Hard Drive causing windows explorer to crash until unplugged.

[Logan15]

I have a 320gb 2.5" samsung hard drive i recovered from one of my laptops but everytime i try to plug it in with my sata to usb it causes windows explorer to not respond. All that i am trying to accomplish is to format it for later use.
Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hi Logan.

Since you've mentioned that you've recovered the drive from a laptop, it sounds like that laptop had an issue, is it possible for the drive to have caused it? What was the problem?
Basically this behaviour is typical for cases in which a faulty drive is connected to the computer (either externally or internally). Another possible problem might be a faulty SATA to USB adapter. So basically you'd have to try that SATA to USB adapter with another drive if possible, to see if the same thing happens. If everything is working fine, then probably the HDD's the reason for that issue. You could give it a try with a different computer, by connecting it either externally or internally (via a standard SATA connection) if you have that option, to see if you'd be able to reformat it.
I'd also suggest that you download the HDD manufacturer's diagnostic tool and check the drive's SMART data if possible. You could also try running the tests as well, assuming your system does not freeze/hang again if you try that.

Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD

 

[Logan15]

Hi Logan.

Since you've mentioned that you've recovered the drive from a laptop, it sounds like that laptop had an issue, is it possible for the drive to have caused it? What was the problem?
Basically this behaviour is typical for cases in which a faulty drive is connected to the computer (either externally or internally). Another possible problem might be a faulty SATA to USB adapter. So basically you'd have to try that SATA to USB adapter with another drive if possible, to see if the same thing happens. If everything is working fine, then probably the HDD's the reason for that issue. You could give it a try with a different computer, by connecting it either externally or internally (via a standard SATA connection) if you have that option, to see if you'd be able to reformat it.
I'd also suggest that you download the HDD manufacturer's diagnostic tool and check the drive's SMART data if possible. You could also try running the tests as well, assuming your system does not freeze/hang again if you try that.

Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. So far i've tried 3 hard drives with the sata to usb two of them work perfectly and the one my post mentions is still not working correctly. I have also tried the hard drive by installing it into another spare laptop which caused it to not boot up and just remain on the starting logo,im assuming its corrupt. I also tried it in my desktop and another laptop
externally and i seem to have the same freezing issue.
The laptop i recovered it from had a bios corruption error causing the screen to remain black, i've tried a bunch of things to fix this but i think its a lost cause tbh haha. I will try the diagnostic tools you mentioned and get back to you on the outcome thanks for your help.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Don't mention it.
It's still worth the try, just to see what's exactly wrong with it. However, having in mind everything you've already tried, it really sounds like a classic case of a failing drive. So what I'm saying is don't get your hopes too high. It's fortunate that you don't need to recover data from it though.

If this drive came with the laptop (is OEM - original equipment manufacturer) and if the laptop is still under warranty, you might be able to get it replaced if you contact the vendor you got the laptop from or its manufacturer's customer support. The same thing goes if the HDD was bought separately, with the only difference that you should get in touch with either the vendor or the HDD's manufacturer's customer support.

I'll be sure to check your reply once you've posted it.

 

[Logan15]

Don't mention it.
It's still worth the try, just to see what's exactly wrong with it. However, having in mind everything you've already tried, it really sounds like a classic case of a failing drive. So what I'm saying is don't get your hopes too high. It's fortunate that you don't need to recover data from it though.

If this drive came with the laptop (is OEM - original equipment manufacturer) and if the laptop is still under warranty, you might be able to get it replaced if you contact the vendor you got the laptop from or its manufacturer's customer support. The same thing goes if the HDD was bought separately, with the only difference that you should get in touch with either the vendor or the HDD's manufacturer's customer support.

I'll be sure to check your reply once you've posted it.

Ive made some progress the hard drive can now be plugged into my computer without causing it to freeze however it will not let me initialize it as i keep getting ta error (cyclic redundancy check).

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Well, unfortunately I'm not sure that this is classified as progress. Unfortunately CRC errors are notorious for failing/failed drives. So basically, if you had no luck with the HDD up until now, I guess its time for RMA or a new HDD.

By the way, what I said about OEM drives is true, but it seems that I have forgotten that we were talking about an external drive, which is most probably not an OEM one. So if this is the case, just follow the second part about RMAing drives from my previous post.

 

[Logan15]

Well, unfortunately I'm not sure that this is classified as progress. Unfortunately CRC errors are notorious for failing/failed drives. So basically, if you had no luck with the HDD up until now, I guess its time for RMA or a new HDD.

By the way, what I said about OEM drives is true, but it seems that I have forgotten that we were talking about an external drive, which is most probably not an OEM one. So if this is the case, just follow the second part about RMAing drives from my previous post.

Thanks for the help anyway, but you seem to be right the hard drive must just be failing as I have not overcome any of these errors, time for a new hdd it seems. Thanks again.