extrenal hardive is unreadable

dark avatar6 · 11-10-2007, 12:18 PM

hi i in real ******* crappy spot

.
i was using partition magic 8 when it promted that my external hardrive was bad.

witch alarmed me. So i transfered inportant files from the external to my internal hard drive then Partition magic 8 promted that it could repair error .

after that the eternal hardrive is know unreadable and windows will not
format it back (keeps saying windows was unable to fomat the drive)
so i am so pissed off stuck with a $100 hunk metal becouse i listened
to dum *** partition magic.

pls can some help me i am despritly stuck

.

**Deleted090308** · 11-10-2007, 12:36 PM

Hi, welcome to TSF.

What make/model is the drive?
Download and run diagnostic tools from the drive manufacturer.
Have you tried mounting the drive as a slave inside the computer (if possible)?

dark avatar6 · 11-10-2007, 01:11 PM

thx help eneles

my hardrive is acomdata hybrid drive 80 gig
only connects by usb
i think partition magic 8 changed or deleted sectors (partition table).
when it was ""Fixing the error"".

**Deleted090308** · 11-10-2007, 01:22 PM

See if TestDisk can fix it:

Download the Windows version of TestDisk.
Unzip the downloaded file to your C: drive.
Open C:\testdisk-6.8\win > double click the "testdisk_win" icon.

Each of the steps (A, B, C etc) below corresponds to a new TestDisk window.
Use the keyboard's arrow keys to navigate.

A. At the first window, select “No Log” and press the <Enter> key.
B. Select which drive to analyse, choose “Proceed” and <Enter>.
C. Select partition type – Intel if it’s a PC then <Enter>.
D. Select “Analyse” then <Enter>. The drive/partition will be analysed.
E. Select “Proceed” at the next screen, then <Enter>.
F. Press “Y” if the partitions were created under Vista – “N” if not.
G. TestDisk should say “Structure OK”. Choose the partition to fix. Then press <Enter>.
H. Select “Write” and press <Enter>.
I. Press “Y”.
J. Press <Enter>.

Close TestDisk and reboot the computer.

mannoman · 11-11-2007, 02:37 PM

Nicholas, what if the Structure is NOT ok?

**Deleted090308** · 11-11-2007, 08:31 PM

If the structure is not OK (= BAD), that means there's more than 1 bootable partition, partitions using the same space or a primary partition between extended ones.

Make sure you chose the correct file system at step C.

ceri sheeran · 11-12-2007, 04:34 AM

Hi,

I recovered some 25GB of data from a WD SATA hard drive which Partition Magic 7 and 8 both advised was BAD.

I used a program "Get My Data back" easily found and downloaded.

Never found the real cause of the problem. I believe the WD SATA drive lost its partition structure tables etc. causing an apparent complete data loss.

The hard drive in question was in use as my SATA boot drive but I could not change the partition sizes which lead to finding the error.

The only error was that PM 7 and PM 8 both advised the drive was BAD.

This was on the part of the PM screen where the drive partition layout is shown.

I just had a display that the drive was BAD not FAT32 or NTFS.where

More unusually I was able to boot normally from the drive I just could not change the partition sizes using PM 7 or PM 8

I've not used the hard drive since I recovered all the data off and probably will never use it again.

WD were never able to give an answer on this one. Nor were Symantec or any Forum

ALL they recommended was wiping the drive.

Data recovery worked. I also now have better and more extensive backups. Fortunately I lost no data.

hth

Ceri

mannoman · 11-12-2007, 07:45 AM

I received a "Structure OK" response but I also got "No Partition found." The Drive was also listed as "Empty" (0 bytes). So I figured I was hosed. As a last resort I hooked the external drive to my old (PIII, 1.1 USB) Thinkpad laptop. Lo and behold it assigned a drive letter and all my files are there. The drive is in perfect working order.

Am I to assume I have a controller card issue with my desktop? As an aside, about 3 or 4 weeks ago I was getting a "Kernel Data In Page Error msg., every day, but it went away. I guess I should have paid attention and explored, rather than rebooting. Duh!

I am not a beginner but far from expert. Any thoughts, guys?

**Deleted090308** · 11-12-2007, 08:20 AM

@mannoman: Please start your own thread. We can't assist more than one user in each thread. Things would get too confusing if we did that.

11-10-2007, 12:18 PM	#1 (permalink)
dark avatar6 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2 OS: winxp pro 2p2,vista	extrenal hardive is unreadable hi i in real ***** crappy spot . i was using partition magic 8 when it promted that my external hardrive was bad. witch alarmed me. So i transfered inportant files from the external to my internal hard drive then Partition magic 8 promted that it could repair error . after that the eternal hardrive is know unreadable and windows will not format it back (keeps saying windows was unable to fomat the drive) so i am so pissed off stuck with a $100 hunk metal becouse i listened to dum * partition magic. pls can some help me i am despritly stuck. Last edited by dark avatar6; 11-10-2007 at 12:21 PM.

11-10-2007, 12:36 PM	#2 (permalink)
Deleted090308 Not... Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 22,277 OS: Xp	Re: extrenal hardive is unreadable Hi, welcome to TSF. What make/model is the drive? Download and run diagnostic tools from the drive manufacturer. Have you tried mounting the drive as a slave inside the computer (if possible)?

11-10-2007, 01:11 PM	#3 (permalink)
dark avatar6 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2 OS: winxp pro 2p2,vista	Re: extrenal hardive is unreadable thx help eneles my hardrive is acomdata hybrid drive 80 gig only connects by usb i think partition magic 8 changed or deleted sectors (partition table). when it was ""Fixing the error"".

11-10-2007, 01:22 PM	#4 (permalink)
Deleted090308 Not... Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 22,277 OS: Xp	Re: extrenal hardive is unreadable See if TestDisk can fix it: Download the Windows version of TestDisk. Unzip the downloaded file to your C: drive. Open C:\testdisk-6.8\win > double click the "testdisk_win" icon. Each of the steps (A, B, C etc) below corresponds to a new TestDisk window. Use the keyboard's arrow keys to navigate. A. At the first window, select “No Log” and press the <Enter> key. B. Select which drive to analyse, choose “Proceed” and <Enter>. C. Select partition type – Intel if it’s a PC then <Enter>. D. Select “Analyse” then <Enter>. The drive/partition will be analysed. E. Select “Proceed” at the next screen, then <Enter>. F. Press “Y” if the partitions were created under Vista – “N” if not. G. TestDisk should say “Structure OK”. Choose the partition to fix. Then press <Enter>. H. Select “Write” and press <Enter>. I. Press “Y”. J. Press <Enter>. Close TestDisk and reboot the computer.

11-11-2007, 02:37 PM	#5 (permalink)
mannoman Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Central FL Posts: 33 OS: XP/Vista - OS X 10.5.5	Re: extrenal hardive is unreadable Nicholas, what if the Structure is NOT ok?

11-11-2007, 08:31 PM	#6 (permalink)
Deleted090308 Not... Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 22,277 OS: Xp	Re: extrenal hardive is unreadable If the structure is not OK (= BAD), that means there's more than 1 bootable partition, partitions using the same space or a primary partition between extended ones. Make sure you chose the correct file system at step C.

11-12-2007, 04:34 AM	#7 (permalink)
ceri sheeran Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 285 OS: WINXP	Re: extrenal hardive is unreadable Hi, I recovered some 25GB of data from a WD SATA hard drive which Partition Magic 7 and 8 both advised was BAD. I used a program "Get My Data back" easily found and downloaded. Never found the real cause of the problem. I believe the WD SATA drive lost its partition structure tables etc. causing an apparent complete data loss. The hard drive in question was in use as my SATA boot drive but I could not change the partition sizes which lead to finding the error. The only error was that PM 7 and PM 8 both advised the drive was BAD. This was on the part of the PM screen where the drive partition layout is shown. I just had a display that the drive was BAD not FAT32 or NTFS.where More unusually I was able to boot normally from the drive I just could not change the partition sizes using PM 7 or PM 8 I've not used the hard drive since I recovered all the data off and probably will never use it again. WD were never able to give an answer on this one. Nor were Symantec or any Forum ALL they recommended was wiping the drive. Data recovery worked. I also now have better and more extensive backups. Fortunately I lost no data. hth Ceri

11-12-2007, 07:45 AM	#8 (permalink)
mannoman Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Central FL Posts: 33 OS: XP/Vista - OS X 10.5.5	Re: extrenal hardive is unreadable I received a "Structure OK" response but I also got "No Partition found." The Drive was also listed as "Empty" (0 bytes). So I figured I was hosed. As a last resort I hooked the external drive to my old (PIII, 1.1 USB) Thinkpad laptop. Lo and behold it assigned a drive letter and all my files are there. The drive is in perfect working order. Am I to assume I have a controller card issue with my desktop? As an aside, about 3 or 4 weeks ago I was getting a "Kernel Data In Page Error msg., every day, but it went away. I guess I should have paid attention and explored, rather than rebooting. Duh! I am not a beginner but far from expert. Any thoughts, guys? Last edited by mannoman; 11-12-2007 at 07:47 AM.

11-12-2007, 08:20 AM	#9 (permalink)
Deleted090308 Not... Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 22,277 OS: Xp	Re: extrenal hardive is unreadable @mannoman: Please start your own thread. We can't assist more than one user in each thread. Things would get too confusing if we did that.