Clickity Clackity Hard Drive

[ArkiStan]

So the external USB hard drive (http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Elements-Portable-WDBAAR6400ABK-NESN/dp/B002RL8JBM/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1283185253&sr=8-7) I bought only a month ago started acting up today. It was clicking and intermittently losing and regaining its USB connection every 5 seconds or so. I was hoping it's a problem with the USB cable/connection, but then again if that was the case it probably wouldn't have "clicked." I unplugged it and a couple hours later it seems fine again, but I've already went out and bought a new back-up hard drive as a replacement, cause I can't afford to risk losing any data.

I just missed the Amazon 30-day return period, so I'm gonna warranty the hell out it. But out of curiosty is there any test I can do (CHKDSK?) to diagnose the condition of the drive? I'm using Windows 7. Native software or freeware is all welcome.

Thanks!

[Devhux]

May want to download and run Western Digital's Data Lifeguard (http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=110&sid=3&lang=en) utility to check the status of the drive.

Not all external hard drives allow you to see their S.M.A.R.T. status, so that utility is probably your best bet to diagnose the drive.

[cruelpupet]

clicking is NOT a good sign. Backup any data on that drive.

[ArkiStan]

Hmm. downloaded WD's Data Lifeguard app and ran both the quick and extended tests and both passed without any errors. Not sure what to make of this. Even if it was a fluke occurance and not a serious problem, just knowing that it made a weird noise once is enough not to not be able to trust it with important data. This sucks.