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Yet another Ext. HD 'lost' and needs HELP

2K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  fzabkar 
#1 ·
WD External HD - 3 TB
My Book WD 1130
Windows XP - NTFS format originally

After one physical move of drive, it began giving this error:

Error : the hard disk structure is corrupted and unreadable

Ran Test Disk 6.12

Chose create log the first time (my mistake! gah!)
Chose intel/PC
Analyze
Quick search
Results: No partition found or selected for recovery.

Quit program.

attaching screen shots of where I'm currently at.

At this point, Windows has changed the error to:

F:\ is not accessible.
The parameter is incorrect.



I deeply appreciate any assistance.


-Tom
 

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#2 ·
Looks like that drive has failed, and it's no secret that external drives have a higher failure rate than internal ones. For confirmation of this you should test it with WD's own diagnostic software Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows from here:
WD Support / Downloads / EIDE (PATA) / WD Caviar Blue

Ignore the drive model shown on that page. The diagnostic software is compatible with all modern WD drives.

When installed test the drive using the "Extended" test option which is more thorough than the quick test.
 
#3 ·
You can also try using R-Studio or Recuva to scan the drive as well. The more you attempt DIY the less chance Pro recovery can recover the data so keep that in mind it all depends on the value of your data.
 
#4 ·
FYI, Seagate's 3TB external GoFlex drives are formatted with 4KB LBAs. Many applications appear to have trouble with this sector size. I don't know if TestDisk is one of these, though.

I believe that WD's external 3TB drives may use a similar arrangement, otherwise Windows XP wouldn't be able to natively recognise a single 3TB NTFS volume.

Could we see the partition table and boot sector with Microsoft's Sector Inspector?
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/SecInspect.zip

Extract the above archive to the one folder and execute the SIrun.bat file. The procedure will generate a report file named SIout.txt.

Otherwise could you show us a hex dump of sector 0 using a disc editor such as HxD or DMDE?

HxD - Freeware Hex Editor and Disk Editor:
HxD - Freeware Hex Editor and Disk Editor | mh-nexus

DMDE (DM Disk Editor and Data Recovery):
Download DMDE Free Edition - DMDE (DM Disk Editor and Data Recovery Software)
 
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