ZIP DRIVE "CLICK-DEATH" PAGE

I must admit, I'm a Macintosh Zip Drive user but a great deal of the information remains generic.

The scenario :

You place a zip cartridge in to your trusty Zip Drive to be greeted by a repetitive click-click, click-click sound (hence the "click-death" syndrome)... the drive fails to recognize the cart, endlessly clicking away often leaving you no choice but to restart the computer or unplug the drive...

And shortly after you may well be greeted by this :

So what's the story? Well, I'm not quite sure and a lot of other people out there aren't either. The suspects are as follows :

• That a mechanical (hardware) fault exists in the Zip Drive itself
• That some zip carts are (or become) faulty and damage the drive
• That some software (possibly FindIt) worsen the situation
• Some or all of the above and or more...

I personally have lost several hundred megabytes of data in this way either when inserting the disks or having them ejected.

I have also had password protected disks fail to recognize their (correct) passwords and non-password protected carts suddenly claim to be password protected!

Some suggestions for helping your data survive

• Make sure you have the latest drivers for you machine (visit http://www.iomega.com)
• Make sure all Iomega Utilities are up to date and trash any other copies
• Turn on the "verify" function with Zip Tools
• Format all new disks using surface verify
• Keep backups of really important data
• USE A DIFFERENT MEDIA - TO PUT IT BLUNTLY : ZIP IS UNRELIABLE!

More Info

• http://www.iomega.com.au is the official Iomega homage. You can get the newest drivers here... and no help regarding Click-Death.
• The Unofficial Click-Death Page is the best source of info
• Alex Sotelo provides some great photos of deceased Zip Drive heads

For Australian Zip Drive Owners :

• Call Iomega Support on (02) 9925 7799
• Select the menu option to speak to a Support Officer (do not select the the "Technical Help" option - this is a recording).
• Be prepared for poor line quality and painfully slow service.
• They will ask for the "fault" - tell them you have this annoying "clicking noise" followed shortly after by data loss.
• After a few details (your name, serial number etc.) they should give you a Return Authorization number.
• Place the drive in a Video Cassette mailer with a bit of bubble wrap and put the whole lot in an express mail bag with the RA number stuck on the front.
• For about $9 you've got the drive on the way. With luck a new drive will arrive a few days after...

Disclaimer

Iomega, Jaz, FindIt, Zip etc. are all trademarks of Iomega and their associates...

Data presented here is for information purposes and had been compiled from numerous sources.