Damaged external hard drive, data recovery

Démarrer => execute

Same problem! Did you manage to find a solution?

Hello Rozy,

I just noticed your comment in this discussion thread :)

Very often chkdsk does a good job. However, it's not uncommon for chkdsk to fail to check a RAW volume. There are different scenarios, and sometimes this command cannot be executed, and you might see a message like the one you mentioned.

I suggest you boot your computer using a Linux Live CD to try to access the contents of the hard drive and recover what you can. Otherwise, reformatting the hard drive is necessary to resolve the situation (via Disk Management > right-click on the hard drive space > Format). Keep in mind that this last action will wipe the information you have on the hard drive to put a new format on it and make it usable again.

While browsing the forum, I came across a discussion thread where the information shared would interest you (regarding data recovery in such cases). A look here: https://forums.commentcamarche.net/forum/affich-2257138-partition-ntfs-transformee-en-raw would give you some good leads.

Let me know how you are doing :)
@+

Pejac, have you resolved your issue? :(

no, still not

Hello, I followed the steps but it's stuck on the 30th file out of 737... What should I do? Thank you.

Hello, I have the same problem, but what is chkdsk? Please.

Hello Beliie,

CHKDSK is a Windows tool that provides information about the integrity of a hard drive and can repair certain logical errors.

To run it: click on Start > Command Prompt > chkdsk #: /F/R (where # should be replaced by the drive letter)

@Beliie, I would like to warn you that CHKDSK repair (/F) may cause damage to data stored on bad sectors because it tries to recover them, and if it fails, it eliminates them. It's not mandatory, but I prefer to let you know.

If you decide to create your own thread detailing the situation you are encountering, please post the link here :) I'd like to take a look to better understand the situation you are facing.

A+

So when I do this, it asks me to initialize a disk, I choose 1 since there’s only that one, and then it gives me an error message: 'Unable to complete the request due to an I/O device error'.

Hello Antoine de Caumartin, I followed all your steps to get my PC to recognize my hard drive that has crashed and I am now at disk management, so if I give you the information that is there, can you help me?

Regarding the volume, there is nothing marked, the layout is simple, the type is basic, the file system has nothing marked and the status is healthy (OEM Partition).

Thank you in advance
Hélène

Hello, I have pretty much the same problem, my laptop crashed. So I took out the internal hard drive and put it in a casing that now serves as an external hard drive.
The computer to which I connected it via USB recognizes the hard drive, says that it’s quite full, but as soon as I open it, it shows "Empty folder." So how can I recover all my data, considering that I have all my photographs and in quotes, my whole life on it?
Thank you in advance for your reply.

Cindy, have you solved your problem? :(

restart everything what?

and then he started making a little TUT.... TUT.... TUT.... TUT..... O_o !!!

And?

Well, restart everything, I don't see how to do that. I didn't understand, do you mean that I disconnect the drive, close the window and then reopen it?

Basically, yes. You click on the little icon at the bottom right of your computer, and you confirm to safely remove the device. Then you reconnect everything to a USB port that you have never assigned to this hard drive, and you see the result.

Hello, a while ago I had a problem with a MAXTOR hard drive that was no longer recognized, no noise, nothing at all. I had a friend with the same one, and we had the idea to temporarily swap the electronic boards of the hard drives, which allowed me to recover all my data... if that can help someone...

Hello Tom,
Have you resolved your issue? I have the same one, and I'm being asked for €1000 to recover the data!!!

Dom

There are slow but free software that can recover data from a hard drive. Try doing a search on Google.

Hello everyone, I have a similar problem: an external hard drive that lights up but is not "recognized" by the computer. It knows that I've plugged something in (a little music when I connect and disconnect it) but the drive does not appear in Computer. I tried the CHKDSK command that was suggested earlier, but I'm also being told that I don't have the required privileges.
I went to disk management. I am being offered to initialize disk 1. I'm afraid of losing all my data. Should I do it? If so, what type of partition should I choose?
Thank you,

Hello Medusandre?

I have the same problem as you, but did you initialize your disk? If so, did you lose all your data?

Hello everyone,
For those struggling with the message "you do not have the required privileges" when typing the CHKDSK command, simply disable User Account Control and it works.
Good luck!
Julie

Hello, I have the same problem as you zogen, "unable to open the volume in direct access" ... Does anyone have a solution please? Thanks for any help or suggestion.

In your case, the problem with your disk is purely mechanical. First, the machine needs to be powered on. Then, we look to recover the data. Due to the fall, and after powering on, there are likely to be defective sectors. A direct data recovery seems compromised. Therefore, we need to go through cloning and then data recovery from the clone. With your manipulations, you are bypassing all these steps for safe data recovery. It’s like in medicine; when you have a broken or fractured leg, you are not asked to run. First, it needs to be fixed, then you wait, and afterwards you can run. If your data is important, be careful.

chkdsk drive letter: /MBR (recovery of the boot sector)

Hello!
Windows is currently replacing the damaged clusters.
How long does the process take?
Best regards.

Hello
Good sign, isn't it? Since damaged cluster = loss. Now we also need to look at the proportion.
The recovered files remain where they were; they are simply moved to healthy clusters.

Well, I'm trying to do it, but I really can't remember the letter, and no matter what I put (except the letters present), it says "unable to open the drive in direct access."

And in the disk management, when I check the properties and it says "location O", does that mean the letter O?

well, yeah, so: "unable to open the drive in direct access"....... this doesn't look good :-/

no, not the reader: impossible to open the VOLUME in direct access, sorry

It's already a good sign, it means that it recognizes the disk. If it didn't recognize it, I would say that it would be worrying.

You can try:
CHKDSK C: /X /F
/X will force the release of exclusive access currently on the disk before performing a full disk check and setting its status to: healthy

If that doesn't resolve it, you'll need to try the CHKNTFS command
CHKNTFS allows an administrator to prevent checking the status of a disk at startup (it's somewhat the ostrich policy)
the syntaxes:

CHKNTFS C: <-- informs us about the status of the disk (integrated or not)
CHKNTFS /X C: <-- prevents checking C: at each boot
CHKNTFS /D <-- D=default, there is no disk letter in this case. The command allows reverting to normal situation - check disk status at each boot

When I type: CHKDSK C: /X /F it says "access denied, you do not have sufficient privileges. You must invoke this utility in an elevated execution mode."

So, can you right-click on the letter that designates your external hard drive in the device manager -> properties -> volume -> populate? And then paste the information it gives you.

no no I am the administrator (according to what is written when I click on the personal image in the start menu).

Run Command Prompt as Administrator.

Hello, I have a problem too :(

Yesterday my external hard drive (Samsung M3) fell on the floor, and since then the computer doesn't detect it anymore. In fact, the little blue light comes on when I plug it in, but there’s no sound indicating that the computer has recognized it, and it doesn't show up in the list of my drives either. I also don't hear the drive spinning, and it's not warm :( How can I recover my data? I tried using the MS-DOS console, but it doesn't work. I'm devastated :(