[Droowy]

Hi there,

I have an external hard drive which is less than a week old, but will no longer show up on my computer when connected. The light on the drive still comes on but it doesn't show on my pc despite having tried various different power supplies and different usb ports on two computers. I think the drive may still be working and the problem is with the power supply in the enclosure, but I would like to return it under warranty as I'm not sure I trust this brand of drive now.

Is it possible to delete whatever I copied to it before returning? Some of the files contain passwords and other sensitive data so I'd prefer wiping it if possible but I'm not sure how.

Thanks for any help.

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What type of external HD? Is it just an enclosure capable of using any HD you wish to insert in to it or is it a self contained unit where you don't have the option of swapping different ide or sata hard drives?

[D-Berd]

What type of external HD? Is it just an enclosure capable of using any HD you wish to insert in to it or is it a self contained unit where you don't have the option of swapping different ide or sata hard drives?

[Droowy]

It's a self contained unit with a couple of screws at one end so could probably be opened. Tampering with it would probably void the warranty though so I was hoping I could erase the contents somehow without doing that. I don't know what happens to malfunctioning hard drives when returned but I'd feel safer if the contents were deleted beforehand.

[dsenette]

if the drive isn't being detected by the computer, the only other options are: to try a connection on a different computer (and possibly a different opperating system), or open the thing up and try to connect the drive outside of the enclosure (which as you said, would probably void the warranty)...you could degausse the drive (though you'd need either a really strong magnet or a professional degausser)...that would probably void the warranty as well though.

it's not terribly likely that anyone at the company you're returning the thing to for RMA would actually go about digging on the drive for things. unless you're someone who they know has state secrets on the drive (and are corrupt to begin with). it takes a fair ammount of effort for someone at the company to connect to the thing and actively dig through the information on the drive, and even then, the information there has to be of some value to them. if it's just normal documents and photos and the like then you don't really need to be concerned.

[Droowy]

Ah well, I've tried a different computer and operating system plus various power supplies so I'll either return it or scrap it. I'm no spy just wary of how my information could be used if someone was of a mind to use it. Probably nothing will come of it but maybe I'll give it a good shake for luck if I decide to return it.

[123Runner]

Is it seen in computer management?
If so you can try a reformat. But keep in mind that if someone really wants the info (and I doubt it) you can still recover after a reformat (albeit it is more difficult).