ScanDisk Lock-Up

Saturday afternoon I was tooling along in Windows ME doing the little things
I do everyday. I had a few programs open, was online (dial-up) and creating
stationery in OE when suddenly everything froze up solid. CtlAltDel
wouldn't work so I flipped the switch on the surge protector, waited half a
minute, then flipped it back on. I expected to have a run through ScanDisk
and when it came up it had all my drives in its list--the 20 GB C, the 8 GB
D, and an external drive I keep backups on--an 80 GB Maxtor that I acquired
new last year. ScanDisk went through the C and D drives with only a few
restarts--but when it was half-way through the G it locked up, so I had to
power off again and start over.

The subsequent ScanDisk attempt locked the computer up promptly, so I
powered off again and unplugged the G drive from its USB port. Once more I
powered up and ScanDisk behaved normally--but now I can't have G plugged in
at boot-up because ScanDisk loads to check it and before it or I can do
anything ME is locked up again. However, if I plug the external in after
boot-up, a single-pane Explorer window opens for it and I can double-click
and view what's on it; I can also access its files from my graphics
program! But if I close its initial window then try use to Windows Explorer
or My Computer to browse it the 'puter locks up solid with the G drive busy
light on.

The external drive has about 10 GB of files on it. I don't run anything
from it--not even installs--nor do I link to its files when I use them in
stationery, etc.--but I'd saved a couple of jpgs with normal names to it
that day. I've since played with the piece of stationery that seemed to be
the troublemaker, but nothing's gone wrong--and both the C and D drives are
behaving in WE and My Computer. I haven't installed any new programs since
May 8.

What can or should I do about this? I haven't tried a Restore although I
have a choice of two available from Friday, because I wasn't sure if I
should have the G drive plugged in to do that. Is there any way I can get
ScanDisk to finish its job?? Any help much appreciated!

carol

Not sure If I missed it, but have you tried running scandisk AFTER you
plugged the external drive in but BEFORE you accessed its files?

Press and hold the shift key for a few moments when you plug the USB disk
in - it suppresses the 'autorun'. Then run scandisk (on your external drive)
through System Tools. See if that improves things.

Mart


"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
Saturday afternoon I was tooling along in Windows ME doing the little
things
I do everyday. I had a few programs open, was online (dial-up) and
creating
stationery in OE when suddenly everything froze up solid. CtlAltDel
wouldn't work so I flipped the switch on the surge protector, waited half
a
minute, then flipped it back on. I expected to have a run through
ScanDisk
and when it came up it had all my drives in its list--the 20 GB C, the 8
GB
D, and an external drive I keep backups on--an 80 GB Maxtor that I
acquired
new last year. ScanDisk went through the C and D drives with only a few
restarts--but when it was half-way through the G it locked up, so I had to
power off again and start over.

The subsequent ScanDisk attempt locked the computer up promptly, so I
powered off again and unplugged the G drive from its USB port. Once more
I
powered up and ScanDisk behaved normally--but now I can't have G plugged
in
at boot-up because ScanDisk loads to check it and before it or I can do
anything ME is locked up again. However, if I plug the external in after
boot-up, a single-pane Explorer window opens for it and I can double-click
and view what's on it; I can also access its files from my graphics
program! But if I close its initial window then try use to Windows
Explorer
or My Computer to browse it the 'puter locks up solid with the G drive
busy
light on.

The external drive has about 10 GB of files on it. I don't run anything
from it--not even installs--nor do I link to its files when I use them in
stationery, etc.--but I'd saved a couple of jpgs with normal names to it
that day. I've since played with the piece of stationery that seemed to
be
the troublemaker, but nothing's gone wrong--and both the C and D drives
are
behaving in WE and My Computer. I haven't installed any new programs
since
May 8.

What can or should I do about this? I haven't tried a Restore although I
have a choice of two available from Friday, because I wasn't sure if I
should have the G drive plugged in to do that. Is there any way I can get
ScanDisk to finish its job?? Any help much appreciated!

carol

Hi Mart,

Thanks for the suggestion! I didn't think to try that but I will, for sure,
today.

carol

"Mart" wrote in message
...
Not sure If I missed it, but have you tried running scandisk AFTER you
plugged the external drive in but BEFORE you accessed its files?

Press and hold the shift key for a few moments when you plug the USB disk
in - it suppresses the 'autorun'. Then run scandisk (on your external
drive)
through System Tools. See if that improves things.

Mart


"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
Saturday afternoon I was tooling along in Windows ME doing the little
things
I do everyday. I had a few programs open, was online (dial-up) and
creating
stationery in OE when suddenly everything froze up solid. CtlAltDel
wouldn't work so I flipped the switch on the surge protector, waited
half
a
minute, then flipped it back on. I expected to have a run through
ScanDisk
and when it came up it had all my drives in its list--the 20 GB C, the 8
GB
D, and an external drive I keep backups on--an 80 GB Maxtor that I
acquired
new last year. ScanDisk went through the C and D drives with only a few
restarts--but when it was half-way through the G it locked up, so I had
to
power off again and start over.

The subsequent ScanDisk attempt locked the computer up promptly, so I
powered off again and unplugged the G drive from its USB port. Once
more
I
powered up and ScanDisk behaved normally--but now I can't have G plugged
in
at boot-up because ScanDisk loads to check it and before it or I can do
anything ME is locked up again. However, if I plug the external in
after
boot-up, a single-pane Explorer window opens for it and I can
double-click
and view what's on it; I can also access its files from my graphics
program! But if I close its initial window then try use to Windows
Explorer
or My Computer to browse it the 'puter locks up solid with the G drive
busy
light on.

The external drive has about 10 GB of files on it. I don't run anything
from it--not even installs--nor do I link to its files when I use them
in
stationery, etc.--but I'd saved a couple of jpgs with normal names to it
that day. I've since played with the piece of stationery that seemed to
be
the troublemaker, but nothing's gone wrong--and both the C and D drives
are
behaving in WE and My Computer. I haven't installed any new programs
since
May 8.

What can or should I do about this? I haven't tried a Restore although
I
have a choice of two available from Friday, because I wasn't sure if I
should have the G drive plugged in to do that. Is there any way I can
get
ScanDisk to finish its job?? Any help much appreciated!

carol

Carol, I'm a bit concerned that you *MAY* have a failing drive which *might
not* like being written-to. Before you do try a scandisk, it might be
prudent to attempt to back-up (copy) any of your more important data first -
I realize that 10GB's worth is an awful lot - or at least as much as you
can, just in case g

Hopefully, the disk is OK and running a thorough scandisk will fix any
errors.

Good luck and I await the 'good news' bg

Mart


"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
Hi Mart,

Thanks for the suggestion! I didn't think to try that but I will, for
sure,
today.

carol

"Mart" wrote in message
...
Not sure If I missed it, but have you tried running scandisk AFTER you
plugged the external drive in but BEFORE you accessed its files?

Press and hold the shift key for a few moments when you plug the USB
disk
in - it suppresses the 'autorun'. Then run scandisk (on your external
drive)
through System Tools. See if that improves things.

Mart


"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
Saturday afternoon I was tooling along in Windows ME doing the little
things
I do everyday. I had a few programs open, was online (dial-up) and
creating
stationery in OE when suddenly everything froze up solid. CtlAltDel
wouldn't work so I flipped the switch on the surge protector, waited
half
a
minute, then flipped it back on. I expected to have a run through
ScanDisk
and when it came up it had all my drives in its list--the 20 GB C, the
8
GB
D, and an external drive I keep backups on--an 80 GB Maxtor that I
acquired
new last year. ScanDisk went through the C and D drives with only a
few
restarts--but when it was half-way through the G it locked up, so I
had
to
power off again and start over.

The subsequent ScanDisk attempt locked the computer up promptly, so I
powered off again and unplugged the G drive from its USB port. Once
more
I
powered up and ScanDisk behaved normally--but now I can't have G
plugged
in
at boot-up because ScanDisk loads to check it and before it or I can
do
anything ME is locked up again. However, if I plug the external in
after
boot-up, a single-pane Explorer window opens for it and I can
double-click
and view what's on it; I can also access its files from my graphics
program! But if I close its initial window then try use to Windows
Explorer
or My Computer to browse it the 'puter locks up solid with the G drive
busy
light on.

The external drive has about 10 GB of files on it. I don't run
anything
from it--not even installs--nor do I link to its files when I use them
in
stationery, etc.--but I'd saved a couple of jpgs with normal names to
it
that day. I've since played with the piece of stationery that seemed
to
be
the troublemaker, but nothing's gone wrong--and both the C and D
drives
are
behaving in WE and My Computer. I haven't installed any new programs
since
May 8.

What can or should I do about this? I haven't tried a Restore
although
I
have a choice of two available from Friday, because I wasn't sure if I
should have the G drive plugged in to do that. Is there any way I can
get
ScanDisk to finish its job?? Any help much appreciated!

carol

Hi Mart,

Sorry for the long delay. When I read your word "failing" I immediately
turned a whiter shade of pale and decided to call Maxtor pronto since the
external drive was less than a year old. After describing my problems to
the tech he said it was possible that the drive had gone bad but more likely
that the file system was messed up. He, also, suggested I copy whatever I
wanted and could get off from it to some other place (got about 4 GBs of it
on my C drive now), and then when I was finished--but before July 17th when
the warranty expires--to call back so someone could walk me through
reformatting it.

The only window I could access the drive from was the single pane one that
came up when I plugged the thing in after booting and I soon found that just
highlighting and copying folders to C wasn't going to work in every case.
Some folders I had to go through subfolder by subfolder and copy a
window-full of files at a time--because every now and then there'd be one
that was "in use and couldn't be copied" that would stop the folder-copy
process. Alas none of those files was in use!--they were evidently
corrupted, and I soon noticed all of them were dated between the
beginning of May and the beginning of June this year. This actually made
the copying a bit easier: I sorted the files by date and saved trying to
copy the latest until I had all the rest taken care of--but the painfully
slow process took me the whole of a day!

I then had to wait for good weather before I could call Maxtor again
(because it's t-storm season here) and today was just about perfect--so it's
freshly reformatted but not yet ScanDisked (Windows has suggested I
perform a thorough version of that operation before using the drive--which I
expect will take hours). I also need to be putting files on it soon to see
if any problems remain.

Thanks again for responding to a damsel in distress--the idea of a good hard
drive gone bad had not entered my mind!

carol


"Mart" wrote in message
...
Carol, I'm a bit concerned that you *MAY* have a failing drive which
*might
not* like being written-to. Before you do try a scandisk, it might be
prudent to attempt to back-up (copy) any of your more important data
first -
I realize that 10GB's worth is an awful lot - or at least as much as you
can, just in case g

Hopefully, the disk is OK and running a thorough scandisk will fix any
errors.

Good luck and I await the 'good news' bg

Mart


"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
Hi Mart,

Thanks for the suggestion! I didn't think to try that but I will, for
sure,
today.

carol

"Mart" wrote in message
...
Not sure If I missed it, but have you tried running scandisk AFTER you
plugged the external drive in but BEFORE you accessed its files?

Press and hold the shift key for a few moments when you plug the USB
disk
in - it suppresses the 'autorun'. Then run scandisk (on your external
drive)
through System Tools. See if that improves things.

Mart


"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
Saturday afternoon I was tooling along in Windows ME doing the
little
things
I do everyday. I had a few programs open, was online (dial-up) and
creating
stationery in OE when suddenly everything froze up solid. CtlAltDel
wouldn't work so I flipped the switch on the surge protector, waited
half
a
minute, then flipped it back on. I expected to have a run through
ScanDisk
and when it came up it had all my drives in its list--the 20 GB C,
the
8
GB
D, and an external drive I keep backups on--an 80 GB Maxtor that I
acquired
new last year. ScanDisk went through the C and D drives with only a
few
restarts--but when it was half-way through the G it locked up, so I
had
to
power off again and start over.

The subsequent ScanDisk attempt locked the computer up promptly, so
I
powered off again and unplugged the G drive from its USB port. Once
more
I
powered up and ScanDisk behaved normally--but now I can't have G
plugged
in
at boot-up because ScanDisk loads to check it and before it or I can
do
anything ME is locked up again. However, if I plug the external in
after
boot-up, a single-pane Explorer window opens for it and I can
double-click
and view what's on it; I can also access its files from my graphics
program! But if I close its initial window then try use to Windows
Explorer
or My Computer to browse it the 'puter locks up solid with the G
drive
busy
light on.

The external drive has about 10 GB of files on it. I don't run
anything
from it--not even installs--nor do I link to its files when I use
them
in
stationery, etc.--but I'd saved a couple of jpgs with normal names
to
it
that day. I've since played with the piece of stationery that
seemed
to
be
the troublemaker, but nothing's gone wrong--and both the C and D
drives
are
behaving in WE and My Computer. I haven't installed any new
programs
since
May 8.

What can or should I do about this? I haven't tried a Restore
although
I
have a choice of two available from Friday, because I wasn't sure if
I
should have the G drive plugged in to do that. Is there any way I
can
get
ScanDisk to finish its job?? Any help much appreciated!

carol

Hi Carol, thanks for keeping us posted.

... the idea of a good hard drive gone bad had not entered my mind!

Oh, they can Carol - and they do g

But good luck with the rest of the exercise and whatever the result, at
least you are still (just) within the warranty period. My own experience
with Maxtor's returns service has been good.

Please let us know the final results.

Mart


"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
Hi Mart,

Sorry for the long delay. When I read your word "failing" I immediately
turned a whiter shade of pale and decided to call Maxtor pronto since the
external drive was less than a year old. After describing my problems to
the tech he said it was possible that the drive had gone bad but more
likely
that the file system was messed up. He, also, suggested I copy whatever I
wanted and could get off from it to some other place (got about 4 GBs of
it
on my C drive now), and then when I was finished--but before July 17th
when
the warranty expires--to call back so someone could walk me through
reformatting it.

The only window I could access the drive from was the single pane one that
came up when I plugged the thing in after booting and I soon found that
just
highlighting and copying folders to C wasn't going to work in every case.
Some folders I had to go through subfolder by subfolder and copy a
window-full of files at a time--because every now and then there'd be one
that was "in use and couldn't be copied" that would stop the folder-copy
process. Alas none of those files was in use!--they were evidently
corrupted, and I soon noticed all of them were dated between the
beginning of May and the beginning of June this year. This actually made
the copying a bit easier: I sorted the files by date and saved trying to
copy the latest until I had all the rest taken care of--but the painfully
slow process took me the whole of a day!

I then had to wait for good weather before I could call Maxtor again
(because it's t-storm season here) and today was just about perfect--so
it's
freshly reformatted but not yet ScanDisked (Windows has suggested I
perform a thorough version of that operation before using the drive--which
I
expect will take hours). I also need to be putting files on it soon to
see
if any problems remain.

Thanks again for responding to a damsel in distress--the idea of a good
hard
drive gone bad had not entered my mind!

carol


"Mart" wrote in message
...
Carol, I'm a bit concerned that you *MAY* have a failing drive which
*might
not* like being written-to. Before you do try a scandisk, it might be
prudent to attempt to back-up (copy) any of your more important data
first -
I realize that 10GB's worth is an awful lot - or at least as much as you
can, just in case g

Hopefully, the disk is OK and running a thorough scandisk will fix any
errors.

Good luck and I await the 'good news' bg

Mart


"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
Hi Mart,

Thanks for the suggestion! I didn't think to try that but I will, for
sure,
today.

carol

"Mart" wrote in message
...
Not sure If I missed it, but have you tried running scandisk AFTER
you
plugged the external drive in but BEFORE you accessed its files?

Press and hold the shift key for a few moments when you plug the USB
disk
in - it suppresses the 'autorun'. Then run scandisk (on your
external
drive)
through System Tools. See if that improves things.

Mart


"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
Saturday afternoon I was tooling along in Windows ME doing the
little
things
I do everyday. I had a few programs open, was online (dial-up)
and
creating
stationery in OE when suddenly everything froze up solid.
CtlAltDel
wouldn't work so I flipped the switch on the surge protector,
waited
half
a
minute, then flipped it back on. I expected to have a run through
ScanDisk
and when it came up it had all my drives in its list--the 20 GB C,
the
8
GB
D, and an external drive I keep backups on--an 80 GB Maxtor that I
acquired
new last year. ScanDisk went through the C and D drives with only
a
few
restarts--but when it was half-way through the G it locked up, so
I
had
to
power off again and start over.

The subsequent ScanDisk attempt locked the computer up promptly,
so
I
powered off again and unplugged the G drive from its USB port.
Once
more
I
powered up and ScanDisk behaved normally--but now I can't have G
plugged
in
at boot-up because ScanDisk loads to check it and before it or I
can
do
anything ME is locked up again. However, if I plug the external
in
after
boot-up, a single-pane Explorer window opens for it and I can
double-click
and view what's on it; I can also access its files from my
graphics
program! But if I close its initial window then try use to
Windows
Explorer
or My Computer to browse it the 'puter locks up solid with the G
drive
busy
light on.

The external drive has about 10 GB of files on it. I don't run
anything
from it--not even installs--nor do I link to its files when I use
them
in
stationery, etc.--but I'd saved a couple of jpgs with normal names
to
it
that day. I've since played with the piece of stationery that
seemed
to
be
the troublemaker, but nothing's gone wrong--and both the C and D
drives
are
behaving in WE and My Computer. I haven't installed any new
programs
since
May 8.

What can or should I do about this? I haven't tried a Restore
although
I
have a choice of two available from Friday, because I wasn't sure
if
I
should have the G drive plugged in to do that. Is there any way I
can
get
ScanDisk to finish its job?? Any help much appreciated!

carol