ZipidyDooBlahs!!

Hi All,
First I would like to thank everyone who has attempted to help me with this one but nothing seems to be working. My problem is with an Iomega Zip100 external drive. It went flop-bottom on me about 3 months ago.
The PC is a Dell XPS R350MHz and is 5 years old.
The Computer won't recognize the drive and the drive itself won't release the amber light or the disk. The drive has been replaced three times with the same result. Then someone suggested the cable. So I found a friend with an extra cable and nada, nothing zippo. The same condition. The drive glows with both the green and the amber lights. I try inserting a disk and it stays in till I stick a safety pin in the wee hole in the back of the drive.
Should I just give up the ghost and buy another drive?
Thanks
Clem

 

It's a well known problem with iomega drives, called "the click of death". A couple of years ago it happened to me: when disk was inserted both lights went on, the drive kept clicking, and I couldn't eject the disk. I finally had to get a new drive.

Have you tried various disks or just one?
You can get more information and iomega testing utility here:
http://grc.com/default.htm

 

Hey guys,
Thanx for the help on the Iomega problem. I'm thinking of biting the bullit and buying the Iomega Zip 750 drive. I've read some rather good things about it. Do you guys have any opinions on this? Do you think it's the way to go? If not then what should I do. I'm tired of trying to dope out the glitch in the Iomega 100 Zip drive.
Clemmo

 

I don't use Zip drive anymore. You can burn you sofware on CD's, or use a flash drive (usb drive or whatever they are called) which you stick into usb port. Up to 128 MB they come quite cheap.
If you want to copy large amounts of data you can buy a 40-GB external usb HDD.