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welby
07-02-2010, 10:52 AM
Hi all,

here's a quandry I'm in....

I inadvertantly removed my Maxtor USB hard drive without first removing the drive by the "Safely Remove The Hardware" method and when I plugged it back in the OS reported the drive as requiring "formatting", which is complete nonsense as when I plug the HD into another laptop it comes up straight away with no errors.

This is happened to me in Vista and Windows 7 on several occaisions

The laptop that "revives" the drive is running XP Pro SP 3.

Yes I know I should always eject the drive before removing, but sometimes when under pressure I have pulled the plug inadvertanty and bosh the disk drive wont work stating, please format this drive.

Correct me if I am wrong but it must affect the MBR in some way, but on the laptop with XP on, it must be more tolerant and read or repair the MBR.

When I put the HD back in my playout Laptop it comes up as you would expect. I have checked the disk for erros and nothing is found.

How weird is that? I was wondering if anyone else had experienced this and whether it just affects Maxtor brand of drives?

I was wondering if there is a programme that can rebuild the MBR with little fuss as when I am out I do not want any issues, even if they are caused by one slip of memory on my part.

Thanks

Vectis
07-02-2010, 11:07 AM
FAT32 I presume?

welby
07-02-2010, 12:54 PM
FAT32 I presume?

No NTFS - It's baffled me for ages

I'm beginning to wonder if it's NTFS thats the problem...

discomobiledj
07-02-2010, 12:57 PM
This happened with my Maxtor Basic as well, have you tried using a different USB cable? The cables supplied with the drive are not very robust but I found using a better quality cable sorted this out.

welby
07-02-2010, 01:27 PM
This happened with my Maxtor Basic as well, have you tried using a different USB cable? The cables supplied with the drive are not very robust but I found using a better quality cable sorted this out.

Yes tried swapping them for others but no difference.

I have the drive policies set to Quick Removal so that no cache is written to the disk as default, so I should be able to remove the drive without using the Safely Remove Hardware notification.

I don't think i'm alone on this one, on the seagate forums others are getting the same issue. But I can't see anyone offereing a fix.

Some are suggesting a firmware upgrade, but I can't find any firmware updates as downloads.

Thanks both for the replies.

welby
07-02-2010, 02:10 PM
Sent email to seagate support - I wont hold my breath! lol

Creature
07-02-2010, 05:37 PM
the comp u just pulled it out of you will need to clear out the remove hardware or use a very good regestry cleaner - reboot and it should work

but before you try anything back up ya drive onto ya laptop 1st

Please remember the rules on text talk. This is the second time today. Next post will be deleted. Admin.

CRAZY K
07-02-2010, 07:57 PM
Yes tried swapping them for others but no difference.

I have the drive policies set to Quick Removal so that no cache is written to the disk as default, so I should be able to remove the drive without using the Safely Remove Hardware notification.

I don't think i'm alone on this one, on the seagate forums others are getting the same issue. But I can't see anyone offereing a fix.

Some are suggesting a firmware upgrade, but I can't find any firmware updates as downloads.

Thanks both for the replies.

I have used Seagates for years with the Cortex and until recently always disconnected WITHOUT using the safety removal facility on the Cortex:eek:

Never had a problem of any kind.

It was only when Peter mentioned this on a post about 9 months ago that I was aware you are supposed to do it ;)

Mind you im using Cortex not a laptop---we wont go there:)

CRAZY K

ppentertainments
07-02-2010, 08:11 PM
I have used Seagates for years with the Cortex and until recently always disconnected WITHOUT using the safety removal facility on the Cortex:eek:

Is there a safety removal on the cortex :confused: Normally I use the power button :o . I always use powered hard drives though, but even then there is one mains plug coming out my console which is unplugged thus 'switching off' the harddrive - never had a problem though ;)

Excalibur
07-02-2010, 09:13 PM
Is there a safety removal on the cortex :confused: Normally I use the power button :o . I always use powered hard drives though, but even then there is one mains plug coming out my console which is unplugged thus 'switching off' the harddrive - never had a problem though ;)

The "eject device" option. If you're running NTFS, because like me you want safety and reliability above absolute performance, I'd guess it doean't matter a jot. I do try to eject both sides before shutting down, as I see no reason to tempt fate.

ppentertainments
07-02-2010, 09:17 PM
The "eject device" option.
Any instructions - I only know the play and power buttons, and searches using a keyboard :o :o

Excalibur
07-02-2010, 09:40 PM
Any instructions - I only know the play and power buttons, and searches using a keyboard :o :o

Hold shift, press power briefly. . Eject device comes up as an option.

On re-reading the manual, it appears that simply pressing the power button may actually automatically disconnect devices, thus avoiding problems, as Crazy said he had done.

discomobiledj
08-02-2010, 12:54 AM
Have you checked your drive for a virus at all?

nisfo
08-02-2010, 01:21 AM
Can you take the drive out of the enclosure, and plug it directly into a PC?

I ask as I had a similar problem which turned out to be the built in circuit board due to a slight knock while writing data.

I have sinced ditched my old external for a 'Solid State Drive', but at £340 for a 128Gb they are NOT cheap. But they are practically indestructable ;)

welby
08-02-2010, 09:13 AM
Can you take the drive out of the enclosure, and plug it directly into a PC?

I ask as I had a similar problem which turned out to be the built in circuit board due to a slight knock while writing data.

I have sinced ditched my old external for a 'Solid State Drive', but at £340 for a 128Gb they are NOT cheap. But they are practically indestructable ;)

Hi,

No you can't take them out of the enclosure as it would void the warranty.

I have four of these and they are all on different versions of firmware.

I have narrowed it down to just one of these and that's on the lowest revision of firmware out of all of them.

So I have a hunch and after reading the forums at seagate it's looking like the culprit,

And like you said solid state is the way to go, but it's not cheap.

Thanks all for your input.

Mark

welby
12-02-2010, 01:16 PM
Reply from Seagate:


Dear Mr. xxxxx,

The issue has nothing to do with the drive's firmware and everything to do with not removing it safely. Please always use the safely remove feature. If it's hanging or not allowing you to safely remove, you may want to turn off the computer and then remove it. Simply "pulling the plug" is tantamount to rolling the dice with your data.

Please see http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=201539

Kind regards,
Attila

Strange that windows XP sees the drive while Vista and Windows 7 does not.

I will just have to be more careful in the future when extracting USB drives.

Thanks for all your comments.

Mark

Larry B Entertainment
12-02-2010, 04:05 PM
Reply from Seagate:



Strange that windows XP sees the drive while Vista and Windows 7 does not.

I will just have to be more careful in the future when extracting USB drives.

Thanks for all your comments.

Mark

I have a software utility on my home machine that forces the computer to release the usb drive as windows can be aukward and say that it cant be removed right now as its in use.