External HDD Acting Up...

J

Jemilo

New Member
Hey there folks...new member here...

I am writing because i have an external 500Gig Western Digital HDD that I have been using for months now...it has not been exposed to extreme temperatures, banged around or overused in any way. I plugged it in today and it showed up under "My Computer" as Local Disk(F: ).

Then a message came up stating "You need to format the disk in drive F: before you can use it." Next it asks if i want to format now, and i can choose Format, or Cancel. I am not sure if this is some sort of driver issue, something more serious with the computer, or if this is something with this drive.

I am afraid that i won't be able to get what is on that drive back, and I have two other external drives that i am now scared to plug in because i don't want the same thing to happen.

Please help me out if you can...thank you in advance...
 

My Computer

System One

Jemilo said:
Hey there folks...new member here...

I am writing because i have an external 500Gig Western Digital HDD that I have been using for months now...it has not been exposed to extreme temperatures, banged around or overused in any way. I plugged it in today and it showed up under "My Computer" as Local Disk(F: ).
Click to expand...

Hi jemilo, Welcome to the forum

Right click on this drive F:\ click on properties, click on the tools tab, click on check now, make sure that there is a tick in both boxes and click on start,

I hope this helps

Pooch
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self build
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    Phenom II x4 Black Edition 940-Arctic-Cooling Freezer Xtreme
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    Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe
    Memory
    8 gig Samsung PC800 RAM
    Graphics card(s)
    NVidia 9600gt
    Sound Card
    AD1988b
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" TFT-MONITOR WIDESCREEN mit VGA/DVI 17" Video7 TFT
    Screen Resolution
    1680 : 1050 1280 : 1024
    Hard Drives
    Drive #1 - SAMSUNG HD252HJ (250 GB) Drive #2 - Hitachi HDT721010SLA360 (1000 GB) Drive #3 - SAMSUNG HD250HJ (250 GB) Drive #4 - SAMSUNG HD103UJ (1000 GB) External eSATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake Toughpower Cable Management 750W
    Case
    Enermax Chakra
    Cooling
    2x 120mm Front and Back 1x 250mm Side
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    Easy Line Laser Mouse
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    16000
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    I have also used Fedora, Suse, Ubuntu Linux And all other Windows from 95 to date except ME
Alright Pooch...tried what you said and after long pauses after right clicking, and then after selecting properties i went to tools, and clicked Check Now...i got a message telling me, "The disk check could not be performed because Windows could not access the disk."
 

My Computer

System One

Jemilo said:
Alright Pooch...tried what you said and after long pauses after right clicking, and then after selecting properties i went to tools, and clicked Check Now...i got a message telling me, "The disk check could not be performed because Windows could not access the disk."
Click to expand...
This does not sound good, you could try using a Linux live CD It might be possible that you can still save your data to another disk.
Download Ubuntu | Ubuntu
A live CD will make no changes to your PC
Otherwise you might end up having to format the drive to see if it can be saved.

Pooch

Anyone else's Ideas would be welcome
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self build
    CPU
    Phenom II x4 Black Edition 940-Arctic-Cooling Freezer Xtreme
    Motherboard
    Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe
    Memory
    8 gig Samsung PC800 RAM
    Graphics card(s)
    NVidia 9600gt
    Sound Card
    AD1988b
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" TFT-MONITOR WIDESCREEN mit VGA/DVI 17" Video7 TFT
    Screen Resolution
    1680 : 1050 1280 : 1024
    Hard Drives
    Drive #1 - SAMSUNG HD252HJ (250 GB) Drive #2 - Hitachi HDT721010SLA360 (1000 GB) Drive #3 - SAMSUNG HD250HJ (250 GB) Drive #4 - SAMSUNG HD103UJ (1000 GB) External eSATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake Toughpower Cable Management 750W
    Case
    Enermax Chakra
    Cooling
    2x 120mm Front and Back 1x 250mm Side
    Mouse
    Easy Line Laser Mouse
    Keyboard
    Standard
    Internet Speed
    16000
    Other Info
    I have also used Fedora, Suse, Ubuntu Linux And all other Windows from 95 to date except ME
I went to that Ubuntu site and am downloading the software right now...i don't mind having to format, i just don't want to lose my data...and will try whatever i have to in order to save it...

i have a CD i can burn to...but I have no idea what to do after that...any help would be greatly appreciated...
 

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System One

best idea..use the External HD on another computer..move the files..then FORMAT TH EEXTERNAL DRIVE ONLY and move the files to back on it
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway ML6437-est. laptop
    CPU
    Intel (R) Pentium(R) Dual CPU T230 @ 1.86GHZ /1.87 GHz
    Motherboard
    factory installed/user customized
    Memory
    3 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    onboard
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    onboard
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    320gb wd caviar
    PSU
    factory
    Case
    factory chassis
    Cooling
    factory
    Mouse
    touchpad factory
    Keyboard
    factory
    Internet Speed
    AT&T DSL
    Other Info
    currently certified as the fastest computer in the city of 38761
jem...are u uisng vista or xp or ubuntu???
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway ML6437-est. laptop
    CPU
    Intel (R) Pentium(R) Dual CPU T230 @ 1.86GHZ /1.87 GHz
    Motherboard
    factory installed/user customized
    Memory
    3 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    onboard
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    onboard
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    320gb wd caviar
    PSU
    factory
    Case
    factory chassis
    Cooling
    factory
    Mouse
    touchpad factory
    Keyboard
    factory
    Internet Speed
    AT&T DSL
    Other Info
    currently certified as the fastest computer in the city of 38761
Hi Jemilo,

Have you considered trying another drive enclosure? It is possible that the interface circuitry in the case has failed or is in the process of failing. I had a similar problem with mine a while back, and replacing the enclosure fixed the problem. In fact, I'm still using the disk now.
 

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System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dwarf Dwf/11/2012 r09/2013
    CPU
    Intel Core-i5-3570K 4-core @ 3.4GHz (Ivy Bridge) (OC 4.2GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M
    Memory
    4 x 4GB DDR3-1600 Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B (16GB)
    Graphics card(s)
    MSI GeForce GTX770 Gaming OC 2GB
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition on board solution (ALC 898)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VA1912w Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    OCZ Agility 3 120GB SATA III x2 (RAID 0) Samsung HD501LJ 500GB SATA II x2 Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 1TB SATA II Iomega 1.5TB Ext USB 2.0 WD 2.0TB Ext USB 3.0
    PSU
    XFX Pro Series 850W Semi-Modular
    Case
    Gigabyte IF233
    Cooling
    1 x 120mm Front Inlet 1 x 120mm Rear Exhaust
    Mouse
    Microsoft Comfort Mouse 3000 for Business (USB)
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 3000 (USB)
    Internet Speed
    NetGear DG834Gv3 ADSL Modem/Router (Ethernet) ~4.0 Mb/s (O2)
    Other Info
    Optical Drive: HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH10LS30 SATA Bluray Lexmark S305 Printer/Scanner/Copier (USB) WEI Score: 8.1/8.1/8.5/8.5/8.25 Asus Eee PC 1011PX Netbook (Windows 7 x86 Starter)
i have flash drives and HD that does it a lot..i just download the drivers or overhaul the drive...problem solve..but i reinstall windows and vista all the time so i can practice and i dont mind the wait lol
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway ML6437-est. laptop
    CPU
    Intel (R) Pentium(R) Dual CPU T230 @ 1.86GHZ /1.87 GHz
    Motherboard
    factory installed/user customized
    Memory
    3 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    onboard
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    onboard
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    320gb wd caviar
    PSU
    factory
    Case
    factory chassis
    Cooling
    factory
    Mouse
    touchpad factory
    Keyboard
    factory
    Internet Speed
    AT&T DSL
    Other Info
    currently certified as the fastest computer in the city of 38761
Thank you for all the great ideas...i plan on trying the HD on another system to see if it works...

To answer a question, I am using Vista Home Premium 32-bit...

After looking around on the forums i have already thought about getting another enclosure too if it still doesn't work on another system...i have put internal HDD into enclosures but i am not sure about the best way to get my WD out of it's current enclosure...

I will definitely try a few things out though and post back with what has/has not worked...
 

My Computer

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Jemilo said:
I went to that Ubuntu site and am downloading the software right now...i don't mind having to format, i just don't want to lose my data...and will try whatever i have to in order to save it...

i have a CD i can burn to...but I have no idea what to do after that...any help would be greatly appreciated...
Click to expand...
When you have downloaded Ubuntu you will have an .iso file, this is a cd image. Burn it to disc insert and restart the PC select boot from CD/DVD when asked. When Ubuntu has finished loading you will see a desktop. You can now plug in you external and see what happens. If you can see your files plug in another external or find somewhere where you can save the files. Do not save to the ubuntu desktop and switch off or you will loose all your files. You can temporarily save to desktop before saving them elsewhere.

Pooch
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self build
    CPU
    Phenom II x4 Black Edition 940-Arctic-Cooling Freezer Xtreme
    Motherboard
    Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe
    Memory
    8 gig Samsung PC800 RAM
    Graphics card(s)
    NVidia 9600gt
    Sound Card
    AD1988b
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" TFT-MONITOR WIDESCREEN mit VGA/DVI 17" Video7 TFT
    Screen Resolution
    1680 : 1050 1280 : 1024
    Hard Drives
    Drive #1 - SAMSUNG HD252HJ (250 GB) Drive #2 - Hitachi HDT721010SLA360 (1000 GB) Drive #3 - SAMSUNG HD250HJ (250 GB) Drive #4 - SAMSUNG HD103UJ (1000 GB) External eSATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake Toughpower Cable Management 750W
    Case
    Enermax Chakra
    Cooling
    2x 120mm Front and Back 1x 250mm Side
    Mouse
    Easy Line Laser Mouse
    Keyboard
    Standard
    Internet Speed
    16000
    Other Info
    I have also used Fedora, Suse, Ubuntu Linux And all other Windows from 95 to date except ME
try the attached app to retrive files
 

Attachments

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    gateway/m6881
    CPU
    centrino core 2 duo 2.2ghz T7500
    Memory
    3GB
    Hard Drives
    500GB WD
    Mouse
    logitech
    Internet Speed
    fios 35MB not!!!!
i have the black essential drive . i used a flat head screw driver and twistd it in and slid the cover off..i should make a video of it...i wonder if anyones watchn lol
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway ML6437-est. laptop
    CPU
    Intel (R) Pentium(R) Dual CPU T230 @ 1.86GHZ /1.87 GHz
    Motherboard
    factory installed/user customized
    Memory
    3 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    onboard
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    onboard
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    320gb wd caviar
    PSU
    factory
    Case
    factory chassis
    Cooling
    factory
    Mouse
    touchpad factory
    Keyboard
    factory
    Internet Speed
    AT&T DSL
    Other Info
    currently certified as the fastest computer in the city of 38761
Alright...so far I have tried checking the drive with a bootable Linux CD...i was unable to access the data on the drive but i was able to see how much is used and how much is free.

Then my room-mate plugged it into his Linux system and it would not open but he received a warning telling him that "Big Book" (the name i gave the drive) had hardware errors, or errors on the disk and that he had to run chkdsk. I tried doing this but it can't access the drive.

I am going to try to plug into a friends Vista System tomorrow and if that doesn't work then a new enclosure it is...just wanted to let folks know if the are watching...
 

My Computer

System One

So now i tried running that restoration and it could not read any files on the disk. I went to the Western Digital website and downloaded Data Life Guard...that program was able to run a scan disk.

The only problem is that it is going to take 9 hours to complete and my drive was getting very hot...i am thinking i am going to put it in front of the air conditioner when i go to bed tonight and just let it run. When i canceled it, it was about 20 percent finished and it asked if i wanted to repair bad sectors...i clicked repair and it said that "data in the bad sectors will be lost, it is suggested that you back up the drive first"...

I am going back to the WD site to see if their back up software can help me out...but other than that any ideas on how to back up the data? Any help will be greatly appreciated...
 
Last edited:

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