External Hardrive problem... Not responding.. HELP!?

Guys, i had an external hardrive and im already using it. one day, the external hd doesnt respond anymore. the pc/laptop can still recognize the external hd and sometimes i can still open it but when i try to open a folder from the external, my computer/laptops hangs up. and when i remove the external hardrive the pc/laptop goes back to normal. what seems to be the problem? some people says that the problem is the enclosure but the enclosure is just the case... or theres something about the enclosure? i really wanted to reformat the external HD but i had many files saved there, almost 80gb are already used. I NEED HELP please. Can i recover or backup my files? or is there a way to solve this problem? i already tried using it on other computers but still its not working.

 

It's your casing/enclosure. If that isn't working the HD files will not be read by the system even though your system recognises your plugged-in drive. Buy a new casing and see if it helps.

Had the same problem myself and that was solved with a brand new casing.

 

i see, thanks bro... i'll try to buy a new enclosure... but still wondering what's the connection of the casing in the HD. i thought its only for the protection of the HD.

 

As I understand it the casing is your external HDD link to other electronic devices (i.e other PCs). If that's shot you're likely to see the HDD get recognised by the computer but no file access possible.

 

Have you tried running a check disk on the external drive?

Also if you could take the drive out of the enclosure and try it in another computer that would be very helpful. You need to eliminate some possibilities before you go out and spend money.

 

how can i try running a check disk on the external drive? can u help me please. im using vista premium. i cant try the drive to another computer because im using a laptop.

 

Here's a guide:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/powerquest.nsf/docid/2004066687571562

 

I am having the same problem! I have tried another case and still didnt work. I use this for work on a laptop and take it home to my PC. It was working fine for the first 3 months i had it. Now i cant do anything to the files on it. I can open everything as normal but when i try to open some of the larger files it freezes and throws disk read error. I tried the disc check and disk repair and it throws the error that it cant complete the check. Completes through halfway of phase 2. I used this drive for all of my important files and now i think they are lost.
I bought the maxtor mini touch and it has a Seagate 160gb 2.5" HD. From what i can see these are crap. I have purchaced a WD passport and it works fine. I did read that you should click to safely remove the drives where i just use to unplug it. I have also been getting a "cant copy file, path is too deep" error on a file thats not deep. I think its all just corrupt and needs to go in the trash!