Dropped External HD, What to do.

crystalklear64

crystalklear64

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Yes as you may have guessed I was doing something stupid (trying to watch a movie in bed on my laptop, pulled it towards the bed forgetting that the HD was plugged in) and as a result my 250gb External HD no longer works as it should. Specifically, when I plug it in, windows detects that there is an external drive, but that it is inaccessible. Upon further investigation, it looks like the usb connector thing in the back may have gotten loose due to it being yanked out at an angle by gravity. However, I don't know if that alone would cause a single to be reaching the computer but have it not able to interact.

I have checked I/O Magic's site, and I do have a 1 year warranty, however, it doesn't cover "being a dumbass and dropping it on the ground". Normally I would have no problem pleading that it just stopped working, but this thing has some rather large scratches in the side from the fall.

I plan to use a friend's usb cable tomorrow to see if anything is wrong in that area, but other than that...

does anyone have any suggestions for me as to what I can do? Yes, I can go buy a new one, but if theres anything to else to be done I'd like to know.

Thanks.
 
hate to be the bearer of bad news, but HDs are pretty fragile. A drop like that can do it in, as you can't really fix the moving parts on the inside. If the shock from the drop was pretty intense then odds are the inside is pretty jacked, and that's all she wrote.
 
If you decide not to go for warranty service...

Try opening up the case. You'll find that there is a hard drive (duh) inside and it is connected to a circuit board (to provide the USB interface) and power (to, uh, provide power).

The fall may have just dislodged the HD from the internal connections. Try just disconnecting and reconnecting them. If that doesn't work, then maybe just the case electronics got damaged and the HD is ok. You'll have the pull the HD and try it inside of a PC, or with another IDE-USB adapter.

Is the drive itself making any funny noises?
 
I'm guessing the HD is dead... in all honesty.

Just hope that I/O Magic has good customer support and play dumb, usually they can recognize when a HD died due to being dropped.
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']Well I can hear the fan turning on, and the access light blinks like its trying to get the information, but nothing happens.[/QUOTE]


Well, then, if you're not going to send it in, try opening the case and try my suggestions...it can't hurt...
 
Personally, I'd try sending it in for the warranty. If they say they can't (won't) fix it then I'd just unleash hell and open it.
 
Alright, I've tried opening the case, but I cannot find any screws, tabs, or glue things to even begin to open it.

The case is solid metal except for the ends which are plastic caps it seems.

EC.IMM.I250HD35.JPG
 
Some external HD manufacturers have gotten smarter; sometimes they don't use screws and the ends of the external enclosures are sealed by snapping them into the casing and locking them in place. So if you opened it, the plastic hooks will most likely be damaged by force. I would also suggest sending in for warranty and cross your fingers. The worst that can happen is they say no and you lose a few dollars on shipping. Then you can open the case and do what m6oo suggested.
 
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