Transfer files from unstable drive w/o corruption

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Triavalon

Commendable
May 24, 2016
2
0
1,510
Hello. I have an external drive that recently has been having problems and a new one to replace it with. I want to dump all the files from the old drive onto the other, but my old drive randomly powers off. Unless I transfer each file by hand, there is no way to tell which file it stopped at when it powered off, meaning for every transfer I make, I have to try to overwrite everything or I have to live with a corrupted file somewhere in the system.

Is there some kind of file transfer program that will allow me to skip any files that are already on the new drive, but will overwrite the corrupted one and continue writing new ones?

My old drive is perfectly normal and healthy when it is powered on, it just powers off every few minutes.
 
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A
Well, there's a virtually unending number of "data recovery" programs out there but they're problematic at best and I don't know how effective they could be given the situation you're dealing with.

I suppose you could try a disk-cloning program, hoping the program would detect the data at a time the USBEHD is operational as you indicate it is sometimes; then review the clone to determine if data has been transferred & can be accessed. Iffy to say the least, but we're grasping at straws.

Then, of course, there's the commercial data recovery services that you're probably aware of. Expensive and no absolute guarantees.
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ArtPog

Admirable
Sep 17, 2014
2,951
3
8,965
Is there any chance of removing the disk (HDD) from the problem USB external enclosure and installing the disk internally in the PC? That would be the best possible solution (at least for the moment) if it could be arranged.

The problem here, however, is that presumably you're dealing with a commercial unit and there could be insurmountable problems uninstalling the disk from its enclosure and utilizing it as an internally-connected drive because of a non-standard SATA data connector on the disk and possibly other enclosure-connected problems. But it's worth a try if you can manage it.

(Your problem is of the fundamental reasons why we always recommend PC users purchase a USB external enclosure (or dock) of their choice, together with a HDD (or SSD) of their choice, rather than a "one-piece" commercial unit.)
 
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Triavalon

Commendable
May 24, 2016
2
0
1,510
Unfortunately it is a commercial model that I got as a gift several years ago or I would pop it open. I don't see any access screws, so I'm posting on here in hopes that I might find a software workaround before attempting to open up the drive and risk damaging my data. I'm not ruling out that possibility altogether, but I'm really wondering if anyone has found a program that can just backup everything from the old drive, overwriting any files that don't match. Even if the drive turns off, I can run that program over and over until it is done, as long as it can find and overwrite any files that corrupted in transfer without trying to overwrite the good ones as well.
 
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ArtPog

Admirable
Sep 17, 2014
2,951
3
8,965
Well, there's a virtually unending number of "data recovery" programs out there but they're problematic at best and I don't know how effective they could be given the situation you're dealing with.

I suppose you could try a disk-cloning program, hoping the program would detect the data at a time the USBEHD is operational as you indicate it is sometimes; then review the clone to determine if data has been transferred & can be accessed. Iffy to say the least, but we're grasping at straws.

Then, of course, there's the commercial data recovery services that you're probably aware of. Expensive and no absolute guarantees.
 
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