Corrupted Files on HDD but HDD seems fine.

[SelfBuilt]

Hello all ^^

Hope some one can help me out here. I have two questions that I would like to ask, both are related to HDDs and corrupted files.

=1st Q=
I have this external/USB 40GB 2.5" HDD (hitachi) that I brought about a year ago. Just recently I found that I cannot put any RAR/Zip files on the HDD without the rar/zip file turn corrupted. I can copy over the rar/zip file perfectly FROM & TO the HDD. However if I extract any copy of the file that came from the HDD, it will result in an error suggesting the file that I am trying to extract is corrupted. Funny thing is that, the files are never corrupted to the stage where I cannot open them, always screws one of the file/s in the rar/zip. Also this is the same with exe files.

Apart from that, txt, jpg, mp3 and video files works fine. However I am assuming it is because of their data structure that causes them to run ok even if a bit or two is incorrect.

So far I've formated, scan disk and defrag the HDD but the problem still exist. All RAR/ZIP/EXE will all be corrupted once it hits the HDD. Also tried on several different computers, all result in the same problem.

So any suggestions?

=2nd Q=
If a standard 3.5" HDD (seagate) starts to show/detect a few corrupted files (say 5-10), does that mean that HDD is going away to a better place some time soon ? I have this 80GB HDD that I've been using for a good 3 years now. Only just a few days ago it started to detect/found some corrupted window files. And just today, one of my video driver exe went corrupted, for some odd reason even if I reinstall, it will still show its corrupted .

I had bad experiences with corrupted files, used to have this 250GB HDD (seagate) that had loads of pics and movies. At first it was just a few pics that went corrupted, then in a matter of days, the HDD totally screwed up. It took me days and nights recovering those files. It was so serious that recovery progs and bios had problems detecting the HDD. So as you can see, from a perfect (so I thought) working HDD to a complete failing HDD in a matter of days is quite... ...considering the HDD was never token out of the computer and it occured 1 month after the warranty expired, luckily seagate offered a much longer warranty period than the retail shop.

So if anyone have any suggestions, please let me know.


Thank you

[icecube]

Hi Selfbuilt

I've seen errors like that. It could be a motherboard with leaking capacitors. Not everthing is garbage, but there is enough of it to be unusable after a while. The caps don't have to be leaking, just crowned and bulging. Normally they are flat accross the top

[SelfBuilt]

Thank you for your reply. You know that was one of the things that I thought it may be. However this happened to all the computers that I've tried to use the hdd on (my own 3 comps + laptop and other 3-4 friend's computers). I mean what are the odds, haha.

What really bugs me is that programs and utilities tells me that the HDD is fine/ok/no problem.

You know while typing this out, a thought occurred, can the enclosure cause such a problem? Faulty board?


More suggestion are welcome.