Understanding External Hard Drive Failures: A Case Study and Practical Advice
Introduction
External hard drives are indispensable tools for data storage and backup, offering large capacity and portability. However, even new drives can encounter issues, leading to concerns about data integrity and hardware health. In this article, we explore a real-world scenario involving a recently purchased 5TB external hard drive, highlighting critical lessons about drive behavior, potential damage, and best practices for data recovery.
Background
The user acquired a WD My Passport 5TB external drive and began transferring data using FastCopy, a robust file transfer utility. The system consisted of a Windows 11 PC with dual internal SSDs. During an ordinary copying session, a series of events unfolded that raised questions about drive reliability and data safety.
Incident Overview
While copying data, the user opened Disk Management to check drive space and triggered a freeze, while FastCopy continued sporadically before halting at a specific large video file (~400MB). The drive was then safely disconnected. Subsequent attempts to copy the same file resulted in partial playback issues and connection instability with the external drive.
Diagnostics Conducted
To assess the drive’s health, the user employed CrystalDiskInfo, revealing 45 pending sectors, a notable sign of drive deterioration. Basic disk checks via chkdsk showed no immediate errors, but more intensive scans, such as troubleshooting with “chkdsk /r”, became impractical due to extreme duration.
Key Questions and Considerations
- Possible Hardware Damage
The presence of pending sectors is often a sign of physical damage or imminent failure. While software tools cannot confirm hardware integrity definitively, the increasing number of pending sectors and unstable behavior strongly suggest the drive may be compromised. Physical damage, especially after abrupt disconnection during an active transfer, is a real concern.
- Data Recovery and Precautions
Despite issues, some files remain accessible and playable. It is advisable to prioritize copying unaffected files to a stable storage device, such as an internal SSD or another external drive, to prevent data loss. Caution should be exercised when copying files from a suspect drive—if errors occur, stop the process immediately to avoid further damage or corruption.
- Detecting Data Corruption
Identifying corrupted files can be challenging without specialized software. Many media players or file integrity checkers can verify whether individual files are intact. For data files, checksum comparisons (like MD5 or SHA-256), if previously recorded, can help verify integrity post-data transfer
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