Disk checking a big external USB hard drive

[vhawk]

i'm using windows xp home.

ihave a WD 1 terrabyte external usb hard drive.

i 'think' it needs checking.

i do the usual tools check now thingy and tick both boxes and agree to having it done on the next reboot.
i reboot and it does bot get checked.
is there a command to make it be checked then and there?
if so what do i type in the box?

windows calls it F:

best
pete

 

[raybay]

Look closely at all the utilities on the Western Digital website... They can be helpful in testing and diagnoses.

Is the WD 1 TB a Green, Blue, or Black... The Green is known as having reliability problems and the Blue is not far behind.

 

[vhawk]

thank you it's black. it gave me a fright the other day because it suddenly said it needed formatting, but i used the old standyby of switching off the main pc and unplugging the WD and when i restarted and reconnected it to the hub it was and is right as rain. i just 'thought' in my my ignorant way that a disk check might be in order.
i'll now try to find the western digital site, but i'm such a dope i probably won't understand a word. tpo me computers are magic. i don't understand them at_all

 

[vhawk]

it's a western digital elements.

i can't see any utilities on the web site

 

[EBelcourt]

Are you just looking at running a standard Windows disk checker across it?

 

[vhawk]

yes i am unless you recommend something else.

when i tried nothing happened when i rebooted the pc but maybe it means restarting the WD?
like i say, i'm a dolt about these things

 

[EBelcourt]

Where did you go to start the disk checker, did you go into my computer, right click your WD drive and select properties? Or did you go to it via control panel?

Unless you're willing to pay money for something that only does a teeny tiny bit more then no, the Windows Disk Checker would be my personal choice =]

 

[mailpup]

For WD Data Lifeguard utility try here: http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=304&sid=3&lang=en

 

[vhawk]

no i'm skint (broke). given it doesn't do anything when i reboot the pc , is there a disk check command i can run to do it there and then?
what would i type, or copy and paste into run?
the drive is F:

 

[EBelcourt]

Mailpup has just posted a link to a Western Digital Disk Checking utility that I had forgotten about. Follow the instructions on the web page after following the link and you should be running a disk check in no time =]

 

[vhawk]

i went the same way i would if i checked C: i don't know about the control panel method.
see? thick as pigsh1t me

 

[vhawk]

i don't know how to find what mail pup wrote, it didn't get sent to me

 

[mailpup]

Click on the blue highlighted link and it will take you to a section of Western Digital's website. Find the download button for the Data Lifeguard utility and click on it. When it finishes downloading you will have a compressed zip file. Unzip it and then you can run the utility.

Before running the utility first take a look at the Release Notes just above the Download button for instructions.

 

[vhawk]

i can't see a blue highlighted link on, or near what you kindly wrote, maybe it's my brain damage
it's not the thing that says system specs is it? i 'hate' have this brain malfunction. i'm assuming it's there but i just cannot see it

 

[mailpup]

This is the link I am referring to: http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=304&sid=3&lang=en

 

[vhawk]

gosh that is so kind and patient of you, i'm sorry to be such a dolt.
only trouble is a chap at WD thinks is probably US and says back it all up to cd's, probably very wise idea.
do any of these onnline backup services actually work?

 

[mailpup]

I don't use any online backup services myself but I suppose they work. What is the nature of the data that you have on the external drive? What kind of storage capacity do you have on the main internal hard drive of your PC? The reason I ask is often people use an external hard drive to back up data on the internal hard drive but evidently you are using yours in a different manner.

 

[vhawk]

i downloaded the checking file but can't unzip it.

it seems to want to open it with win rar which i can't afford
i have 7 zip but get told it's not a proper win32application.

my c: drive is 80 gig but full.

 

[mailpup]

It is a zip file. Windows XP and subsequent Windows versions have a built-in zip utility. I use it all the time.

Right click on the file and tell me what are your menu choices.

 

[vhawk]

it says 'invalid menu handle'

 

[mailpup]

Then you have other problems as well. Do you have access to another PC or laptop so you can unzip the file?

 

[vhawk]

i have a laptop with xp on it too.

as soon as i got this pc it could unzip zip files. i think i sill have the xp install disk, might that help?

 

[mailpup]

Not for now. We might want to reinstall Windows later but for now if we can unzip the WD utility and run it, we can see the results and go from there.

Maybe you can try to uninstall 7 zip for the time being since it doesn't seem to be working anyway. Maybe there's some conflict with it.

 

[vhawk]

thanks, ouch! i don't fancy re-formatting my c drive i just thought i might be able to get the xp unzipper off the xp disc, i suppose it's that or be forced to buy winzip or winrar.

 

[mailpup]

i just thought i might be able to get the xp unzipper off the xp disc

I doubt you can do just that. A repair reinstall could be tried but let's not make that decision now. BTW, there are a number of free archive utilities you can download and install. They work fine for most common run-of-the-mill archive needs. Just make sure you download the correct version for your operating system.