catch for opening it. ..so im not trusting it any further

 

Indeed.  Get your data off of it ASAP, and dispose of it.  If you think a single spec of dust will have no effect...All I'm gonna say is don't push your luck twice.

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Indeed.  Get your data off of it ASAP, and dispose of it.  If you think a single spec of dust will have no effect...All I'm gonna say is don't push your luck twice.

Yeah. ..I got all the data I wanted out of it. ..but I really am considering getting a new one

Definitely not Seagate though....I was thinking of WD my passport ultra....any suggestions?

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"Yeah. ..I got all the data I wanted out of it"

Well that is great news, and I agree I would not trust the drive with any sort of anything after you opened it. Be it was dropped or not.

As to not using seagate in the future because you dropped it and it failed, that is just nuts. Like saying not going to drink brand X of milk any more because you left in the car for 2 days while parked in the sun in death valley and now it smells and tastes bad even after you chilled it.

I would suggest you buy whatever external drive you find where the price and tech specs meet your requirements. Just be careful with it, they are not meant to be dribbled across the floor like a basketball ;)

Also keep in mind to keep your critical files in more than 1 location at all times. Be it your pc internal drive and the external, etc.. "Critical" files should always and forever have copies in more than 1 location always!

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Yeah. ..I got all the data I wanted out of it. ..but I really am considering getting a new one

Definitely not Seagate though....I was thinking of WD my passport ultra....any suggestions?

here's the thing, Seagate has a bad rep with their internal hard-drives but they have top notch externals, I have 4 (all different generations of model) and they still work great. and it's the exact opposite with WD, they have great internal hard-drives but their externals can be a bit shotty depending on the model you get

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"Yeah. ..I got all the data I wanted out of it"Well that is great news, and I agree I would not trust the drive with any sort of anything after you opened it. Be it was dropped or not.As to not using seagate in the future because you dropped it and it failed, that is just nuts. Like saying not going to drink brand X of milk any more because you left in the car for 2 days while parked in the sun in death valley and now it smells and tastes bad even after you chilled it.I would suggest you buy whatever external drive you find where the price and tech specs meet your requirements. Just be careful with it, they are not meant to be dribbled across the floor like a basketball ;)Also keep in mind to keep your critical files in more than 1 location at all times. Be it your pc internal drive and the external, etc.. "Critical" files should always and forever have copies in more than 1 location always!

Well its not like I have anything against Seagate. ..it eas my fault after all...but WD seems to have a lot more features like automatic backups,password protection, data encryption. ..all that sounded like a lot bang for the buck. ..but hey my harddisk is still for data storage so if wd comes second to Seagate in that. ..well I'd still stick wuth Seagate

And yes, I really did learn my lesson on keeping plenty of backups of critical data. ..that example of losing really important data like our babies' really made me realize the importance of keeping 2 0r more back up sources ! :)

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here's the thing, Seagate has a bad rep with their internal hard-drives but they have top notch externals, I have 4 (all different generations of model) and they still work great. and it's the exact opposite with WD, they have great internal hard-drives but their externals can be a bit shotty depending on the model you get

Like ive mentioned above WD's features are what attracts me to it. ...so as you say , 'shotty' as in they can't be trusted? Because I was really planned on the my passport ultra :\

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Like ive mentioned above WD's features are what attracts me to it. ...so as you say , 'shotty' as in they can't be trusted? Because I was really planned on the my passport ultra :\

i just finished college recently (tech school for computer networking) and they gave all the students WD external hard-drives, nearly 80% (including me) complained about the external getting bad sectors just after a couple months, many of us actually had to replace them before a semester was even up

 

remember this is just my personal experience with wd, your experience may be different but for me with the shoddy design (even the cord and plug for the cord on the hard-drive would break with very little amounts of stress) i don't think i'll trust WD for externals for awhile

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Bells and Whistles are quite often just that - and have no real usefulness.

I would look more to size, performance specs, warranty, more than bells and whistles like automatic backup and or password protection. Both of which can be done without any software from the maker of the drive having to be involved.

If comparing drives - is one usb3 while other is only 2? Does one have 1,3 while other has 5, etc. What is the cost difference between, how much are you paying per GB, etc.

If you don't do a lot of file transfers, or you don't even have usb3 - is it really worth cost of paying for that if your not going to be able to leverage it usb2 speeds are sufficient for your use, etc.

As long it is a major player when it comes to brand there is prob going to be little difference between them in the long run. Which one is on sale, etc.

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Like ive mentioned above WD's features are what attracts me to it. ...so as you say , 'shotty' as in they can't be trusted? Because I was really planned on the my passport ultra :\

 

All hard drives that came in enclosures that I've taken apart are absolutely identical in every way to so-called internal drives (I stick to WD, and avoid Seagate like the plague).  I won't pretend this is absolutely always the case, but that's been my own personal experience (YMMV).  Because enclosures tend to be cheaper than the internal counterparts (for a reason I've yet to hear a reasonable explanation for), the last 5-6 drives I've bought were in enclosures, which I've taken out and have set up internally.  I haven't lost a single bit worth of data; most of my last couple of purchases were made to replace drives I've outgrown for my backup set.  The drives I'm no longer using for backup are now powered on 24/7 to host virtual machine files, and they're not showing any sign of trouble.

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Sorry I'm late for the party, but yes, I think your data is gone. Skydrive. Drop Box. Heck: http://www.thetop10bestonlinebackup.com/online-storage Beats nothing, plus it's offsite, so if (and god forbid) say if your house burned down...offsite backups are the best. You can spread your storage out across all of them. Just don't lose internet access of course. I've read the thread. Good lesson learned the hard way. 

Gautham117....I'm sorry that had to happen to you brother.
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Seagate drives do come with Seagate Manager software that does automatic backups, and password protection + encryption if you so desire. Plenty of features, not sure why you thought only WD did that.

 

Personally I hate WD, way too many bad experiences, I always recommend Seagate. I just don't recommend throwing them around ;)

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i just finished college recently (tech school for computer networking) and they gave all the students WD external hard-drives, nearly 80% (including me) complained about the external getting bad sectors just after a couple months, many of us actually had to replace them before a semester was even up

 

remember this is just my personal experience with wd, your experience may be different but for me with the shoddy design (even the cord and plug for the cord on the hard-drive would break with very little amounts of stress) i don't think i'll trust WD for externals for awhile

Wow the probablity of failure is too damn high in case of your college drives. ..its like 2 out of every 3 drives failed. ..maybe your college got some defective ones for a cheaper bulk price because I don't think wd can actually be that bad what with contending for the top place in the external hdd market

But still. ...your suggestion does make me think. ...

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Bells and Whistles are quite often just that - and have no real usefulness.I would look more to size, performance specs, warranty, more than bells and whistles like automatic backup and or password protection. Both of which can be done without any software from the maker of the drive having to be involved.If comparing drives - is one usb3 while other is only 2? Does one have 1,3 while other has 5, etc. What is the cost difference between, how much are you paying per GB, etc.If you don't do a lot of file transfers, or you don't even have usb3 - is it really worth cost of paying for that if your not going to be able to leverage it usb2 speeds are sufficient for your use, etc.As long it is a major player when it comes to brand there is prob going to be little difference between them in the long run. Which one is on sale, etc.

Well yes I did tjink about the usb version. ..well the hard drive im looking at supports upto 5gbps on usb 3.0 (if there's even a grain of truth to it)

I'll be getting a laptop pretty soon and it supports usb 3.0 so I guess getting a usb 3.0 drive would be the best bet. ..besides don't all latest drives come with usb 3.0 these days?

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All hard drives that came in enclosures that I've taken apart are absolutely identical in every way to so-called internal drives (I stick to WD, and avoid Seagate like the plague).  I won't pretend this is absolutely always the case, but that's been my own personal experience (YMMV).  Because enclosures tend to be cheaper than the internal counterparts (for a reason I've yet to hear a reasonable explanation for), the last 5-6 drives I've bought were in enclosures, which I've taken out and have set up internally.  I haven't lost a single bit worth of data; most of my last couple of purchases were made to replace drives I've outgrown for my backup set.  The drives I'm no longer using for backup are now powered on 24/7 to host virtual machine files, and they're not showing any sign of trouble.

Haha lots of conflicting ideologies huh dandy? There are people who positively detest wd and then there are people wjo say its really good. ..rrally hurts my head. ..oh and I heard as the size increases the possibility of failure is more...is that in anyway true? Like is the 1tb version more stable than the 2tb one. ..and the drive im looking at is a 2tb usb powered (no external power needed) hard drive. ..is there any catch to that?

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Sorry I'm late for the party, but yes, I think your data is gone. Skydrive. Drop Box. Heck: http://www.thetop10bestonlinebackup.com/online-storage Beats nothing, plus it's offsite, so if (and god forbid) say if your house burned down...offsite backups are the best. You can spread your storage out across all of them. Just don't lose internet access of course. I've read the thread. Good lesson learned the hard way. 

Gautham117....I'm sorry that had to happen to you brother.

We win a little we lose a little eh master kenobi? ;)
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Seagate drives do come with Seagate Manager software that does automatic backups, and password protection + encryption if you so desire. Plenty of features, not sure why you thought only WD did that.

 

Personally I hate WD, way too many bad experiences, I always recommend Seagate. I just don't recommend throwing them around ;)

Lol well Seagate does scare me although the last incident was my fault. ..lots of people do give bad reviews about Seagate. ..so I was jus wondering

You know its kinda likely a test you didn't study for and keep failing...Although you know its your fault, you hate that subject lol :P

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Depends on what your buying - sure all the shiny new year models are going to be usb3.. It was an example of possible tech differences to compare.

5gpbs is the signalling speed, not the useable bandwidth of usb3. More marking hype throwing out the biggest number they can for the sheeple to parrot what their new shiny purchase can do..

Just like you see on wireless routers.. Going back to the B days, and or even old school phone modems. And just like the new AC routers spouting 1.3Gbps, etc.. Did you G router actually give your 54mbps??

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"at is a 2tb usb powered (no external power needed) hard drive."

Do you really need a 2TB external? This is for backup and transport.. What is your other storage equal? Are you transporting 2TB of data at a time?

You spending money for the sake of spending money on space you have no need for? Do you have 2TB worth of data that needs to be backed up?

So maybe you should look to something like this since you like to play catch with yours and dribble them..

http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10599

Its SSD so fast, it can handle drops from 4 Feet in the spec, etc.

Here you go

https://iosafe.com/products-rugged-portable-overview

The ioSafe Rugged Portable is the safest way to move data. Whether you need to protect data from drops during your commute or protect it from the most extreme environments on the planet, the Go-Anywhere ioSafe Rugged Portable Hard Drive is up to the job. Learn more >

Crush protection up to 5,000 lbs.

Drop protection up to 20'

Immersion protection up to 30' for 3 days

USB 3.0 and USB 2.0, FireWire 800

Data Recovery Service up to $5,000

World's best warranty

Works with Macs and PCs

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Haha lots of conflicting ideologies huh dandy? There are people who positively detest wd and then there are people wjo say its really good. ..rrally hurts my head. ..oh and I heard as the size increases the possibility of failure is more...is that in anyway true? Like is the 1tb version more stable than the 2tb one. ..and the drive im looking at is a 2tb usb powered (no external power needed) hard drive. ..is there any catch to that?

 

Conflicting indeed.  Make of it what you will.  Over the years, I've read enough horror stories concerning Seagate drives, and have experienced my own enough times, that I'm simply not willing to take further chances for either my own use, or recommend them to others.  All three Seagate drives that have come into my possession have died, whereas out of the 30+ other drives I've owned over the years (a mixture of brands, but mostly WD), only one had to be sent back for replacement.  While I'm personally working, statistically, with an insignificantly small sample size, there's no denying it looks pretty bad for Seagate.

 

I'm not buying into the idea that a larger hard drive is more likely to fail.  Some might suggest that the more data you have on a large drive, the more data it is you're going to lose when it does fail, but then this was already the case back when a 40MB drive was considered incredibly large.  That's why backing up isn't going out of style.

 

What I would avoid is using enclosures that actually use a pair of drives not as a mirror, but a striped set (ie, having two 2TB drives presenting themselves as one 4TB drive), as one dead drive means the data on the second is useless.

 

[Edit]

I forgot about that self-powered drive part you mentioned at the very end.  Sounds fishy.  There's a reason most drive enclosures have an external power supply.  Unless the enclosure's power cable actually splits into two USB connectors, I wouldn't trust it--otherwise I'd expect to have the drive disappear/reappear on its own...something you definitely do NOT want for a hard drive.

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Guys guys ! It works. ..I did open it and like I guessed the read arm was still on the platter. .thats what stopped the disk from running ...and no nothing was broken inside. ..all I did was gently rotate the disk through the Centre clockwise (not touching the magnetic area) till the arm was off the platter and back into the original position. ..and when I sealed it up and connected I could use the disk whirring again and the hard drive works. ..oh and as for the dust...I guess lil specks don't count for a disk spinning at 7200 rpm!...well it works but I don't know if its still stable as before. ..I got my crucial data back so thats all that counts now

And youtube's gotta couple of arm on platter issue solutions too...clean room isnt exactly neccesary as long as no physical contact is made with that disk (finger prints or sweat in my case :p)

It was a big gamble but it did pay off :D

Ps:I could add pictures if you guys want

Awesome man! Congratulations getting it working again! That must be a huge relief!

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Awesome man! Congratulations getting it working again! That must be a huge relief!

Yes indeed! It took a helluva lot of guts to open it up especially since I was working on just a hunch :P

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"at is a 2tb usb powered (no external power needed) hard drive."Do you really need a 2TB external? This is for backup and transport.. What is your other storage equal? Are you transporting 2TB of data at a time?You spending money for the sake of spending money on space you have no need for? Do you have 2TB worth of data that needs to be backed up?So maybe you should look to something like this since you like to play catch with yours and dribble them..http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10599Its SSD so fast, it can handle drops from 4 Feet in the spec, etc.Here you gohttps://iosafe.com/products-rugged-portable-overviewThe ioSafe Rugged Portable is the safest way to move data. Whether you need to protect data from drops during your commute or protect it from the most extreme environments on the planet, the Go-Anywhere ioSafe Rugged Portable Hard Drive is up to the job. Learn more >Crush protection up to 5,000 lbs.Drop protection up to 20'Immersion protection up to 30' for 3 daysUSB 3.0 and USB 2.0, FireWire 800Data Recovery Service up to $5,000World's best warrantyWorks with Macs and PCs

Well yes I do have a huge need for space ...all my pc has is 250gb amd I rely on the western external to store my huge movie collection (I had 700gb as of the previous Seagate drive :P)

As for personal photos and videos ive taken your advice and have two backups now

And regarding the ultra rugged drive you mentioned. ..well my drive isn't prone to much accidents really jus that one fateful one...I dont usually take it long...jus maybe to a friend's place or safely tucked in my bag during travel. ..so spending big bucks on rugged drives isn't rrally my thing....tge wd my passport 2tb does seem like a good deal to me

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Conflicting indeed.  Make of it what you will.  Over the years, I've read enough horror stories concerning Seagate drives, and have experienced my own enough times, that I'm simply not willing to take further chances for either my own use, or recommend them to others.  All three Seagate drives that have come into my possession have died, whereas out of the 30+ other drives I've owned over the years (a mixture of brands, but mostly WD), only one had to be sent back for replacement.  While I'm personally working, statistically, with an insignificantly small sample size, there's no denying it looks pretty bad for Seagate.

 

I'm not buying into the idea that a larger hard drive is more likely to fail.  Some might suggest that the more data you have on a large drive, the more data it is you're going to lose when it does fail, but then this was already the case back when a 40MB drive was considered incredibly large.  That's why backing up isn't going out of style.

 

What I would avoid is using enclosures that actually use a pair of drives not as a mirror, but a striped set (ie, having two 2TB drives presenting themselves as one 4TB drive), as one dead drive means the data on the second is useless.

Regarding the mirrored drives you mentioned. .aren't almost all two tb drives

 

[Edit]

I forgot about that self-powered drive part you mentioned at the very end.  Sounds fishy.  There's a reason most drive enclosures have an external power supply.  Unless the enclosure's power cable actually splits into two USB connectors, I wouldn't trust it--otherwise I'd expect to have the drive disappear/reappear on its own...something you definitely do NOT want for a hard drive.

Conflicting indeed.  Make of it what you will.  Over the years, I've read enough horror stories concerning Seagate drives, and have experienced my own enough times, that I'm simply not willing to take further chances for either my own use, or recommend them to others.  All three Seagate drives that have come into my possession have died, whereas out of the 30+ other drives I've owned over the years (a mixture of brands, but mostly WD), only one had to be sent back for replacement.  While I'm personally working, statistically, with an insignificantly small sample size, there's no denying it looks pretty bad for Seagate.

 

I'm not buying into the idea that a larger hard drive is more likely to fail.  Some might suggest that the more data you have on a large drive, the more data it is you're going to lose when it does fail, but then this was already the case back when a 40MB drive was considered incredibly large.  That's why backing up isn't going out of style.

 

What I would avoid is using enclosures that actually use a pair of drives not as a mirror, but a striped set (ie, having two 2TB drives presenting themselves as one 4TB drive), as one dead drive means the data on the second is useless.

 

[Edit]

I forgot about that self-powered drive part you mentioned at the very end.  Sounds fishy.  There's a reason most drive enclosures have an external power supply.  Unless the enclosure's power cable actually splits into two USB connectors, I wouldn't trust it--otherwise I'd expect to have the drive disappear/reappear on its own...something you definitely do NOT want for a hard drive.

Regarding the mirrored drives you mentioned. ...aren't all 2tb+ drives that way? Like you know 1tbx2 or 500gb*4 (as in wd my passport iltra 2tb)

So that's rally bad news? :/

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Regarding the mirrored drives you mentioned. ...aren't all 2tb+ drives that way? Like you know 1tbx2 or 500gb*4 (as in wd my passport iltra 2tb)

So that's rally bad news? :/

 

"All"?  No.  I have an HP-SomethingOrOther enclosure that has a single 2TB drive.  I have a WD My Book that contains a single 4TB drive.  It's easy enough to tell just by the size of the enclosure itself.

 

That being said, I'd still avoid enclosures that pair up smaller drives and presents them to the OS as a single drive.

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