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External HDD Corrupted?

S

SidewinderX

2[H]4U
Joined
Mar 30, 2004
Messages
2,645
Hey guys,

I've got a 500GB Seagate external USB HDD that I've used for backup. Earlier this week I started having problems with it, and I'm not sure what to do next. When it's attached to my computer it shows (kinda) as an attached HDD (G:\). However when I click it I get an error message "G:\ is not accessible - The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable"

I used Seagate's SeaTools application to test the drive for errors -- I ran the "Short Drive Self Test" and both the short and long generic sequential read tests, and it passed all three.

Are there any repair tools that I should be looking into?
 
Sounds like filesystem corruption. Is it FAT32 or NTFS? Try running a check on the filesystem. Right click on drive > Properties > System Tools > Check Now. I think, not looking at Windows right now.
 
dustNbone said:
Sounds like filesystem corruption. Is it FAT32 or NTFS? Try running a check on the filesystem. Right click on drive > Properties > System Tools > Check Now. I think, not looking at Windows right now.
Click to expand...

NTFS. I tried that but I get an error that says "The disk check could not be performed because Windows can't access the disk."
 
Does this drive have anything you need to get to, or can you just reformat it? If you need to try and rescue what is on it, I would try GetDataBack.
 
mwroobel said:
Does this drive have anything you need to get to, or can you just reformat it? If you need to try and rescue what is on it, I would try GetDataBack.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've got some historical files that I actually want to keep... I mean the HDD appears physically fine... is there a way to try and restore the boot record or something, just remind the drive what it is?
 
First thing I would do, is pull the drive from it's enclosure and connect it straight to a SATA port. What you describe sounds like interface problems, try taking the USB<->SATA bridge out of the chain, hopefully that's the problem. BEFORE you try any recovery utilities.
 
Ok, one last bit of info -- If I pull up the "Disk Management" screen in windows, it finds the drive, but most of the partition (465.76 GB) is listed as RAW. 118.50GB is listed as "Unallocated".

It appears that it forgot that it was formatted... is there an easy way to undo that, or do I need to try and recover the data and reformat?
 
If you haven't already, and you really value what's on it more than any warranty it may have, remove it from the enclosure and hook it straight to a SATA port. Something dodgy in there could be harming your data the whole time you screw with it.
 
dustNbone said:
If you haven't already, and you really value what's on it more than any warranty it may have, remove it from the enclosure and hook it straight to a SATA port. Something dodgy in there could be harming your data the whole time you screw with it.
Click to expand...

Hmm, ok, I may do that.. I just want to make sure I can put it back together after I take it apart!

I ran GetDataBack (the trial version), and it appears to have found all my files... I guess the file table or whatever was corrupted. Is GetDataBack basically the end-all-be-all in terms of data recovery? Are there any free/cheaper options that do basically the same thing, or am I just better off spending the money and buying GDB?
 
Depends what's wrong. If you're having interface issues then even though GetDataBack sees your files, it could very well not succeed in getting them. Matter of fact, if it's interface, just running GetDataBack or similar utilities can actually do some damage.
 
Is GetDataBack basically the end-all-be-all in terms of data recovery? Are there any free/cheaper options that do basically the same thing, or am I just better off spending the money and buying GDB?
Click to expand...
GDB is my favorite and I feel it's worth the money.

Your drive must be connected directly to the MB for the best results.

Hopefully by now everything is fixed. :D
 
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