Windows 7 I need to format? Again?

[Commander_Cool]

As of a few days an external drive connected via USB has generated this error message:

popping up every few minutes, despite the disk being recently wiped, repartitioned and fomatted and working well.
Why is this? It stopped being fun a long time ago...what can I do?
(Windows 7 Ultimate SP1)

 

[Jimbo22]

Does the external usb drive stay connected full time? When you reboot how soon before the pop up message? Is the external drive connected to a usb hub or directly to the PC? If connected to the PC, is plugged into the front panel or directly in to the mobo? Have you tried moving it to a different usb port? Is there any firmware for the external drive if so is there and update of the firmware?

 

[Commander_Cool]

Does the external usb drive stay connected full time?
Yes.
When you reboot how soon before the pop up message?
Perhaps five minutes.
Is the external drive connected....directly to the PC?
Yes.
Have you tried moving it to a different usb port?
Yeah, same difference.
Is there any firmware for the external drive if so is there and update of the firmware?
Perhaps there is. It's a Seagate drive so it comes from a responsible manufacturer, but it is some 4-6 years old so I would be surprised (and impressed!) if even they would support a product that long beyond the 'life expectancy'. Which I would assume is some 2-3 years?

 

[ComputerGeek]

Does the drive have an external power source or is it powered via USB? One thing you could try is format the drive and try a new, not used or extra USB cable, and see if it happens again. If your USB cable, or the seating in the HDD, is crapping out, it can cause read errors when the drive spins up, similar to if you were to power off your PC as it is booting up, and corrupting the drive.

Also with the age of the drive, it could finally be reaching its demise, even though if taken care of properly, it should still be running strong.

I had this problem with a 2TB WD Drive, woke up one morning and my external came up with that same message. I was able to recover the data from the drive, did a clean/format and verified I had the latest HDD firmware. Moved all my data back on the drive and a couple days later it happened again. Went through the whole process of recovery/format only to have it happen again so I contacted WD.

Luckily my drive was still under warranty so they sent me a new one, never did find out the cause of it other than what they listed as "faulty hardware"

 

[Commander_Cool]

Does the drive have an external power source or is it powered via USB?
Via USB. I have tried switching cables as I have a bunch (though none brand-new); same thing. Also, it doesn't seem to be a hardware/connection problem as the message pops up after some 5 minutes regardless of the cable arrangement and port used on the PC.
I suspect that the drive is on its last legs, especially after reading of your similar problem. I have gone through the process you describe of parking the data on another drive then reformatting etc. I always do the basic stuff as far as I know before posting.
I will try to flash the drive first though before I give up on it if Seagate has the right firmware.
I'll be back if and when I have something conlusive and of general interest. Bye for now and thanks for pointers