Problems With Iomega External Hard Drive

kah22

I would appreciate some advice/help concerning a problem I have with a Imogea 1 TB external hard drive.

Here’s where I am at. I bought the HD about four months back and cannot find the box/receipt so trying to use a guarantee is out. The HD was attached to a Dell Inspiron 510m laptop. The HD was used to save backup copies of family videos, some movies, and other bits and pieces. The HD has been working fine up until the past few days.

What’s happening is this. I turn on my laptop with the HD attached and wait until she boots up. With the HD attached she just stalls and will not turn on, I am presented with a blank screen. OK I turn the HD off at it’s the power switch and the computer then boots up properly. I then turn on the hard drive again and wait; I hear a regular double click coming from the HD, it’s almost as though the machine is trying to connect but can’t.

I turn the HD off at it’s power switch, close down the computer, restart the computer and wait until she runs through all the start up procedures and then turn the HD on but still I get the same problems as above. If I try to turn off the computer without first turning off the HD it just stalls. With the HD turned on a lot of the programs I have on the computer don’t seem to boot up.

Here’s a strange bit. If I open my computer I see the regular icons there: C drive, d drive, shared documents and owner’s documents but no e drive. Yet if I go down to my system tray and open up the safely remove hardware icon sometimes it is been recognized there. Attempt to close it down from there and it’s no go. Turn the HD off manually and my Virus Scaner – Vipre – pops up and says that a removable drive has been inserted do I want to scan it. Attempt to open other programs and well it is neigh impossible they just seems to freeze.

Any idea what might be wrong, any fixes or is the HD broken. Many thanks for any help or advice

Kevin

KillerWatt

kah22 wrote: »

I hear a regular double click coming from the HD,

That's known as the "click of death", which means the drive is shagged.

Paul_T_3

Sounds like the Hard Drive. You could try and convince the shop that you only bought it a few months ago, go armed with your credit card statement if you have one.
Failing that, open it up if unable to convince the shop (you have nothing to lose) it will probably be a sata drive. Cost a replacement up on ebay amazon etc and compare this to a new external hard drive. Swopping the disk is just a matter of a few screws and a couple of cables.

Paul

kah22

Though as much

OK I've logged into my paypal account and discovered that the product was only bought on the 1st March (thought I had it a bit longer than that but not according to paypal) so it is well within a guarantee period. What's my next move. Paypal, ebay or the vendor?

enigma52

was it sold with a guarantee?

tronator

kah22 wrote: »

I would appreciate some advice/help concerning a problem I have with a Imogea 1 TB external hard drive.
[...]

Is the hd powered by it's own power supply or does it take the power from the USB? If it takes the power from USB then such a Y cable might help.

kah22

tronator wrote: »

Is the hd powered by it's own power supply or does it take the power from the USB? If it takes the power from USB then such a Y cable might help.

No, its own supply power supply from plug to HD, HD then connects to computer via USB

Originally Posted by enigma5
was it sold with a guarantee?

I don't see an obvious guarantee on the ebay site, but then it is only a few months old and was sold as New from an ebay business seller. If I go to the manufacturers website it states:

Iomega guarantee offers

• Minimum 2 years warranty on your product as described on the box
• Technical Support
• Replacement of the defective product, through the exchange or advanced exchange program
• Advance Exchange for our customers with Iomega Service Plans; StorCenter ix2-200; NAS 300, 400, and 800 series; and REV Autoloader

Would I not be right in assuming that the Sale of Goods Act might come into play here as 'not been fit for the purpose for which it was intended?'

If the seller was uncooperative would there be any come back from Paypal?

I suppose this question is now switching from a technical problem to a consumer problem - should I raise it on a more appropriate board?

Kevin

enigma52

ebay is an auction site, guarantees as far as I know are only as stipulated in listing, not in listing no guarantee hence price is much lower than retail. Iomega guarantee will not apply to goods bought on auction only to retail sales.

custardy

contact the seller and explain the situation
given the time scales you have no paypal option open to you

tronator

enigma52 wrote: »

ebay is an auction site, guarantees as far as I know are only as stipulated in listing, not in listing no guarantee hence price is much lower than retail. Iomega guarantee will not apply to goods bought on auction only to retail sales.

That's wrong. Ebay is NOT an "auction" site in the legal sense.

If it's a business seller, he has to give you the same rights as any other online shop. In fact, if he didn't state your rights according to the distance selling act in the auction, then you can return the item even after the usual 7 days "cooling off period".

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/consumer-rights/consumer-rights.html

http://reviews.ebay.co.uk/Distance-Selling-Regulations-And-eBay_W0QQugidZ10000000000140381

@OP: You should contact the seller and see what he replies. Everything else is pure speculation at this stage.

nomoreheroes

Try the iomega website for a replacement. Whenever I have had a faulty harddrive I have always arranged a replacement via the manufacturers website. This is handy if you have lost the receipt or the drive is in a pc / laptop you have bought as the guarantee runs from the manufacture date, so as long as it hasnt been sitting on the shelf for a couple of years before you bought it you should be ok.