As the New Year starts... backup your backups.

First blog of the year folks, and maybe it's time that you should think about the precious data stored in your external hard-disk(s). I didn't and this happened to me.

First morning of the New Year, and what a way to start the year than waking up to a non-responsive external HDD. The data stored in it does not really contain the codes to launch an all out nuclear catastrophe, but rather, they are pictures and videos dating all the way back since my first digital camera. I dunno about you guys, but to me, pictures of family and friends and one's experiences are more worth than anything.

The disk did not mount although you can see that the LEDs are lighting up. The most frightening of it all is its clicks which sounded like a person saying its last dying words. "Click... click... click", it whispered. You can only hear it when you put your ears next to the seemingly dying HDD. If one has worked with hard-disks, this usually suggests that it has already reached its time.

Surfing all over the net for answers, a glimmer of hope appeared. One guy had a similar issue, and it appeared that the problem was with the enclosure and not with the HDD at all.

Banked in the hope that I have a similar issue as well, I yanked my external HDD open, verified the hard-disk inside, and went out to buy a new enclosure.

I'm writing this piece in order to share and remind you guys to backup your backups.

I had a Maxtor One Touch III (320Gb) bought about 3 years ago.

And my hard-disk is still alive, and its undergoing diagnostics as we speak. It's starting to look like that 2011 will be a good year... hopefully.