My external HDD cannot be checked for bad sectors

[mmallow]

I have an external 1.65 tb Fantom Drives HDD. This is my "games" drive (my OS is on a 120 gb SSD). Randomly, I am unable to read/write to the drive for a few seconds. Furthermore, my computer will sometimes not recognize the drive. When it does recognize it, I try to use the error checking tool provided by Windows. I click both "automatically fix file system errors" and "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors". The strange thing is that when I start the scan, the box for the scan just disappears and it is no longer a process as per Task Manager. I have a feeling the drive is failing, but I just want to make sure it isn't anything else before I purchase a new drive. My OS is Win7, the drive is connected via USB2.0 (I have also tried a SATA connection, no dice). The only reason I used this off brand HDD is because I got it as a gift.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Test it with SeaTools if you want to know for sure if it's a healthy drive or not:
http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/downloads/seatools/seatools-win-master/

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there mmallow,

I would suggest you to back up the important data that is on the drive as soon as possible.
Another thing you can do, except for what Phillip Corcoran suggested, is to just swap the cables as well as the SATA port.

Hope this will help,
D_Know_WD

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

"Another thing you can do, except for what Phillip Corcoran suggested"

That reads like like you don't want the OP to follow my drive-testing suggestion. Strange comment indeed from WD rep.

 

[D_Know_WD]

I'm really sorry it sounded that way.
I meant something like: in addition to what he said, you can try swapping the cables as well.

D_Know_WD