Delayed write / I/O errors
 

Alright, I've been trying to get data from my piece of shit WD My Book to my new Seagate drives, and it's hopeless. I kept getting delayed write errors, as well as I/O errors. The WD drive is so fucked up that I can't even format it.

I don't really care about the data anymore, and I unplugged it, and am ready to take it back to Costco for a refund (thank god for their return policy).

My question is, do attempts in transferring data from error-prone drives harm the receiving drives in any way? I don't like the fact that my new drives have already been stressed/subjected to instances where it's trying to write and receive data that is constantly dropping out/unrecoverable.

BTW, how the hell can I format this drive if I can't do it through Windows? I thought about running a magnet on it.

I don't think it could damage the new drives. Of course, the data will be totally messed up if you manage to get any from the drive but that's a seperate matter and still won't affect the drive.

If you're getting I/O errors, it may mean that the data is already screwed up. I can't think of anything routine that can help you out although maybe there are programs that can do it. However, unless there is something critical on there, you may not need to worry about it.

Remove then drive from the enclosure and hook it up through ordinary ATA. Then try again, maybe the USB controller of the enclosure is flawed, or the cable, who knows?

Looks like the failed format process had destroyed the drive permanently.

The drive reads with a capacity of 0 bytes; file system "RAW."

At least the drive controller interface seems to be intact. Have you tried what I said?

I experienced what you did long time ago, apparently, the delayed write error happen because the quality of cable connection. Back then, my external harddrive suddenly formatted because the cable was loose and well, it's like forcefully unplug the usb without safely remove hardware, it will mess up your harddrive structure for sure.

If I'm not mistaken, recovermyfiles could recover your files in raw format, so try it before formatting your harddisk.

I recommend you to replace the hdd though, it seems kinda defect.