How do i get files off my external hard drive when it says it needs formatting

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stanelgomes

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Jul 13, 2013
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I have a portable 50gb hard drive i have been using now and have heaps of files on there - all of a sudden it is coming up as an drive & says I need to format it. I'm devastated I may lose all my files - can anyone help tell me what to do?
 
Solution
lonewolf7
Hi, plug in the HDD, say no to that format msgs. bring up CMD, type chkdsk X: /f/r (X is the example drive letter, yours may be different). See how it works. If it fails than try this free and decent data recovery software.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec

Note: Read the instructions carefully before trying anything. Good Luck.
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gratefullydancing

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Feb 4, 2014
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I just want to thank you for posting this. It helped me access my external hard drive without having to Format it and use a retrieve software. (Thank you)x1000!
 
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crisorlandobr

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Feb 5, 2014
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Try the steps above, and a tip: try a different enclousure (they are cheap, and a lot of times, when the HDD is not making click sounds, they are the culprit, even for bad quality, and even for their cheap USB cables)

I had a bad enclousure with a good HDD that had the same problems, since the USB connection was bad
 
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shygirlsarah

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Feb 27, 2014
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I tried that code chkdsk X: /f/r and this message popped up: Access denied as you do not have sufficient privileges.
you have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode. what does that mean?
 
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