Here's the problem. I plug my external Hard drive into someone elses computer after a year of use, and it says "disk not formatted. Would you like to format?" This is not the first time this has happened and my procedure is : use test disk to access and copy all the files onto another hard drive, do a quick format of the external (regular format won't work) and copy the files back onto the hard drive. This usually works, BUT this last time, a week after doing that, I let my computer go into hibernate with the external on, and when wake it up it's "not formatted" again. But NOW, test disk says "no file found, file system seems damaged". I know that this is all signaling that my drive is old and will die soon, but like everyone I have my life work of 12 years on there and will try everything I can. So my question is does anyone know personalized solution to this? if not, does anyone know of a truly potent hard disk recovery software?:4-dontkno: Thanks much in advanceray:. The specs of the system are below
The External is a Maxtor 163 GB Y160M0
and here is Belarc for my system
Operating System
Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (build 2600)
System Model
Dell Computer Corporation Latitude C610
System Service Tag: J0HGT11 (support for this PC)
Chassis Serial Number: J0HGT11
Enclosure Type: Portable
Processor a
1.20 gigahertz Intel Pentium III Mobile
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Main Circuit Board b
Board: Dell Computer Corporation Latitude C610
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Computer Corporation A16 05/16/2003
Drives
12.07 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
152 Megabytes Hard Drive Free Space
LG DVD-ROM DRN8080B [CD-ROM drive]
MagicISO Virtual DVD-ROM0000 [CD-ROM drive]
SCSI DVD-ROM SCSI CdRom Device [CD-ROM drive]
IBM-DARA-212000 [Hard drive] (12.07 GB) -- drive 0, s/n AH0AHKW4066, rev AR4OA54A, SMART Status: Healthy
Maxtor 6 Y160M0 USB Device [Hard drive] (163.92 GB) -- drive 1
Memory Modules c,d
512 Megabytes Installed Memory
Local Drive Volumes
c: (NTFS on drive 0) 12.07 GB 152 MB free
The External is a Maxtor 163 GB Y160M0
and here is Belarc for my system
Operating System
Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (build 2600)
System Model
Dell Computer Corporation Latitude C610
System Service Tag: J0HGT11 (support for this PC)
Chassis Serial Number: J0HGT11
Enclosure Type: Portable
Processor a
1.20 gigahertz Intel Pentium III Mobile
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Main Circuit Board b
Board: Dell Computer Corporation Latitude C610
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Computer Corporation A16 05/16/2003
Drives
12.07 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
152 Megabytes Hard Drive Free Space
LG DVD-ROM DRN8080B [CD-ROM drive]
MagicISO Virtual DVD-ROM0000 [CD-ROM drive]
SCSI DVD-ROM SCSI CdRom Device [CD-ROM drive]
IBM-DARA-212000 [Hard drive] (12.07 GB) -- drive 0, s/n AH0AHKW4066, rev AR4OA54A, SMART Status: Healthy
Maxtor 6 Y160M0 USB Device [Hard drive] (163.92 GB) -- drive 1
Memory Modules c,d
512 Megabytes Installed Memory
Local Drive Volumes
c: (NTFS on drive 0) 12.07 GB 152 MB free