External Hard drive wont let me in

riggermm · 07-07-2008, 02:49 PM

I have a 120G Firelight hooked in the usb that now says it needs to be formatted. I have many files in there I need to get at. Is there any suggestions on what I can do. Please help. Same result if I plug into another computer.

claycad · 07-07-2008, 03:45 PM

you could try this http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/hard-drive-support/194492-have-you-lost-hard-drive-partition-files-your-computer.html

Or right click and go to properties > tools > and run the error checking tool and check the boxes for automatically fix file system errors and attempt to fix bad sectors (although this might not work if it says your drive isn't formatted)

hopefully one of those will work, or someone can suggest something better. Good luck.

riggermm · 07-08-2008, 10:19 PM

Thanks for the help, I am working the issue and will let you know what happens. Thanks again.

~~wiseleo~~ · 07-08-2008, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by riggermm

Thanks for the help, I am working the issue and will let you know what happens. Thanks again.

Please, don't follow the advice to run CHKDSK (error checking tool). Running it on defective media is about the most destructive thing you can do short of defrag.

Testdisk is good advice (hit P to see if your files are intact)

Windows CHKDSK is bad advice. That may lead to data loss if it's allowed to run on a defective media or a defective controller.

If you wish to do this recovery yourself, you need to image the drive. Testdisk 6.9 has that capability built-in in advanced mode. There are graphical tools as well. I am certain there is plenty of information in this forum on how to do it. DriveimageXML is one potential tool.

riggermm · 07-09-2008, 08:49 PM

Thank you, I have not run CHKDSK, so I am ok.

Thank you very much for the heads up, I am gonna tackle this again here in a few.

07-07-2008, 02:49 PM	#1 (permalink)
riggermm Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 3 OS: windows me	External Hard drive wont let me in I have a 120G Firelight hooked in the usb that now says it needs to be formatted. I have many files in there I need to get at. Is there any suggestions on what I can do. Please help. Same result if I plug into another computer. Last edited by riggermm : 07-07-2008 at 02:50 PM.

07-07-2008, 03:45 PM	#2 (permalink)
claycad Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: WV Posts: 52 OS: Vista Home Premium	Re: External Hard drive wont let me in you could try this http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/hard-drive-support/194492-have-you-lost-hard-drive-partition-files-your-computer.html Or right click and go to properties > tools > and run the error checking tool and check the boxes for automatically fix file system errors and attempt to fix bad sectors (although this might not work if it says your drive isn't formatted) hopefully one of those will work, or someone can suggest something better. Good luck.

07-08-2008, 10:19 PM	#3 (permalink)
riggermm Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 3 OS: windows me	Re: External Hard drive wont let me in Thanks for the help, I am working the issue and will let you know what happens. Thanks again.

07-09-2008, 08:49 PM	#5 (permalink)
riggermm Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 3 OS: windows me	Re: External Hard drive wont let me in Thank you, I have not run CHKDSK, so I am ok. Thank you very much for the heads up, I am gonna tackle this again here in a few.