To begin with, I’ve had this drive for about a year and a half now. I actually got it from WD since my original drive failed while it was still under warranty. Anyways, the drive has been working all this time flawlessly; even on the weekend I watched 2 movies without any problems.
Now the issue that I’m encountering just began last night. I went into my computer, and it was as if my drive was not connected to it at all. So I shut down the computer, unplugged the drive, turned the computer back on, and plugged it in only to see the WD Quick View start flashing red since the drive was apparently overheating.
I read in the manual that if the drive overheats, then we should leave it unplugged for an hour before trying it again. Since it was already getting late, I decided to just unhook the drive and try it again in the morning. Well, I just plugged it back in after 12 hours, and it still says that the drive is overheating within 30 seconds of me plugging it in.
So, I’m just wondering if anyone has any suggestions? or is the drive toast?
Here is some more information:
- Have you tried connecting the drive to another computer to see if the drives works fine?
Right now, I can’t try it on another computer because of the format the drive is in…
- When you get that temperature error if you place your hand on the drive how hot it feels?
The hard drive is cold when I touch it. Even when I first plug it in, the WD Quick View indicates that the temperature is ok; however, 30 seconds later the problem occurs.
- What operative system are you using the drive on?
The operating system on this computer is Windows 7 (x64), and I formatted into HFS+ with a program called Macdrive so that I could play movies through my Xbox 360. The Xbox will even still detect the drive when I connect it, but after a couple minutes, the drive stops working; as if someone unplugged it.
- Is the drive been detected under my computer, and are you able to drag an drop files to the drive?
Yes, the drive is detected right away. I can access the files, move them, drag and drop files on and off the drive within that 4 minute window before the drive turns itself off from “overheating.”
*UPDATE*
So, I started transferring some of my files off of the drive, and was able to get about 50 movies off in total before the transfer rate dropped to ~100 kb/s. I just tried formatting it, but the program froze, which means this drive is more than likely finished. This is also my 3rd WD external in under 2 years.
