external hard drive says format

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lanier2k

Reputable
Nov 6, 2014
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0
4,510
Hello

I am using windows vista, and I have a western digital 3tb external hard drive..When I woke up this morning it tells me it needs to be formatted..it shows up in my computer and shows how much data is used...But i know formatting will erase it...i had my old external drive and it reads perfectly fine..I need help saving my files before any formatting is done..Can some one please help me
 
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

Judicious
Jul 31, 2014
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Hey lanier2k. This is very unfortunate. When do you get this message? If you can see it in "My Computer", are you able to access it and copy your data? If not, go to Disk Management and see what it says about the external drive. Here's a link which shows how to open Disk Management: http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1284/ just click on the instructions for Windows Vista.
Try connecting the drive to another computer to see if the issue reoccurs.
You could also download DLG (Data Lifeguard Diagnostic Software) from here: http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=810
Run both tests to see if they detect anything out of the ordinary.
Note that the time it takes for the tests to complete depends on your drive's capacity and it might be a while.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions.
Boogieman_WD
 
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lanier2k

Reputable
Nov 6, 2014
2
0
4,510
I can see it in my computer and it tells me the file size and th espace but when I double click it says it needs to be formatted so I went to where you say to go it tells me everything is OK..it reads healthy primary partition and online.....
 
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