External Hard Drive Issues

[melrowell]

I have a 1TB My Passport external hard drive. I have had it for a few years now. I went to plug it into my computer a few weeks ago, (the same computer I had used it with before) and it came up with the error:

'you need to format the disk in drive H: before you can use it'

another error window also pops up that says

'H:\ is not accessible. Data error (cyclic redundancy check).'


I was wondering if there was any possible way for me to fix my hard drive or at the very least get my data off of it without losing it.

 

[Sceadwian]

You could pay several thousand dollars to have the data recovered from it, or attempt to use open source software to recover data from it. But CRC errors generally mean you screwed the hard rive up physically. Just because they're external doesn't mean they're inherently durable even if the drive is parked.

 

[Reloadron]

You don't mention the operating system?

If you know how to bring up a command prompt for your system you can try and run chkdsk from a command prompt.

I think in XP for example you would click Start and then Run to get the run dialog box. Type in CMD and hit the Enter key. That gets you to a command prompt window. Once there type in H:\>CHKDSK /R as you see it and there is a space between the CHKDSK and /R. That should run a check disk and repair any simple errors.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 you click Start / All Programs and open the Accessories and you should see RUN. Same thing, type CMD and hit Enter to get to a command prompt. If the HDD is really screwed it will try and repair it, however no guarantee. You have nothing to lose. There are other tools but may as well start simple.

This link describes another method. You mentioned H:\ drive correct?

Ron

 

[tunedwolf]

It could just be that the partition tables are screwed up. Get a copy of some recovery software that specifically supports your filesystem and run a analysis/ pre-scan and see what it comes up with. I'll be surprised if all the data is gone. I would also recommend that you remove the physical drive from the enclosure and connect it directly to another machine for this. Lastly, DO NOT, although decent software should prevent you from doing so, attempt to save the data back to the source (dodgy) drive, recover it to another device. Last piece of advice, the more things you attempt, the more likely you are to make some mistake or other that will inevitably lead to data loss, so be very careful about the steps you take.

 

[bountyhunter]

I have a 1TB My Passport external hard drive. I have had it for a few years now. I went to plug it into my computer a few weeks ago, (the same computer I had used it with before) and it came up with the error:

'you need to format the disk in drive H: before you can use it'

another error window also pops up that says

'H:\ is not accessible. Data error (cyclic redundancy check).'


I was wondering if there was any possible way for me to fix my hard drive or at the very least get my data off of it without losing it.

The drive may be hosed, but for about $20 you can go to Fry's and get an external drive housing with power supply and try installing it in there just in case there is a hardware problem in the drive housing. Hooks up on USB port.

 

[koolguy]

You could pay several thousand dollars to have the data recovered from it, or attempt to use open source software to recover data from it. But CRC errors generally mean you screwed the hard rive up physically. Just because they're external doesn't mean they're inherently durable even if the drive is parked.

I have listen about data recovery after formatting hard drives is this true??
How can this happen if person delete all data then where the memory in drives store that info..??

 

[MrAl]

Hello folks,

I've heard lots of bad stories about single unit external hard drives. That's the kind being talked about here i think, where you dont have a separate enclosure and separate removable hard drive, but the unit is one unit with a wire to plug into the USB port and that's it. You cant change the hard drive you have to change the whole unit.
I see lots of these made now and i've seen the price come way way down, making them look more attractive to buyers, but for as many as i've seen advertised i've read stories on how they work one day and not the next.

My advice to anyone out there is to buy an enclosure and separate hard drive. If you already have a self contained model though, plug it in only when needed to back up stuff, then shut down with 'safe to remove hardware'. then turn off and disconnect from the computer. At least that way you have a chance at a longer life.

You'll notice the guarantee isnt very long for these drives, relative to the time you would normally want to maintain a backup copy.
For best reliability probably DVD disks are the best (CD's for smaller data sets). Maybe Blue Ray, but i dont have any experience with those yet.

One sad thing about these drives is that the manufacturers have no interest whatsoever in your data, they only have interest in making money as fast as possible.

 

[squishy36]

Sorry, I can't help with recovering your data. I use one of these drives too and it has worked fine for the last couple of years. But I'm a veteran of using disk drives (used to work as an R&D engineer at HP's disk drive division) and the one fundamental rule I learned is: disk drives always fail; you just can't tell when it will be. Thus, I evolved the following strategy for my computer and it has served me well over the years to survive disk drive crashes, both in Linux and Windows. I always have one internal and one external disk drive that are both solely devoted to backing up my data. Since I'm currently using Windows, I keep my data on drive d: and do software installations on drive c:. Drive d: (data) gets backed up every night to both of the backup drives.

In the last 15-20 years, I've gone through 4 or 5 hard disk crashes or events where the computer hardware failed. This backup strategy has saved my bacon every time, so I know it works. Sure, I have to spend a bunch of time installing an OS and all the apps again, but that's just time. Whenever I download some program to install it, the installation executable goes into my /installation directory, which is on the data disk.

Apologies to OP for not helping, but I'm hoping the above information might help someone else. Many folks don't see the wisdom in having a tested backup strategy (i.e., one demonstrated to work) before a catastrophe occurs. Then they get religion quick...

 

[MrAl]

Hi squishy,

Very good advice i'd say. I have a similar strategy but that hasnt always been the case for me. Long time ago i was working on a hard disk driver asm program using my own system drive as the guinea pig of sorts. Long story short, lost many programs that i could not get back easily.

And im sure everyone here knows the three rules of protecting your data:
1. Backup
2. Backup
3. Backup.

Someone else once said that if you care about some part of your data, it is already backup up.

 

[Reloadron]

While off topic and along the lines of backup I figure it this way. A HDD beyond the electronics is a mechanical device and eventually it will fail. Enter then the rule it will fail at the worst possible time and the failed drive will always contain irreplaceable data.

I build all of our home systems and not so much as a cost saving thing but rather I get what I want and how I want it. I like and use RAID 5 arrays as actually HDDs are not all that expensive. Additionally on a weekly basis the systems back themselves up to each other as well as a home server. More or less redundant piled on redundant but at least I know where the stuff is at any given time. As to backup I guess it comes down to something about eggs and baskets.

Ron