compdigit44
asked on
External 3TB Hard Drive Corrupt Files
I have a 3TB Western Digital hard drive which I can view all the file/folders on yet when i open any of the files regardless of file type it states the file maybe corrupt.
In Windows 7 I ran a chkdks from the command-line which did repair some index yet it error out stating it was not able to recover the MBR table due to lack of space. Yet 1.5GB of free space is on the drive.
1) Does an external drive have an MBR?
2) Are they an GPT tools in windows which I should use?
3) I was able to open some files after the chkdks but not all of them
4) It sounds like the partition table is messed up is my only option to use a recovery software..
suggestions...
In Windows 7 I ran a chkdks from the command-line which did repair some index yet it error out stating it was not able to recover the MBR table due to lack of space. Yet 1.5GB of free space is on the drive.
1) Does an external drive have an MBR?
2) Are they an GPT tools in windows which I should use?
3) I was able to open some files after the chkdks but not all of them
4) It sounds like the partition table is messed up is my only option to use a recovery software..
suggestions...
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
I've seen similar with one of WD My Book, does your drive create a virtual CD rom as well.
When you plug it look Computer.
When I bought it I didnt realize there are different USB WD. I'll never but a WD My Book again.
Windows has trouble with some of these and will flag it as bad for no reason.
Could be how the USB releases " the safely remove,"
it takes longer for windows to release the 3 terrabyte, could be background indexing or anti virus software scanning it.
I bought get data back ntfs for this reason, stung by windows I fully recovered all my files then let windows run a quick format .
It now runs fine but I still have my get data back, it's one way guaranteed to always have access to these drives just incase.
Every drive I saved from all my old computers has passed through Get Data Back successfully.
It has a full functioning trial to test.
https://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm
One question inside these folders how many folders are inside folders? How deep do they go?
Is this windows 7? no long names issues?
When you plug it look Computer.
When I bought it I didnt realize there are different USB WD. I'll never but a WD My Book again.
Windows has trouble with some of these and will flag it as bad for no reason.
Could be how the USB releases " the safely remove,"
it takes longer for windows to release the 3 terrabyte, could be background indexing or anti virus software scanning it.
I bought get data back ntfs for this reason, stung by windows I fully recovered all my files then let windows run a quick format .
It now runs fine but I still have my get data back, it's one way guaranteed to always have access to these drives just incase.
Every drive I saved from all my old computers has passed through Get Data Back successfully.
It has a full functioning trial to test.
https://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm
One question inside these folders how many folders are inside folders? How deep do they go?
Is this windows 7? no long names issues?
" Yet 1.5GB of free space is on the drive."
You realize that's about 0.05% of the disk space free?? Your recovery software really has little chance of backing up files and writing repairs to the drive without damaging some of the existing data.
You realize that's about 0.05% of the disk space free?? Your recovery software really has little chance of backing up files and writing repairs to the drive without damaging some of the existing data.
is the drive external, or internal connected?
SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Is the any way you can open the caddy and remove the drive?
Many of these more recent caddies are spot welded together and you may need some to use a drill
and some other tools to force it open.
WARNING: This mechanical vibration could make matters worse, so consider it as a last resort.
If you can connect the bare drive direct to a PC with a sata cable you may have more success
with the earlier suggestions.
Many of these more recent caddies are spot welded together and you may need some to use a drill
and some other tools to force it open.
WARNING: This mechanical vibration could make matters worse, so consider it as a last resort.
If you can connect the bare drive direct to a PC with a sata cable you may have more success
with the earlier suggestions.
ASKER
Great replies everyone yes i was referring to the MFT. If this is an external USB volmne, how can it have an MBR/MFT?
If I were feel up space, do you think CHkdsk would be able to fix the MFT?
If I were feel up space, do you think CHkdsk would be able to fix the MFT?
MBR is a Master Boot Record which contains the information about the partitions. Their type, size and file system they are formatted in.
The similar to MBR partitioning types are GPT and Dynamic disk types.
MFT is a Meta File Table. It contains information about the data bits allocation in the file system. MBR refers to the whole disk and MFT refers to the file system of a partition.
So one drive can have one MBR. But one drive can have more than one partition and each partition will have its MFT.
The problems with MFT are normally the worst problems you could have with file system. MFT has information where and which bits of data are stored on the file system.
What you can do in this case is to avoid using CHKDSK at all. Try to take full RAW image of the whole drive and then mount this image as virtual disk. Try to run CHKDSK on it. But not on original drive yet.
How important is the data on this drive for you?
The similar to MBR partitioning types are GPT and Dynamic disk types.
MFT is a Meta File Table. It contains information about the data bits allocation in the file system. MBR refers to the whole disk and MFT refers to the file system of a partition.
So one drive can have one MBR. But one drive can have more than one partition and each partition will have its MFT.
The problems with MFT are normally the worst problems you could have with file system. MFT has information where and which bits of data are stored on the file system.
What you can do in this case is to avoid using CHKDSK at all. Try to take full RAW image of the whole drive and then mount this image as virtual disk. Try to run CHKDSK on it. But not on original drive yet.
How important is the data on this drive for you?
ASKER
Thanks for the reply... So the MFT can exist on a GPT good to know.
HOw would make the external drive a VDisk help to run chkdsk? What about recover softewar like others have mentioned.
HOw would make the external drive a VDisk help to run chkdsk? What about recover softewar like others have mentioned.
Data Recovery Software looks as well in MFT for the data allocation. Otherwise it will see only blocks of data with no way to see what type of this data is. Like if you have a .jpeg file of 9MB which is saved in different sectors - the MFT contains information where are all blocks located.
Depending on MFT corruption you can have either some chances to recover the data or no chances at all.
In any case it is worth trying to run GetDataBack on this partition. www.runtime.org
Get a trial version and let it scan the drive. If it finds data which is readable then you are lucky.
If you take a copy of your physical drive and mount the image as virtual disk then you can try on it various fixes like CHKDSK /f.
The good thing is that these changes will not be done to original drive and thus somehow the changes of CHKDSK are revertable. In short - the "fixes" should be applied to image but not to the physical drive. If the fix works on VDisk then you can apply it to physical drive as well.
Depending on MFT corruption you can have either some chances to recover the data or no chances at all.
In any case it is worth trying to run GetDataBack on this partition. www.runtime.org
Get a trial version and let it scan the drive. If it finds data which is readable then you are lucky.
If you take a copy of your physical drive and mount the image as virtual disk then you can try on it various fixes like CHKDSK /f.
The good thing is that these changes will not be done to original drive and thus somehow the changes of CHKDSK are revertable. In short - the "fixes" should be applied to image but not to the physical drive. If the fix works on VDisk then you can apply it to physical drive as well.
ASKER
so data recovery at this point is very slim... ??
Sorry to say this but yes. Anyway, you do not need to give up yet. That's why I asked you - is this data really important? If yes - then try it with GetDataBack, you can also try to open the box and connect the drive directly hoping that problem is in USB board of the drive. But if the drive is still in warranty then do not do this.
If data is not important and you can live without it - reformat the drive via Windows Disk Management. For future - clone the data to another disk as well. Such problems are not avoidable, unfortunately.
If data is not important and you can live without it - reformat the drive via Windows Disk Management. For future - clone the data to another disk as well. Such problems are not avoidable, unfortunately.
SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
you can also try HDDRegenerator, it has fixed many drives for me : http://www.dposoft.net/hdd.html
ASKER
Thank for all the great replies everyone!!!
https://www.piriform.com/recuva
See what you can retrieve.