External Hard Disk is having problem in being recognized from my Win7 Desktop PC. How can I fix this ?

LisaDeSiena

Reputable
Oct 23, 2014
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4,510
Hi it's the first time that I post something, but I've always read your thread, which helped me a lot!
Now I'm having a problem and I can't find any answers :C

I'm using a Desktop PC

  • - Windows 7 Home Premium
    - Service Pack 1
    - 5.1 Index of Windows's performance
    - Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2300 CPU @ 2.80GHz 2.80GHz
    - RAM 8.00 GB
    - System: 64bit

And I'm having problem with an External Hard Disk Toshiba Stor.E Canvio 3TB USB3

Specifics:

  • - Brand: Toshiba
    - Model: HDWC130EK3J1
    - Capacity 3TB
    - External Interface: USB 3.0 (USB 2.0 compatible)
    - Power:

    • > AC Power adapter cable.
      > Input: 100-240V, 650mA
      > Output: 12V - 2A
      > EU/UK exchangable plug head
      - Compatibility: PC & Mac
    - System: NTFS (MS Windows) The drive can be re-formatted to HFS+ file system for full Mac compatibility.
    - Requires:

    • > Windows® XP / VISTA® / Windows® 7
      > CPU with 750 MHz or faster
      > 10MB system hard disk space
      >256MB system memory
      > one free port of USB 3.0 or USB 2.0

HERE WHAT'S HAPPENING ME:
I switch off the pc and I keep the hard disk plugged in.
I start windows. No problems so far.
I open the windows Documents, I want to access to my hard disk and firstly it has an other name, not the one I gave to it when I've formatted it (like two weeks ago for other problems, but that is another story) and when I click on it a error message shows up saying that my local disk has been corrupted and can't be open and is necessary to format it.
I tried to unplug it after shutting down the PC (when the PC is on I can't unplug it because always seem to be used, even if everything is closed) because I thought that during the starting up somehow it could be mistaken for a disk of the pc, for three days it has stopped to do that, today after I've plugged in it did it again.
I've unplugged it and plugged in a different device, It is seen correctly, so I unplugged it and re-plugged in my PC, now it is seen normaly.
I ok with this but I'm aware that it is not a normal behaviour, and I would kindly like to format it again and loose once again al my data.
What should I do?


Thank you
 
Solution
It usually depends on the drive's capacity and if there are many errors and/or bad sectors. But I think that in your case it is probably stuck. Go ahead with the back up of your important data. And unfortunately I think that all that is left is to wait for the drive to die completely at some point.
Hey Lisa, welcome to the community. You did well by trying the drive with different devices and rulling out a problem with the drive itself. I would suggest that you update the drive's firmware if there's a newer version and reinstall the drivers as well to see if that helps you out with your problem. You could also try this:
1. open CMD
2. type set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 (Note that nothing seems to happen, but that's OK. This will set an environment variable which is going to help you to see hidden devices.)
3. type devmgmt.msc (this will start the Windows Device Manager Console.)
4. in the Device Manager, from the View menu, select Show Hidden Devices.
5. expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers by clicking the "+"
4. uninstall all of the greyed out devices there
5. restart your computer
6. connect your external HDD

Hope this helps.
Boogieman_WD
 

LisaDeSiena

Reputable
Oct 23, 2014
5
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4,510
I've analysed with SeaTools for Windows, under suggestion of a friend of mine.
Here what happens:
1st test: SHORT DST - PASS
2nd: device information
wia9h4.png

3rd test: SHORT GENERIC - FAIL
4th test: LONG GENERIC - FAIL (it starts detecting a lot of errors and then drops ending like a FAIL) I'll post down the log file!
5th test: I do not want to run it because I could loose my data


  • --------------- SeaTools for Windows v1.2.0.10 ---------------
    10/23/2014 1:13:39 PM
    Unit Serial: C697F483
    Unit Model: TOSHIBA
    Firmware Revision: MZ6OABB0
    Short DST - Started 10/23/2014 1:13:39 PM
    Short DST - Pass 10/23/2014 1:15:52 PM
    Identify - Started 10/23/2014 1:18:01 PM
    Model:
    Serial Number:
    SMART: Not Supported
    48-bit Address feature set supported: False
    Max LBA: 5860533168
    Host Protected Area features: Not Supported
    Mandatory Power Management: Not Supported
    Security Mode: Not Supported
    SET MAX security extension: Not Supported
    Advanced Power Management: Not Supported
    Download Firmware: False
    SMART self-test supported: False
    SMART error logging supported: False
    Drive Temperature(C/F): 0/32
    Power-On Hours: 0
    Short Generic - Started 10/23/2014 1:21:04 PM
    Short Generic - FAIL 10/23/2014 1:21:07 PM
    Long Generic - Started 10/23/2014 1:21:25 PM
    Bad LBA: 0 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 1 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 2 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 3 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 4 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 5 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 6 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 7 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 8 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 9 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 10 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 11 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 12 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 13 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 14 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 15 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 16 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 17 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 18 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 19 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 20 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 21 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 22 Not Repaired
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    Bad LBA: 24 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 25 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 26 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 27 Not Repaired
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    Bad LBA: 29 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 30 Not Repaired
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    Bad LBA: 32 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 33 Not Repaired
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    Bad LBA: 134 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 135 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 136 Not Repaired
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    Bad LBA: 138 Not Repaired
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    Bad LBA: 140 Not Repaired
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    Bad LBA: 171 Not Repaired
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    Bad LBA: 198 Not Repaired
    Bad LBA: 199 Not Repaired
    Long Generic - FAIL 10/23/2014 1:21:59 PM

So now what you suggest (and by the way thank you for your reply)
 
Well I'm sorry to have to say it, but it looks like your drive is failing. I'd recommend that you back up your important data immediately and check the drive for errors.
1. click on the drive with the right-mouse button and select "properties"
2. click on the "tools" tab
3. click the "Check now..." button and another dialog window will open
4. mark both options "Automatically fix files system errors" and "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors"
5. Click start and wait for the process to complete.

Though that won't help much especially in the long run. Your drive has a lot of bad sectors and when bad sectors start to occur they won't stop until your drive completely fails. It might take a couple of months, but it might be a couple of days as well. So the most important thing here is to back up your data asap.

Good luck
 

LisaDeSiena

Reputable
Oct 23, 2014
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0
4,510
Is it normal that it takes hours to do that? I've started this morning at 10 and it is still blocked
280l4d1.png

I'm not a genius of english so I'll translate prbably wrongly:
"20465 describer of protection / SID of file elaborated".

Sooner or later I'll have to shut down the PC, how much do you think it will last?
 
It usually depends on the drive's capacity and if there are many errors and/or bad sectors. But I think that in your case it is probably stuck. Go ahead with the back up of your important data. And unfortunately I think that all that is left is to wait for the drive to die completely at some point.
 
Solution