Hey everyone! I've got a bit of a situation with my 5TB Western Digital My Book external HDD that I bought back in 2021. It's mostly just sitting safely on my desk, and I usually work with a portable 1TB HDD. I recently decided to buy another My Book for backups because I work on important projects and didn't want to risk losing anything. I started transferring files from my old HDD to the new one, but suddenly I encountered issues. The drive became super slow, and now I'm facing "cyclic redundancy errors," meaning I can't access some folders. After some attempts at troubleshooting (trying different cables and USB ports), I started a scan and repair process that's been running for 9 days now! Sometimes it makes this worrying thumping sound every few seconds. Should I let it keep running or stop it and try to recover whatever files I can? Would that just damage it more? Also, my new My Book makes some screeching noises that I've never heard before from my old one. Any advice on what steps I should take next?
1 Answer
Hey! My advice would be to stop the Windows “Scan and Repair” immediately. That tool isn’t meant for failing drives and can actually worsen the issue.
Your drive is showing serious signs of failure, like the CRC errors and bad sectors. The thumping sound indicates it’s struggling to read. Here’s what you should do:
- Stop any scans or repairs, and avoid writing data.
- Use a tool like ddrescue for Linux or EaseUS Disk Copy for Windows to make a full clone of the drive. These tools handle bad areas better than Windows.
- Once you have that clone, run recovery tools on it, not the original drive.
- Don’t take the drive out of the My Book unless you’re sure it doesn’t use hardware encryption.
Regarding your new My Book, some models make odd sounds, so keep an eye on SMART warnings and return it if anything looks off!
With a failing drive, Windows really isn't helpful. You’re better off using tools like ddrescue that can handle the errors more smoothly.