Timmah_82 Posted February 24, 2011 Report Share Posted February 24, 2011 i have a western digital 1tb 3.5" external hard drive whicch i have been using for some time now.it contains alot of files i have downloaded over approximately the last two years.all of a sudden it decides i need to format the drive in order for me to use it.i cant understand why as i have already been using it without any hassles at all.is there any way to copy the information off the drive onto another before formatting?i know that formatting wipes the entire drive so i am wondering if there is some way to save the data beforehand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted February 24, 2011 Report Share Posted February 24, 2011 Your description is very similar to problems I have had with WD external drives.What it meant in my cases (3 times) that the drive is faulty and needs replacement. I hope it is still under warranty.I doubt that formatting will do anything useful except tell you it is in RAW format (equivalent to wrecked). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted February 24, 2011 Report Share Posted February 24, 2011 It is for this reason than I duplicate everything. I have an external hard drive but also a D Drive. Anything that I save to a memory stick I also duplicate on another one. Everything is saved at least twice.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bludgard Posted February 24, 2011 Report Share Posted February 24, 2011 I have seen this as well with my USB Seagate.It has only done this if there is a connection problem.If I pull the USB and reinsert it,I regain access.It has also happen on any external device if I create a new partition without formatting.TestDisk is a very usefull tool for data recovery.It takes a bit of getting used to (at least the version I use-haven't tried the newer one).It has saved me once or twice when I forgot what It was I was fiddlin' with.Took me about 7 hours to recover 3 minutes of playtime destruction.Actually around 14+ hours.Had to do it again for my first attempt was a failure.The old learning curve....There are other data/media recovery tools out there.I do not know which to suggest.I haven't used them in a while.There are many Backup/Imaging programs out there that are able to run from a LiveCD or other media.Acronis (Paid for but user friendly) and Clonezilla (Free-not so user friendly.:0 ) are just a couple that I would throw out there for I found them dependable for imaging and restoring said image.I do hope all is not lost.Please keep us updated as to how you get on?One Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vishalk Posted March 3, 2011 Report Share Posted March 3, 2011 OK. Simple solution.1. Plug Seagate External Hard Drive into your computer2. Go To Computer3. Right click on the Drive4. Click Properties5. Go To Tools6. Run an Error Check.This should find any corruptions on the hard drive; and you should be able to access the drive after this. You may have lost some files, depending upon the level of curruption. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bludgard Posted March 3, 2011 Report Share Posted March 3, 2011 1. Plug Seagate External Hard Drive into your computerOps issue is with a Western Digital.If I had this problem with my external,I'd've bashed it with a beater by now.I guess we'll have to wait to see if the OP responds?Could have been a spammer.We'll see....One Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matan Schatzman Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 External Hard Drives have made the portability of electronic data extremely convenient and easy. USB, FireWire, eSATA and combination interface External Hard Drives with different specifications and in different shapes and sizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MANEMAN Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 Cap'n Bludgard Said: - If I had this problem with my external,I'd've bashed it with a beater by now.I dont wish to sound too pedantic, but I think beating it with a basher, and not vice-versa is the correct procedure in this case. (Or even of course if the HD drive is not contained within a case)Correct technical terminology on a forum of this status must be adhered too. John. :lol: Thanks also go to "Matan Schatzman" for a glimpse into the world of - "The Beautiful Mind" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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