One partition on drive accessible, other saying it needs formatted. Help please!!

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
S

Sandyholland

Reputable
Dec 13, 2015
6
0
4,510
Hey please can anyone help. I have an external drive that used to be in my laptop and is now in a small enclosure.It has worked perfectly for ages and I've never had a problem, then I went to use it and When plugged in it comes up as (H) antd (I) it lets me open up (H) and see the files but it seems to be trying to open (I) for ages and eventually says I need to format it before use, obviously I don't want to do this as my music and photo's are on there. I know I should have backed them up and won't make this mistake again!! Is there anything I can try please? Thanks in advance
 
Solution
Boogieman_WD
Seems like the partition has become RAW. I'd recommend that you backup any data which you might have on that drive, just to be on the safe side. Basically this could be caused by an issue with the drive, corrupted data, virus or malware, or something else. Unfortunately, there are various scenarios for this to happen.
As for the data recovery software, there's not much else you can do besides trying out different programs and hope for better results. You could try with file system repairing software or partition table repairing programs as well.
Basically I'd still try out the Ubuntu option, hoping that the OS would be able to read the file system properly (e.g. NTFS) rather than see it as a RAW partition.
However, the most reliable...
Sort by date Sort by votes
Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

Judicious
Jul 31, 2014
6,050
2
35,960
Hey there, Sandyholland.

Would you please check what it says about the drive and its partitions in Disk Management and post a screenshot (you can use imgur.com to upload the image). Here's how to open Disk Management: How to access Disk Management in Windows to manage hard drives.
I'd recommend that you try the drive by connecting it directly to the motherboard of a computer, to see if the same thing happens. If you still can't access those partitions, I'd suggest that you try to do that via Ubuntu Live USB/DVD, to see if the drive is properly recognized and if you can get to the data you need. Another option would be to try with data recovery software: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1644496/lost-data-recovery.html and http://pcsupport.about.com/od/filerecovery/tp/free-file-recovery-programs.htm.

Hopefully one of those options proves useful. Please keep me posted on your progress.
Boogieman_WD
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

Sandyholland

Reputable
Dec 13, 2015
6
0
4,510


Will try as soon as I go home. As its a laptop I can't connect it right to motherboard (can I?) thanks
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

Judicious
Jul 31, 2014
6,050
2
35,960
Well, technically you can connect it to a laptop's motherboard instead of the drive you have now, but that won't do you any good. I was talking about connecting the drive to a different computer if possible - one with available SATA ports. If you don't have that option, try out the other suggestions and let me know how everything goes.

I'll be sure to check the results once you post them here.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

Sandyholland

Reputable
Dec 13, 2015
6
0
4,510


I already did try in another laptop and I'm pretty sure the cable is ok as its letting me acces the (I) drive as normal it's only the (H) one which isn't functioning. What order should I try the fix in. Excuse the noobness thanks

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

Judicious
Jul 31, 2014
6,050
2
35,960
Well the cable is just on of the standard steps in such cases. Anyways, you could still try out and data recovery software. Please refer to the data recovery program's website for instructions on how to use it (the same thing goes for each one you try, respectively). As for the Ubuntu Live USB option - this is basically a portable, bootable, freeware version of Linux. The main idea here, is to see if you have better luck with that OS and if it can recognize the second partition and access it, so that you can retrieve your data. Here's how to create a bootable USB on Windows: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/create-a-usb-stick-on-windows and here's where to download Ubuntu from: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop.

Please let me know how it goes.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

Sandyholland

Reputable
Dec 13, 2015
6
0
4,510


What order should I complete the steps in and also how difficult Is each one on a scale of 1-10?

Thanks
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

Judicious
Jul 31, 2014
6,050
2
35,960
Well, if I were you, I'd go with the Ubuntu option first, as if it recognizes the partition properly, recovering the data would be a matter of copy-paste between that partition and the drive you want to store it on. It's not easy to determine the difficulty of a task for another person. Even if I try it, it would be a pretty vague (and probably not accurate) guess. Basically creating the bootable USB flash drive with Ubuntu is really easy when you follow the tutorial. As for booting from it, this is even easier. You'd just have to change the boot priority from your BIOS/UEFI and set the USB ports as first booting device. Unfortunately I can't direct you to the exact location of that setting as it's different for most versions of BIOS/UEFI, but you should be able to find out where it is if you check the laptop's "user's manual".

Trying out different data recovery programs is as easy as installing the program you've decided to try and checking the developer's website for instructions on how to use it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

Judicious
Jul 31, 2014
6,050
2
35,960
Seems like the partition has become RAW. I'd recommend that you backup any data which you might have on that drive, just to be on the safe side. Basically this could be caused by an issue with the drive, corrupted data, virus or malware, or something else. Unfortunately, there are various scenarios for this to happen.
As for the data recovery software, there's not much else you can do besides trying out different programs and hope for better results. You could try with file system repairing software or partition table repairing programs as well.
Basically I'd still try out the Ubuntu option, hoping that the OS would be able to read the file system properly (e.g. NTFS) rather than see it as a RAW partition.
However, the most reliable data recovery option would be a professional solution, such as a data recovery company.

Please keep me posted on the subject no matter what you try.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom