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Can a problematic/failing C drive cause external drives to fail?

hard drive external hard drive Windows 10

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3 replies to this topic

#1 leader2

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Posted 31 December 2019 - 09:01 PM

Hi. I appreciate any help anyone here can give in advance. Sorry for the length of this post, but I tried to thoroughly explain the problem. I am not technical so please use laymens terms when replying. Thanks for your understanding. :)

 

I have a refurbished older computer (HP Compaq 8200 Elite CMT, Intel Core i5-2400, 3.10GHz) that I used to run Windows 7 pro on. Earlier this year I installed Windows 10 pro. I also use linux Lubuntu 18.04 on this computer occasionally from a flash drive that contains the boot grub menu for both linux and W10. The computer won't boot unless the flash drive is connected for some reason so I keep it connected always for convenience. Maybe it's something in the way Linux was installed, I'm not sure, but I'm giving this info so it may help inform you about everything concerning my computer and may aid you in helping me solve my problem.

 

I had a Seagate 4tb desktop drive I bought new in June 2017 and a Seagate backup plus 8tb I bought new in Nov 2017. I used both to backup my files by copying them to both from my main hard drives via free file sync. They seemed to be working fine and then I the 8tb gave an error saying it couldn't be accessed and was corrupted/unreadable. I reformatted the drive and tried to recopy my files to it but some refused to copy so I went to Lubuntu and errors with copying occurred there as well even though it copied most of the data. 

 

When I came back to W10 after that I discovered my Seagate 4tb was giving the exact same inaccessible (dirve is corrupted and unreadable error). I wondered if Lubuntu caused a problem with my other drive since I wasn't sure if this was coincidental or not. I know this isn't a linux forum but I am again just telling you everything so it might help you better understand my issue. I tried to reformat it and recopy my files back to the drive, but there were again many errors in the copying process so I gave up and got my warranties on both drives fufilled. 

 

Just last week I bought a new drive another seagate backup plus 8tb and I tested it with seatools diagnostics right out the box before doing anything else. It passed all other tests, but failed the long generic test. I decided to copy my files anyway since every drive I have received has failed this test anyway and I thought the test was giving a false positive. The drive refused to copy all of the files and   lso when I entered it into free file sync it made the program freeze up and crash. I went to This PC to see the drive and it's icon was missing and the computer crashed right after I went there and tried to double click the hdd. Then when I went back to This PC I clicked on it and it said it too had the same inaccessible error as the aforementioned drives. I will now be returning it in the return window.

 

The last time I tested my computer hard drive with seatools (I know mine is a hitachi drive, but I don't know what other tests to use) it passed all tests including the long generic. Crystal disk info said it was fine. But sometimes it's a bit slow and the computer was old so I was wondering if it was maybe failing somehow too.

 

My questions are...

 

1. Do you think my first two drives just failed due to age and usage? Or do you think going into the linux may have caused some problems (for those here who are linux savvy)

 

2. Even if they failed due to age/usage, what about my brand new seagate 8tb drive? It sounds like more than a coincidence to me that all 3 failed in less than a week and that one was brand new out of the box? Do you think my C drive Hitachi could be causing some errors with these drives due to it's age/heavy use? Does a problem like that exist in the computer world where a C drive could be failing and cause other drives to fail too?

 

3. What can I do to fix this issue if that is true that the C drive could be causing this? I thought of replacing the drive with an old 320gb one I had and trying that one or maybe trying to reinstall Windows. I'm not sure what to to do if the C drive is the culprit. So far all malware scans have been negative and I haven't had any viruses.

 

4. What could cause all 3 drives to fail the exact same way? (Inaccessible corrupted and unreadable) If it helps to know this, I save a lot of files, delete files on a regular basis and my computer runs every day for hours and sometimes all night. I have reformatted and reinstalled Win 7 several times on my Hitachi when it had prior issues and restored Windows 10 from a system image before. Even If I am a heavy user why would a brand new drive be failing out of the box?

 

5. During the copy process on my brand new seagate 8tb, on one occasion the files on my main hard drive (8tb WD Elements drive) disappeared from their folders Did this cause errors in the copy process? This PC showed the drive as being mostly full, but when I opened the drive the all the folders showed as empty until I restarted my computer and tried the copy process again. At one point free file sync gave an error message (I'm sorry I don't remember what it said) when I tried to enter my WD Elements drive and wouldn't copy anything from it until I retried that later. Is this drive failing me too? When I tested it using seatools usb test in linux it said the drive was fine, but I am wondering if this is yet another false positive. Could the C drive be causing a problem here as well?

 

Thanks for your patience with answering my questions and helping me to learn in this matter. I appreciate the forum user's helpfulness and your educating me on various topics.

 


Edited by leader2, 31 December 2019 - 09:03 PM.

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#2 Tomk

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Posted 09 January 2020 - 08:28 AM

Unfortunately, it does not appear that you are going to get an experts answer to your question.

 

All I can say is that I know of no way that that a mechanical failure of one drive can cause a failure of another drive.


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#3 leader2

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Posted 10 January 2020 - 03:01 AM

Thanks for your reply Tomk but I was wondering do you know of any other forums similar to whatthetech where a person could go to the forum and get advice about computers? Please list names and links to others you know of.



#4 Tomk

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Posted 10 January 2020 - 10:21 PM

I do know of several other forums.  Most of our staff work at multiple forums. There are many and, of course, I have my own opinion as to which ones are better than others, but that opinion is mostly formed based upon my perception of the quality of the staff that are answering the questions.  There are various helpers that I have seen provide quality responses for many years, and I trust what they say explicitly.

 

However, it is considered bad form to "advertise" "competative" sites. 

 

I realize, that again, I'm not being very helpful... but I feel I must decline to provide the information that you have requested.


Tomk
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