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Hard Drive

nizamgph_6d657715d9nizamgph_6d657715d9 Posts: 0
edited December 1969 in The Commons

I have a WD 500GB external Hard Drive which I have been using since roughly 1.5 yrs. I never had any problem until recently, I started seeing a message saying "you need to format this drive before you can use it". I couldn't access the data inside it. What can I do now? Should I format the hard drive? What happen to my data if I format this? I have some important data on 3D animation in the Hard Drive.

Comments

  • Rayman29Rayman29 Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    A format would essentially erase all your data. Try using a new USB cable and a different USB port. If you get it to work, backup the important stuff with out delay.

  • Daz Jack TomalinDaz Jack Tomalin Posts: 13,367
    edited December 1969

    Yea, it doesn't sound like it's too healthy to be honest - and may already be dead..

  • robkelkrobkelk Posts: 3,259
    edited April 2014

    Agreed - it's time to replace the drive. Find a computer store - not a counter at the back of a big-box electronics store - and see what they can do in the way of recovering your data.

    I'd suggest getting two drives, and using one for a backup of the other. (Microsoft has free software for Windows that makes this easier - you just have to remember to plug in the drives and run the program every week.)

    Post edited by robkelk on
  • StratDragonStratDragon Posts: 3,167
    edited December 1969

    did you change anything with this drive recently? did you connect it to a different computer? Is it on a different computer? Did you change the power supply with another on purpose, or by accident? While it is most probably a damaged drive these things can also cause temporary issues that might be resolvable in the interim.

  • ruekakaruekaka Posts: 346
    edited December 1969

    Sometimes if hard drives get older they need more power to work properly. You wrote that it is a 500GB disk, so you probably does not use a power supply. If this is the case try to use one (if possible). Or try to use an Y-cable (if not already done).
    I nothing else helps try to take the disk out and use a hard disk adapter.

  • Takeo.KenseiTakeo.Kensei Posts: 1,303
    edited April 2014

    Don't format the drive.

    I suspect you had a problem either with the MBR or the MFT or it's mirror. If you go to Start Menu-> Control Panel->Administrative tools->Computer Management->Storage-> HDD and browse for your Hard Disk I think you will see that your Hard Drive's format is now set to RAW which explains why Windows ask to format the drive

    The easiest way is to use a Paid Partition Recovery Tool to recover your Datas if you want to

    There is a good free tool that can help you recover datas but it is a bit complicated and you may do something bad to your HDD. Name is TestDisk / Photorec found at http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

    There are good step by step documentations you could follow espescially http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step in your case (read about raw partitions)

    You could also try with some free tools like Recuva http://www.piriform.com/recuva/download or http://www.icare-recovery.com/ which could be easier to use but these tools are usually limited so I don't know if it will work. If One of these can give you the possibility to recover your files, just be carefull to save the recovered files on an other HDD so that you could try again if the recovery only gets corrupted files back

    If you want to know or monitor your drive's health I advise using Acronis Drive monitor which is a free tool and could eventually tell you in advance if one of your drive is prone to die soon

    Post edited by Takeo.Kensei on
  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited December 1969

    One other thing you can do to attempt to recover the data from the drive is to boot up into Linux. I know several computer stores with a copy of DSL (Damn Small Linux) on a USB flash drive just for this purpose. My other half and I have done this on numerous occasions for a drive that was "unreadable."

  • Alpha ChannelAlpha Channel Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    I second DAZ_Spooky on this, a Linux Distro would be a good, free avenue to pursue. I use a mix of distro's like gparted (dedicated to various aspects of hard drive health) and Mint on DVD (and you can stick any distro on a memory stick, I've had Ubuntu and Mint running from a 8GB Corsair drive), I've also used UBCD which, when compiled, is damned useful for all sorts.

  • Rayman29Rayman29 Posts: 0
    edited April 2014

    If all the above yield no result, you could try removing the drive from the external case. And connect it to a spare SATA port and power rail connection.

    Post edited by Rayman29 on
  • Lissa_xyzLissa_xyz Posts: 6,116
    edited April 2014

    DAZ_Spooky said:
    One other thing you can do to attempt to recover the data from the drive is to boot up into Linux. I know several computer stores with a copy of DSL (Damn Small Linux) on a USB flash drive just for this purpose. My other half and I have done this on numerous occasions for a drive that was "unreadable."

    I can't recommend this enough for recovering data on drives that Windows stops playing nicely with. Linux doesn't follow the same rules as Windows, so data that Windows won't let you touch, Linux 9 times out of 10 will let you in easily.

    However, if you already have empty usb flash drives laying around, you don't need to buy a pre-done linux stick. Linux is a free OS (with plenty of versions/variations of it- Damn Small Linux just happens to be tiny enough to fit on a stick). Burning a live cd is also an option (providing you have your disk drive set as a primary boot drive in your bios).

    Post edited by Lissa_xyz on
  • GreycatGreycat Posts: 334
    edited December 1969

    I know what you’re talking about I have the exact same drive. I could never get it to reliably work. I found out that most people who had that same drive had the same problems. I didn’t have a lot on it, but I fiddled with it plugging it in and unplugging it, and going the control panel route, until I finally lucked out and it started to work. I unloaded it and chuck it in corner and never touched since.

  • robkelkrobkelk Posts: 3,259
    edited December 1969

    So, where does one get all this software that's been mentioned? How easy is it for a non-technical person to use?

    (Me, I've been in IT for decades. I know how to find my way around a command prompt. I don't assume that everyone else has the same skills.)

  • DAZ_SpookyDAZ_Spooky Posts: 3,100
    edited December 1969

    robkelk said:
    So, where does one get all this software that's been mentioned? How easy is it for a non-technical person to use?

    (Me, I've been in IT for decades. I know how to find my way around a command prompt. I don't assume that everyone else has the same skills.)


    http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/download.html

    You can use one of the desktop windows environments. No command prompt required, though if you want to use the command prompt you can.

  • Kendall SearsKendall Sears Posts: 2,995
    edited December 1969

    I agree with the Linux route. Use a "Live Disk" distro like SystemRescueCD (www.sysresccd.org) to boot your computer and then use the tools found there to recover your data.

    You will need a 2nd drive with at least as much storage as your original. DO NOT WRITE DATA BACK TO THE BAD DRIVE.

    Kendall

  • WahilWahil Posts: 307
    edited December 1969

    What brand of external hard drive is considered the most reliable?

  • CybersoxCybersox Posts: 9,053
    edited December 1969

    Denny L said:
    What brand of external hard drive is considered the most reliable?

    It depends on the model, type and application. As brands, Hitachi and Western Digital usually rank the best overall and Toshiba's the worst, but there's a huge difference between individual drives and the price you pay for them. To further confuse the issue, many of the companies selling externals don't even make their own drives... I broke open a LaCIe that failed a few months after purchase to find that it was actually a Hitachi, for example, while Seagate bought Samsung's disc drive business a while back. And then many drives now come prepacked with their own software that frequently causes more problems than the drives themselves, while the USB 3.0 interface seems to cause issues with a lot of computers, especially Macs. In fact, if it's a 3.0 drive, you definitely want to check it on another computer with a different cable as recommended above before doing anything drastic, as I've had a couple of false alarms where a drive looked to be failing on one computer and then ran perfectly on another computer to this day.
  • RogerbeeRogerbee Posts: 4,460
    edited December 1969

    I have an Iomega 500gb that I've been using for ages without any issues and I also have a 2tb Seagate that has never given me any problems. The main hard drive I've bought for my new PC is a WD and yours is the first issue I've heard of with this manufacturer. I'm hoping that I don't have any issues now!

    CHEERS!

  • Rayman29Rayman29 Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    My guess would be the last gen SSD. Amazon offers a 120 gig drive for £60 uk. Extenal 2.5" USB case another £10.

  • TaozTaoz Posts: 9,940
    edited December 1969

    Takeo.Kensei said:
    There is a good free tool that can help you recover datas but it is a bit complicated and you may do something bad to your HDD. Name is TestDisk / Photorec found at http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

    I'd give TestDisk a try too, has saved me a couple of times.

    HDD Sentinel is indispensable IMO: http://www.hdsentinel.com/

    I can also recommend Zentimo for handling USB devices: http://zentimo.com/

  • KaribouKaribou Posts: 1,325
    edited December 1969

    Takeo.Kensei said:
    I suspect you had a problem either with the MBR or the MFT or it's mirror.
    I second this. The Linux idea is also one I endorse. Me and hard drive failures go waaaaaaaay back. In many cases, the MBR or MFT glitches, but the data is still there and can be accessed at home with some of the great advice you've just heard. And.... sometimes not so much. If you're hearing the "click of death," it probably means the controller is shot and your data is only available for recovery via a (pricey) commercial service. I lost a 500GB drive about 5 years ago when my autistic son plugged my laptop's power cord into my removable HD. There was actual smoke. :( I sent it in to see what recovery would cost... It was torture. They were able to retrieve the data from the platters and showed me the files. All my data was there. But it was only mine if I coughed up $1600. Needless to say, I'm holding onto the disk in case I ever win the lottery.

    What brand of external hard drive is considered the most reliable?


    I've had the best luck with WD, but honestly... it's a bit of a crapshoot. In my experience, hard drives either last forever or they die within the first six months of use. Alas, one never knows WHICH it will be until you discover it's the latter. Since the Great Hard Drive Crash, I now back up in triplicate -- to a local pair of RAID drives and an offsite cloud location. My house can burn down and I'll still have my data. It's cheaper than data recovery...
  • Takeo.KenseiTakeo.Kensei Posts: 1,303
    edited December 1969

    KaribousBoutique said:
    And.... sometimes not so much. If you're hearing the "click of death," it probably means the controller is shot and your data is only available for recovery via a (pricey) commercial service. I lost a 500GB drive about 5 years ago when my autistic son plugged my laptop's power cord into my removable HD. There was actual smoke. :( I sent it in to see what recovery would cost... It was torture. They were able to retrieve the data from the platters and showed me the files. All my data was there. But it was only mine if I coughed up $1600. Needless to say, I'm holding onto the disk in case I ever win the lottery. "

    They won't be telling you this but actually in most case you could repair your disk for less than 100$
    You just have to replace the PCB (the HDD motherboard) which you could buy in online stores that sell replacement PCB for this purpose.
    You just have to buy the exact same reference. With actual HDD I've seen, it's pretty easy as you just have a few screws. For a +5 year disk you may need to be carefull when extracting the PCB and watch how it was fixed
    If you value your data it's worth a try

    Look here : http://www.hdd-parts.com/ or http://www.onepcbsolution.com/index.html or try to buy a functional HDD of the exact same model somewhere on Ebay

    @DennyL : What Cybersox said. SSD based drive should be the most reliable but they also are the most expensive. There is a balance between reliability, price and capacity in my view. I personnaly would buy an External Drive Enclosure like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817392032 and put the drive I want in. Take Hitashi as it seems they seem to be the most reliable actually

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