I have a 500GB Iomega external hard disk. It was working fine for about two months, and now all of a sudden, the transfer rate just dropped, on all computers, I've tried it on three different computers, and on a mac, all the transfer rates are slow. about 30 minutes for a GB. Any idea what could be wrong with it, or how to solve it?

Maybe the driver is fucked and has reverted back to usb 1.1. Thats all i can think of.

http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

This is IBM HDD diagnostic

Use it to test the drive. You can also defrag the drive using windows defrag

Start > All programs > accessories > system tools > disk defragmenter

http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

This is IBM HDD diagnostic

Use it to test the drive. You can also defrag the drive using windows defrag

Start > All programs > accessories > system tools > disk defragmenter

For some reason...I can't install any of those programs... I did a defragmentation, but didn't help...

If you have any device plugged in that is USB 1.1 then all USB devices plugged in will run at the slower 1.1 speed.

How full is the drive? I take it is has its own power supply, being a 500gb. Try running HD Tach http://www.simplisoftware.com/Public/index.php?request=HdTach and see what the results are.

Backup your drive!
If it makes some noises then you should consider backing you data.

Is it SATA or IDE? (open the cover and you will see the interface)

If you have any device plugged in that is USB 1.1 then all USB devices plugged in will run at the slower 1.1 speed.

As I said before, it's on every computer that I've tried, not just on one.

Backup your drive!
If it makes some noises then you should consider backing you data.

Is it SATA or IDE? (open the cover and you will see the interface)

The problem is, I bought this External HDD because I was out of space on my computer, so where would I back it up? And it's a SATA

Grusomhat, I'll get back to you with the results in about 5 hours or something, first school.

As I said before, it's on every computer that I've tried, not just on one.



The problem is, I bought this External HDD because I was out of space on my computer, so where would I back it up? And it's a SATA

Grusomhat, I'll get back to you with the results in about 5 hours or something, first school.

You remind me of my situation, i got only about 35 GB of space on my Internal HDD and it really scares the shit out of me when it comes backing up my 160GB external drive.

Okay here is what you should do:

Are you using NTFS file system or FAT. If your using FAT then i would recommend upgrading to NTFS.

Get hold of DVD-R's and write your movie,music,videos collections if possible or just get help from some friend.

your using SATA interface, that's the same interface my HDD has and it supports 1gb/s transfer rate (according to the man pages).

Look for a SATA interface adapter, i mean its an adapter which allows your laptop HDD to be connected as an Internal HDD or just look up for an adapter (usb) one which allows you to connect external SATA drives as usb drives (i got one of those ;)).

All in all, good luck.

Are you using NTFS file system or FAT. If your using FAT then i would recommend upgrading to NTFS.

Get hold of DVD-R's and write your movie,music,videos collections if possible or just get help from some friend.

your using SATA interface, that's the same interface my HDD has and it supports 1gb/s transfer rate (according to the man pages).

Look for a SATA interface adapter, i mean its an adapter which allows your laptop HDD to be connected as an Internal HDD or just look up for an adapter (usb) one which allows you to connect external SATA drives as usb drives (i got one of those ;)).

All in all, good luck.

I know it's a FAT32 and that I should format it too a NTSF to be able to put bigger one piece files on it. But that would require me to format it, and thus, losing all my files.

Get a hold of some DVDs? Serioulsy? put 300GB of files on DVDs? And I don't see how a friend is gonna solve my problem?

A SATA interface? On my internal HDD's yes, but the external is ofcourse a USB connected HDD.

Grusomhat

What do I do with the results I get from the test?

I was encountering the same problem with a TB external drive (2 500GB). About a week after i started getting miserable data transfer rates both HDD's screwed up and i had to RMA them as well as lose about 600GB's worth of movies and data.

I would suggest taking it out of the external case and plugging it into your PC. Most likely it's just a 500GB WD drive in there so you should have no problem plugging it in via SATA or IDE.

After you plug it in see if the transfer rates get any better and if the do then it's safe to assume the drive is o.k.

I was encountering the same problem with a TB external drive (2 500GB). About a week after i started getting miserable data transfer rates both HDD's screwed up and i had to RMA them as well as lose about 600GB's worth of movies and data.

I would suggest taking it out of the external case and plugging it into your PC. Most likely it's just a 500GB WD drive in there so you should have no problem plugging it in via SATA or IDE.

After you plug it in see if the transfer rates get any better and if the do then it's safe to assume the drive is o.k.

^This, no really this.

After you plug it in see if the transfer rates get any better and if the do then it's safe to assume the drive is o.k.

ok, so the transfer rates would be beter...but I won't be able to carry it with me anymore...or would it be ok if I put it back in the casing afterwards again?

ok, so the transfer rates would be beter...but I won't be able to carry it with me anymore...or would it be ok if I put it back in the casing afterwards again?

Yes, it will be okay. The only reason we are recommending that test is to verify that your HDD is actually OKAY and you can use it without any problems.

I took it out of the casing, but there was no way to connect it then except via the USB again, but I doubt just taking it out of the case would make it go faster, or does it?

I took it out of the casing, but there was no way to connect it then except via the USB again, but I doubt just taking it out of the case would make it go faster, or does it?

Not really, it might cool it down a bit but you should consider that too much dust could be a pain in the butt for a HDD. Keep it in the case if it doesn't get too hot otherwise a bit of air wont hurt.

Not really, it might cool it down a bit but you should consider that too much dust could be a pain in the butt for a HDD. Keep it in the case if it doesn't get too hot otherwise a bit of air wont hurt.

So...why did you want me to take it out of the case if it doesn't make much difference :s?

I took it out of the casing, but there was no way to connect it then except via the USB again, but I doubt just taking it out of the case would make it go faster, or does it?

You're telling me there was no SATA or IDE connection on the HDD itself?

If not then-

1: That's just fucking weird.
2: I've never dealt with one of those so i wouldn't know where to start, Back up your data and format it to see if that helps.

You're telling me there was no SATA or IDE connection on the HDD itself?

If not then-



Well...I didn't really look for connections...but I can't really recall there being any on it.

If there were connections on it, then I don't have the cables anyway, so it doesn't really matter...

Keep in mind that I am an absolute "noob" when it comes to computers and what not.