removable storage service cannot be started - started then stopped

[elephantsyeah]

Hello,

problem with my external hard drive.....this did happen before, but having reformatted in may it all seemed ok....so, i'm at least less inclined to panic thinking i've lost my 300gb or so of data - hope i'm right!

so, basically after trying to back up onto this (i would say unstable?) external HD (conceptronic, 500gb, "grb'n'go") - at a certain point it has a 'write error' or something like that - by the way, i try to treat it wit kid gloves by only having it on for about half an hour at a time - as it seems lengthy use was the problem - the plug overheats & so does the machine.....

anyway, it basically does not appear any longer - having left it switched off to cool overnight - plugging in the usb, NO icon in system tray, no drive appearing in 'my computer' panel.
so i then started looking in 'computer management' - but got the following message when i clicked on storage:

"the service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no devices associated with it. the snapin's display may be inconsistent with the removable storage service. if the problem persists please restart the snapin."

i wasn't really sure what to do, then thought - ok let's try 'services' & sure enough the device was not active. so i tried to start it - no joy - got this message from services:

"the R S service on the local computer started and then stopped. some services stop automatically if they have no work to do, for example , the performance logs & alerts service"


(thank heavens for prtsc which enables one to save these messages)

Do you think doing system restore would solve the problem?

so, as whenever i read any forums u always seem to need this info, i'll put it on:

system: xp - 2002 - sp2 (my laptop is an acer aspire)

also, i am looking to reformat asap - as i have tons of possible buffer overflow attack messages with my comodo CIS - al relating to svchost...

any help would be much appreciated!

thanks in advance!

E.

[elephantsyeah]

further info that may help someone [who knows a heck of a lot more than me!] decipher what is the prob:

today is Nov 29th - problem seems to have occured about 9pm yesterday evening....so i'm attaching system & application event logs....sorry if it's TMI!!!

thanks again 4 any help!!!!

[Earthling]

A few thoughts -

Run chkdsk on the drive

Try it in a different USB port

Shut down, unplug it and reboot - just to check there's nothing else going on.

Then plug it in, noting the exact time, and check the Event Viewer


Tip - The logs aren't helpful as they are. You need to double click an event to find out more. When you open an event in the event viewer, there is a copy icon. You can use that to paste the event text here.

[elephantsyeah]

thanks earthling...BUT....
1. I would love to run chkdsk - but, as i stated the drive doesn't 'appear' anywhere now - (i have a thought here: would startup in safe mode be any use????)
2. yes, i have tried it in all my usb ports - nothing!
3. have tried all variety of shut-down & re-start with & without it connected - again - it's still invisible/non-existent


more info: when i open computer management now & try to click on RS it becomes non responsive (the computer management thingy)

ok, well - i'm gonna plug the thing in now & will post events in full; are u interested in seeing any of the events i already posted in full?

....hd hums....time is 17.49 local (rome, italy)....no icon in taskbar...nothing in my computer window...unplug & try diff usb port...ooh, just checked back with comp management & got this: "server execution faild. this snapin's display may be inconsistent...etc" ....just tried right click & connect on icon there...now i'll check events....darn it, it's frozen again...i'll open up a new one....nothing new in application events...nothing after 17.41 in system events....here are last 5 there anyway:
no - sorry - it's all getting frozen - i'm gonna post this now b4 my connection gets cut!

Originally Posted by Earthling

A few thoughts -

Run chkdsk on the drive

Try it in a different USB port

Shut down, unplug it and reboot - just to check there's nothing else going on.

Then plug it in, noting the exact time, and check the Event Viewer


Tip - The logs aren't helpful as they are. You need to double click an event to find out more. When you open an event in the event viewer, there is a copy icon. You can use that to paste the event text here.

[The Shadow]

Not too long ago, I was given a 500 gig external drive, because it had totally quit working.

After getting it home, I removed the WD 500 gig SATA II hard drive from the external drive enclosure and connected it directly to my Desktop PC. It worked flawlessly.
I finally determined that the original problem was that the little power supply had given up the ghost.
That 500 gig SATA II drive is the same one that I'm running my OS on this very minute.

So, when an external drive quits working, I'll suspect the external power supply first. It's pretty easy to check.

Just a thought,
The Shadow

[elephantsyeah]

thanks shadow - but the light is on on the ext HD (even if apparently nobody's home!!!) & it hums.....but i do confess that i have the feeling the power supply is an issue here in some way, but not sure how: why does the plug get so hot???
the store where i got it from when i took it to complain about the 'vanishing' hd said that it didn't seem to get esp hot with their tech staff....was it my wiring at home that was the prob? well, it's not a prob i have with any other appliance - and i have since moved.....?????

[elephantsyeah]

hiya earthiling - i thought i posted a reply to you before but don't see it - let me try again:

Run chkdsk on the drive - yep, wd love to do this, but it doesn't appear anywhere! do u have any idea if running computer in safe mode might help by the way?

Try it in a different USB port - yep, done that - tried em all!

Shut down, unplug it and reboot - just to check there's nothing else going on. i'm constantly rebooting - i did all this at 17.49 - no events of relevance....here's what happened a little while before i did this tho:

Event Type: Information
Event Source: Removable Storage Service
Event Category: None
Event ID: 98
Date: 29/11/2009
Time: 17:41:00
User: N/A
Computer: MYLAPTOP
Description:
RSM was stopped.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.


Event Type: Information
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7035
Date: 29/11/2009
Time: 17:40:29
User: NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
Computer: MYLAPTOP
Description:
The Removable Storage service was successfully sent a start control.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.



Then plug it in, noting the exact time, and check the Event Viewer

...........


so do u think system restore wd help?

many thanks to u & anyone else who wishes to help me......

E.

[Earthling]

Sorry, chkdsk was a thoughtless suggestion

There's nothing to lose with system restore as you can reverse it. My gut feeling with this sort of thing is that it's unlikely to be the disk, but the enclosures are nowhere near as reliable. Unfortunately you can't easily prove this.

[collinsl]

Do you have a friend's computer that you can test the drive on?

[elephantsyeah]

thanks collins - good idea....yes! can do that if sys restore doesn't help....will now try system restore...& let u know if i have any joy - so, thanks to earthling again too - but i don't understand your comment :

"the enclosures are nowhere near as reliable. Unfortunately you can't easily prove this."

what the heck are they?!



E.

[collinsl]

Originally Posted by elephantsyeah

thanks collins - good idea....yes! can do that if sys restore doesn't help....will now try system restore...& let u know if i have any joy - so, thanks to earthling again too - but i don't understand your comment :

"the enclosures are nowhere near as reliable. Unfortunately you can't easily prove this."

what the heck are they?!



E.

The enclosure is the plastic/metal area around the hard drive that protects it from minor damage. This includes an adapter to convert the SATA output of the drive to USB or Firewire, and to provide power to the drive.

Unfortunately, as earthling has said, these enclosures break a lot more frequently than the actual drives, and people write the whole thing off when they could probably quite easily retrieve the data and a working drive from inside the enclosure.

If you want to risk it, you could probably remove the drive from the enclosure quite easily, as the enclosures are normally held together by clips, then you could install the drive into a friend's PC for data retrieval. Either that, or you could order a new enclosure on line to put the old drive into, once you have tested the drive, of course

[elephantsyeah]

ok - so no joy with system restore - or starting in safe mode....what about those snapins? what are they, and where would i go to restart them?

[collinsl]

Originally Posted by elephantsyeah

ok - so no joy with system restore - or starting in safe mode....what about those snapins? what are they, and where would i go to restart them?

Do the snapins work if you start up the computer without plugging the drive in?

[elephantsyeah]

Originally Posted by collinsl

Do the snapins work if you start up the computer without plugging the drive in?

given that i don't know what they are, i just restared for the empteenth time & tried to start the removable storage thru the computer management screen & got the same message as ever....is that what i was supposed to do?