External HDD problem

ssjgoku5 · 07-15-2008, 08:49 PM

I have a Cavalry 1TB Hard drive and recently it has started behaving erratically. All of sudden i was unable to browse the contents of the Hard drive and sometimes it even gave an "I/O Device error". If i just let it sit there then after sometime the drive comes back up.

Most often the drive is mounted but cannot be browsed and if i try to right click on the drive then my computer just hangs. It also labels my drive with the generic "Local Drive" name whereas i have renamed my hard drive to "HDD". I am running error check right now but i was wondering if there is a better tool to rid my drive of errors and just run a general diagnostic on it.

P.S: Once the error check is complete i shall Defrag it.

Thanks for the help in advance.

EDIT: I would also like to know a way to secure my data in case my drive fails or becomes corrupt (I WILL NOT BE A HAPPY PERSON IF THIS HAPPENS

)

**manic** · 07-15-2008, 08:57 PM

Could be a internal problem with the drive. Or it could be that the
external enclosure is failing. Take drive out of enclosure and put in
another know good enclosure, or hook it up directly to the pc.

ssjgoku5 · 07-16-2008, 08:12 AM

Well its not in an Enclosure but its a External HDD in itself. I have been doing error checking since last night (its been on the whole time) and its still only reached Phase 2 (which it had already reached last night) and i dont think its progressing. Any ideas??

**manic** · 07-16-2008, 09:16 AM

Its just a bare hdd that hooks to the pc from outside of the case.
How does it talk to the motherboard. Ide, sata, usb,firewire, wha?
Where does it get its power from?

**stressfreesoul** · 07-16-2008, 10:07 AM

The majority of external HDDs have an outer casing which can be removed. Once removed, you will find the rack style mounts that connect it to the casing and a convertor PCB plugged into the power/data sockets.
As an added note, some of the casings the drives come in do not provide adequate cooling, you may be experiencing a badly overheating drive.

ssjgoku5 · 07-16-2008, 08:05 PM

Well i could take out the hard drive and look at it but i dont want to void my warranty yet as they have the warranty seal over the screw. The Hard drive has a SATA and USB port but i only use the USB to connect to my Macbook Pro (I have Windows running on boot camp on my MAC). The power is supplied from an AC adapter.

Just in case this is my hard drive,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822101082

**stressfreesoul** · 07-17-2008, 02:26 AM

You do know, if it is malfunctioning and its still under warranty, you can take it back to where you bought it for replacement?

ssjgoku5 · 07-17-2008, 08:52 AM

Yes but i am trying to do my best so that i dont have to send it. If i decide to send it then i have to pay for the shipping of the darn thing and they also said that they are not responsible for my data.

EDIT: I ran the MAC Disk utility and it came up with a lot of messages such as "MFT record ***** is unreadable" (****** means the record number). The Disk utility was unable to fix it. What tools do i run in Windows to fix this? Are there any other tools with which i can run error check/fix bad sectors etc. on my HDD because last time i used the Windows error checking it just got hung at phase 2 for over 30 hrs.?

**stressfreesoul** · 07-18-2008, 02:17 AM

Get a command prompt up, and run a chkdsk from msdos. If that doesnt work, try this website.
It will provide you with Testdisk which apparently can solve these problems.

**Deleted090308** · 07-18-2008, 08:40 AM

Like Manic said - it's a connection error between the drive and the PC. Try replacing the USB cable.

~~wiseleo~~ · 07-23-2008, 01:18 PM

Remove the disk from enclosure, do not run chkdsk :)

Hopefully, it's just the enclosure that died. You may void the warranty by opening it, but the disk has its own warranty as well. Oh, and believe me, it's a lot cheaper to void enclosure warranty than to pay for recovering data from a completely fried hard drive. :)

You will RMA this disk. Plug it into a desktop and see if it gets detected properly. If you are lucky, the disk is fine and only the enclosure died. If not, follow my tips to get your data off it and RMA it. And remember that heat is enemy of data. You need the drive to work long enough for you to grab data off it. At least point a fan at it. 1TB can take a while to clone. Both disks should be on SATA bus. Cloning over USB will take an eternity. Firewire 400 will be reasonably quick.

In reality, you probably don't need to clone the entire 1TB. :) If you only have 200GB of data, first 300GB should be good enough. It's a risk, but a reasonable one. DDrescue can be interrupted and resumed at will, assuming that the command line remains the same.

ssjgoku5 · 07-24-2008, 01:45 PM

Here is a screenshot of what i am getting. I am able to access the drive on my MAC but it always gives this error on my Windows XP Pro laptop. I have taken the drive out of its enclosure and its a WD10EACS drive. Do tell me what steps should i take from here. I dont think its a USB cable problem as Windows recognizes the drive and even the MAC can show me the drive capacity and sometimes i can even browse it. Thanks..

P.S: I have only 73 Gigs free of my 1 TB drive so yea its a lotta data..

~~wiseleo~~ · 07-24-2008, 02:26 PM

ssj - clone the disk and go from there. Don't attempt data recovery procedures on a failing disk as any mistake would then be irreversible.

Since you can occasionally browse the drive, you have a file system corruption and probably some bad sectors. My procedure works for drives with bad sectors. Usually, after cloning, no other actions are necessary for a case like yours.

ssjgoku5 · 07-24-2008, 02:46 PM

Yes but is there a way for me to take of some amount of data at a time. This is becuase i dont have a 1 TB hard drive at my disposal but i do have 2 500Gig HDD's

~~wiseleo~~ · 07-24-2008, 04:19 PM

There is. DDrescue has advanced options that allow you to do that. However, one miscalculation will mean that you'll need to restart the process. That's risky and I hate any unnecessary risk in matters like this. :)

You'll still need a replacement 1TB drive onto which to put the data. Like it or not, you need to buy two more 1TB drives.

A data recovery company would charge you much more for this.

ssjgoku5 · 07-25-2008, 12:34 PM

Ok so i got on the line with WD and they are going to send me a 1 TB hard drive and i have 30 days to send them my faulty one. I guess i am going to start with wiseleo's guide on data recovery. Is there a more GUI oriented program that i can use to recover data of my hard drive??

~~wiseleo~~ · 07-25-2008, 04:42 PM

You don't need a GUI for this.

It's fully automated. Once you have the image, you can use GUI programs to work with it.

ssjgoku5 · 07-25-2008, 05:41 PM

Ok will do. Once the other WD drive comes in I will let you know what happened. Thanks for the help!

EDIT: Since i will be using 2 external drives is there anything different that i should know before starting this process??

07-15-2008, 08:49 PM	#1 (permalink)
ssjgoku5 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Arizona Posts: 30 OS: XP Professional SP 3	External HDD problem I have a Cavalry 1TB Hard drive and recently it has started behaving erratically. All of sudden i was unable to browse the contents of the Hard drive and sometimes it even gave an "I/O Device error". If i just let it sit there then after sometime the drive comes back up. Most often the drive is mounted but cannot be browsed and if i try to right click on the drive then my computer just hangs. It also labels my drive with the generic "Local Drive" name whereas i have renamed my hard drive to "HDD". I am running error check right now but i was wondering if there is a better tool to rid my drive of errors and just run a general diagnostic on it. P.S: Once the error check is complete i shall Defrag it. Thanks for the help in advance. EDIT: I would also like to know a way to secure my data in case my drive fails or becomes corrupt (I WILL NOT BE A HAPPY PERSON IF THIS HAPPENS ) Last edited by Deleted090308 : 07-15-2008 at 10:33 PM.

07-15-2008, 08:57 PM	#2 (permalink)
manic Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 3,263 OS: xp	Re: External HDD problem Could be a internal problem with the drive. Or it could be that the external enclosure is failing. Take drive out of enclosure and put in another know good enclosure, or hook it up directly to the pc. __________________

07-16-2008, 08:12 AM	#3 (permalink)
ssjgoku5 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Arizona Posts: 30 OS: XP Professional SP 3	Re: External HDD problem Well its not in an Enclosure but its a External HDD in itself. I have been doing error checking since last night (its been on the whole time) and its still only reached Phase 2 (which it had already reached last night) and i dont think its progressing. Any ideas??

07-16-2008, 09:16 AM	#4 (permalink)
manic Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 3,263 OS: xp	Re: External HDD problem Its just a bare hdd that hooks to the pc from outside of the case. How does it talk to the motherboard. Ide, sata, usb,firewire, wha? Where does it get its power from? __________________

07-16-2008, 10:07 AM	#5 (permalink)
stressfreesoul Inspector Gadget... Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Yorkshire/County Durham Posts: 1,265 OS: XP My System Blog Entries: 7	Re: External HDD problem The majority of external HDDs have an outer casing which can be removed. Once removed, you will find the rack style mounts that connect it to the casing and a convertor PCB plugged into the power/data sockets. As an added note, some of the casings the drives come in do not provide adequate cooling, you may be experiencing a badly overheating drive. __________________ Finish the project. We'll buy you a new family.

07-16-2008, 08:05 PM	#6 (permalink)
ssjgoku5 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Arizona Posts: 30 OS: XP Professional SP 3	Re: External HDD problem Well i could take out the hard drive and look at it but i dont want to void my warranty yet as they have the warranty seal over the screw. The Hard drive has a SATA and USB port but i only use the USB to connect to my Macbook Pro (I have Windows running on boot camp on my MAC). The power is supplied from an AC adapter. Just in case this is my hard drive, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822101082

07-17-2008, 02:26 AM	#7 (permalink)
stressfreesoul Inspector Gadget... Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Yorkshire/County Durham Posts: 1,265 OS: XP My System Blog Entries: 7	Re: External HDD problem You do know, if it is malfunctioning and its still under warranty, you can take it back to where you bought it for replacement? __________________ Finish the project. We'll buy you a new family.

07-17-2008, 08:52 AM	#8 (permalink)
ssjgoku5 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Arizona Posts: 30 OS: XP Professional SP 3	Re: External HDD problem Yes but i am trying to do my best so that i dont have to send it. If i decide to send it then i have to pay for the shipping of the darn thing and they also said that they are not responsible for my data. EDIT: I ran the MAC Disk utility and it came up with a lot of messages such as "MFT record *** is unreadable" (**** means the record number). The Disk utility was unable to fix it. What tools do i run in Windows to fix this? Are there any other tools with which i can run error check/fix bad sectors etc. on my HDD because last time i used the Windows error checking it just got hung at phase 2 for over 30 hrs.? Last edited by ssjgoku5 : 07-17-2008 at 08:57 AM.

07-18-2008, 02:17 AM	#9 (permalink)
stressfreesoul Inspector Gadget... Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Yorkshire/County Durham Posts: 1,265 OS: XP My System Blog Entries: 7	Re: External HDD problem Get a command prompt up, and run a chkdsk from msdos. If that doesnt work, try this website. It will provide you with Testdisk which apparently can solve these problems. __________________ Finish the project. We'll buy you a new family. Last edited by stressfreesoul : 07-18-2008 at 02:22 AM.

07-18-2008, 08:40 AM	#10 (permalink)
Deleted090308 Not... Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 22,281 OS: Xp	Re: External HDD problem Like Manic said - it's a connection error between the drive and the PC. Try replacing the USB cable.

07-23-2008, 01:18 PM	#11 (permalink)
~~wiseleo~~ Troubled Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: San Francisco Bay Area Posts: 461 OS: Win 2003 SP2 My System	Re: External HDD problem Remove the disk from enclosure, do not run chkdsk :) Hopefully, it's just the enclosure that died. You may void the warranty by opening it, but the disk has its own warranty as well. Oh, and believe me, it's a lot cheaper to void enclosure warranty than to pay for recovering data from a completely fried hard drive. :) You will RMA this disk. Plug it into a desktop and see if it gets detected properly. If you are lucky, the disk is fine and only the enclosure died. If not, follow my tips to get your data off it and RMA it. And remember that heat is enemy of data. You need the drive to work long enough for you to grab data off it. At least point a fan at it. 1TB can take a while to clone. Both disks should be on SATA bus. Cloning over USB will take an eternity. Firewire 400 will be reasonably quick. In reality, you probably don't need to clone the entire 1TB. :) If you only have 200GB of data, first 300GB should be good enough. It's a risk, but a reasonable one. DDrescue can be interrupted and resumed at will, assuming that the command line remains the same.

07-24-2008, 02:26 PM	#13 (permalink)
~~wiseleo~~ Troubled Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: San Francisco Bay Area Posts: 461 OS: Win 2003 SP2 My System	Re: External HDD problem ssj - clone the disk and go from there. Don't attempt data recovery procedures on a failing disk as any mistake would then be irreversible. Since you can occasionally browse the drive, you have a file system corruption and probably some bad sectors. My procedure works for drives with bad sectors. Usually, after cloning, no other actions are necessary for a case like yours.

07-24-2008, 02:46 PM	#14 (permalink)
ssjgoku5 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Arizona Posts: 30 OS: XP Professional SP 3	Re: External HDD problem Yes but is there a way for me to take of some amount of data at a time. This is becuase i dont have a 1 TB hard drive at my disposal but i do have 2 500Gig HDD's

07-24-2008, 04:19 PM	#15 (permalink)
~~wiseleo~~ Troubled Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: San Francisco Bay Area Posts: 461 OS: Win 2003 SP2 My System	Re: External HDD problem There is. DDrescue has advanced options that allow you to do that. However, one miscalculation will mean that you'll need to restart the process. That's risky and I hate any unnecessary risk in matters like this. :) You'll still need a replacement 1TB drive onto which to put the data. Like it or not, you need to buy two more 1TB drives. A data recovery company would charge you much more for this.

07-25-2008, 12:34 PM	#16 (permalink)
ssjgoku5 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Arizona Posts: 30 OS: XP Professional SP 3	Re: External HDD problem Ok so i got on the line with WD and they are going to send me a 1 TB hard drive and i have 30 days to send them my faulty one. I guess i am going to start with wiseleo's guide on data recovery. Is there a more GUI oriented program that i can use to recover data of my hard drive??

07-25-2008, 04:42 PM	#17 (permalink)
~~wiseleo~~ Troubled Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: San Francisco Bay Area Posts: 461 OS: Win 2003 SP2 My System	Re: External HDD problem You don't need a GUI for this. It's fully automated. Once you have the image, you can use GUI programs to work with it.

07-25-2008, 05:41 PM	#18 (permalink)
ssjgoku5 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Arizona Posts: 30 OS: XP Professional SP 3	Re: External HDD problem Ok will do. Once the other WD drive comes in I will let you know what happened. Thanks for the help! EDIT: Since i will be using 2 external drives is there anything different that i should know before starting this process?? Last edited by ssjgoku5 : 07-25-2008 at 05:49 PM.