ot: external hard drive not responding

[mcconnellsteve]

hi folks,

i have an OWC external drive that i've had for years, most of the material on it has been backed up to another hard drive (thankfully) but some hasn't (please don't preach -- i'm painfully aware of the error of my ways . the hard drive sometimes won't get recognized (the icon for the drive never shows up on the screen) and the last time i tried to mount it i heard a scary repeating clicking sound as though it is mechanically trying to do something but coming up with an error and repeating that cycle endlessly.

so my questions are:

1) does anyone know what that problem may be (i first thought maybe the FW connection, but that wouldn't account for the clicking noise)

2) does anyone have positive experience with a vendor who could a) retrieve the information off the drive and b) fix it if possible (a is more important than b -- these things are probably cheaper to replace than repair, but the info on them is obviously not cheap...) -- by positive experience, i mean you've been there, done that and would recommend them based on your experience.

thanks duc-people!
steve

[Slim Shady]

Clicking = bad. It means the drive is failing mechanically. Check with your local computer stores and see if any of them have an inexpensive data retrieval service - it may or may not work, but better to try the $150 option before you call Drivesavers and spend $1500, which would be your final recourse.