Jennifer Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 Hey Brian - Recently I have been having problems with what I think is the connection for my external hard drives. One of them is a Dell (made by Seagate) 1 TB - I'll hear a noise (like a 'plink" lol) and then get a pop-up that says I need to format Disk J (or whatever port I have the cable in). And then I'll get a window that says it is searching for content. I usually just try to cancel out of it and make sure the connection is secure. It was happening a lot with the ports that are in the front of the tower so I switched it to the port on the monitor. I have the Dell xps8700. I usually keep a couple of different hard drives connected to my computer at all times - don't want to put them all onto the same external in case something happens to it. I also keep them connected because I have crashplan for backup. Is it likely that it is the cable or the port that is having a problem? Technology and I do not seem to be getting along these days:( Thanks - jennifer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 Either the drive isn't getting enough power, OR more than likely it's about ready to die. If you are hearing "click-a-thump...plunk...click-a-thump........plunk..." or similar sound, it's not a port problem. It's a drive getting ready die problem. I'd get all your data copied over to a new HD ASAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 (edited) Thanks Brian! I'm not sure I'm hearing the click-a-thump...plunk but don't want to take the chance so I will tco right away. Edited February 24, 2016 by Jennifer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 Brian - I just realized this is happening when I am watching a video through VLC. I have some tutorial videos that I keep on my Seagate Barracuda (drive E) and when I watch them, it makes that noise. It's actually the same noise that happens when I disconnect my Spyder, my external Dell drive, or any external. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 Hmm. Are you using a USB Hub? Does it have its own power? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted February 25, 2016 Author Share Posted February 25, 2016 This is the internal hard drive I installed when I got the system. You actually helped me do it and saved me money by me doing it myself and not having dell do it:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 So you are getting a un-mount chime when you play videos off your internal drive? I'm confused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted February 25, 2016 Author Share Posted February 25, 2016 I was. I ended up on the phone with dell concierge (and thank you for suggesting I purchase that when I purchased the computer btw) and they went through and did something to the n-vidia graphics card, updated a bunch of stuff and downloaded new drivers. The "unmount chime" seems to have gone away and I am no longer getting the "need to reformat disk J" window. I am really longing for the days, though, when I just had to mix chemicals and breathe them in, in a darkroom, to process my film and makes prints - fed up with this computer crap! Thank you for your help though and now I learnes what that plinking noise is called! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Just think, that support call just paid for itself. Glad you got it working. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted February 25, 2016 Author Share Posted February 25, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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