Computer Help and Support

Marthe48

(16,963 posts) Thu Apr 12, 2018, 10:32 PM Apr 2018

External hard drive problem

Hi, I have an old Dell desktop in the basement that is still hooked up to my scanner printer. The desk computer is so old, Google Chrome won't let me onto the Internet with it.

I still use it to scan pictures. I have a WD external hard drive that I plug into the USB. I can transfer the pictures to the hard drive, then bring it upstairs and transfer them to my Dell laptop and work on them. Or I could.

Yesterday, I scanned 34 pictures and copied them to the hard drive. I checked on the old computer and they were there and visible.

I came upstairs and tried to transfer the pictures to my laptop. The transfer didn't work. Only 9 of the pictures were visible, the rest had an Irfanview icon and the name I had typed. I went back down and transferred the pictures again into a new folder, checked to be sure they had copied, and tried again to get them to the laptop. I kept getting error messages that the hard drive wasn't responding. I ended up transferring them from the ext. hard drive to my phone and from my phone to the laptop, using the phone charger for the last step of the transfer.

I can't figure out why the hard drive is working with the old desk computer, but not the newer laptop. I used the USB cord from desk to HD, and from HD to phone.

Today, I saw that there were some tools handy for the HD, and tried to use them, but got error messages for the defrag and error repair.

Less than 1/2 of the HD has been used. I'm wondering if I should just back-up the WD harddrive to the other larger ext. HD I have in case it is going bad. Or if I should update drivers on the laptop. Until yesterday, my transfer system was working fine.

I know I need to change a bunch of things, but haven't. Almost everything is wireless. This just got overlooked. Thanks for any insights

7 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

External hard drive problem (Original Post) Marthe48 Apr 2018 OP

Try formatting the drive before copying the files. earthshine Apr 2018 #1

I can't find my thumb drives Marthe48 Apr 2018 #3

Have you tried different ports on the laptop? Egnever Apr 2018 #2

I'll try that and see what happens. Marthe48 Apr 2018 #4

Yes I would BigOleDummy Apr 2018 #5

I think I got that far Marthe48 Apr 2018 #6

Very late follow-up Marthe48 May 2018 #7

earthshine

(1,642 posts)

1. Try formatting the drive before copying the files.

Reply to Marthe48 (Original post)

Fri Apr 13, 2018, 01:13 AM

Apr 2018

First try quick format. If that fails, use the long format.

I would not use this drive for any serious long-term backups.

Why not use a thumb drive for the copies?

Good luck.

Marthe48

(16,963 posts)

3. I can't find my thumb drives

Reply to earthshine (Reply #1)

Fri Apr 13, 2018, 09:14 AM

Apr 2018

We are in a way too long moving situation and nothing is where it used to be. I just did a back-up to this ext. hd a couple weeks ago, but I'll use the other hd and do another.

Thanks for your advice. I'll try that and let you know.

Egnever

(21,506 posts)

2. Have you tried different ports on the laptop?

Reply to Marthe48 (Original post)

Fri Apr 13, 2018, 01:55 AM

Apr 2018

Sounds like the problem is with the laptop not the drive.

Marthe48

(16,963 posts)

4. I'll try that and see what happens.

Reply to Egnever (Reply #2)

Fri Apr 13, 2018, 09:16 AM

Apr 2018

Although I used the same port to transfer the pictures from the phone to the laptop. Just a different usb cord.

BigOleDummy

(2,270 posts)

5. Yes I would

Reply to Marthe48 (Original post)

Thu Apr 26, 2018, 05:14 PM

Apr 2018

definitely check your driver status. Even better, delete the driver(s) , reboot then let MS do it. WD makes very good externals (I have 4 with nary a problem between them) but any drive will wear out over time. Since you seem to have problems with "error repair" that could point to a problem. How did you attempt repair? Run check disk and check the boxes for "Automatically fix file system errors" and "Scan for and attempt to recover bad sectors".

Marthe48

(16,963 posts)

6. I think I got that far

Reply to BigOleDummy (Reply #5)

Fri Apr 27, 2018, 05:58 PM

Apr 2018

I had to set aside trying to fix it. Spring around the house, lots of seasonal work that has to be done

I had used the problem drive just recently to do a partial backup of files on my laptop, and when I get back to it, I'm going to delete that backup and see if that solves the problem.

I used my other hard drive and everything worked like a charm.

Thanks for all of the ideas. I appreciate your answer

Marthe48

(16,963 posts)

7. Very late follow-up

Reply to Marthe48 (Original post)

Mon May 21, 2018, 07:12 PM

May 2018

I was so busy in April and May babysitting my grandkids, I didn't do much else. Hard to believe 2 kids take that much energy!

I plugged the external hard drive I'm having trouble with back into the computer (old Dell) which recognizes it and shows me the pictures. I searched for the back-up of the hard drive from my Dell laptop on that ext. hard drive and couldn't find it. I thought maybe the back-up had started the problem. I intend to look again, not that I have some free time.

Thank you for all of the ideas. I appreciate the time you each took to type your replies.

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