Repair HDD FAT table

Duwaynem · Jun 28, 2013

Hi,

I have a 2TB HP external hard drive. The hard drive is not visible in "my computer", but is in Disk Management. It gives a error message, "Disk not Initialized". When I try to initialize it it gives another error message, "Disk not ready". I don't want to lose any of the data. Can someone please help with a solution. The HDD stopped working after a power outage.

lonewolf7 · Jun 28, 2013

I think there's nothing you could do. Symptoms of a dead drive. "RMA" it. I had the same issue 3 years back.

Paperdoc · Jun 28, 2013

Hard to say whether the HDD inside is faulty, or just the board inside the external case. But now there's a problem how to proceed.

1. IF this was purchased as a complete external drive - that is, you did NOT assemble a bare HDD unit into a separately-purchased external case - then is the whole unit still under warranty? If it is, you don't really want to start opening it up to diagnose further yourself. However, you say you have data on it you need to save. If you return it to the maker and they replace it, you WILL lose all your old data. They will NOT attempt to recover your data for you and put it onto the replacement drive.

2. You should NOT try to Initialize this drive now. That process WILL wipe out any data on it!

3. IF the system was one you assembled from a HDD and a case, then you are free to open the case and remove the HDD unit without impact on any warranty. OR, if you decide you will not worry about a warranty and proceed to diagnose and fix it anyway, you can open the case and remove. Be careful - some cases are tricky to open so that they can be re-closed properly.

4. So Why? The HDD inside is almost certain to be a standard SATA HDD that you can plug into one of your desktop computer's internal SATA ports with a data cable and a power connection. When connected that way you can concentrate on the HDD unit's problems with no interference from the case's problems. In fact, it is possible that the real problem is that the power outage damaged some part of the case's electronics, and not the drive's.

5. So, if you connect it internally, can you access the drive properly? If so, you know the case has the problem and can try to get it fixed. Or, you can simply get another case only and mount the HDD in it.

6. On the other hand, if the HDD is not immediately accessible as an internal, you will get clearer messages in Disk Management about it. Post what it shows you here for further advice.

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Repair HDD FAT table

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