Any type of querry (chkdsk included) made to an external HDD hangs the process

Xarddew · Feb 3, 2017

I have a an external drive (2.5 drive in an enclosure) that worked without problems till yesterday. Since then the HDD can't be accessed (the drive shows as F: in my computer but can't do anything to it). Trying to open it hangs the explorer, using chkdsk on the drive hangs command prompt, using any kind of SMART inspector with the drive connected (HDDscan or hard disk setinel) makes process not respond (until I dc the drive that is).

I used a linux live distro (ubuntu, solved my problem once when a virus got to a drive) and put the drive and it tells me to go to use chkdsk on windows.

As a side note I have another external enclosure and it works with another drive without problems, switched the drives from enclosures and the problem persists, got another enclosure (just to make sure) and nothing.

I've lurked for a few hours and the answers of somewhat similar problems are chkdsk and to check the SMART condition of the drive. I can't do any of those as the process hangs. Any insight or knowledge into what might be the problem with the drive would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

D_Know_WD · Feb 3, 2017

Hi there Xarddew,

That is really unpleasant.

Most probably, the drive has multiple bad sectors. It could be in a really poor condition if you can't access it even under Ubuntu.

Your options are:
- Contact a data recovery company, if the data stored on the drive is really important.
- Use some data recovery tools for DOS mode, as obviously, the OS hangs. There are threads on that in the community. Make sure you save all the recovered data on a different drive.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

Xarddew · Feb 3, 2017

Things like DMDE and testdisk (last one works in dosmode) also hang as soon as I connect the HDD, I'm almost ready to give up on doing this myself... :/

D_Know_WD · Feb 3, 2017

Well, in that case, it may be a good idea to just look for some professional help then.

D_Know_WD

ciresmis · Feb 4, 2017

I have been following this thread for a few days. I have exactly the same problem, and it just so happened on the same day. I investigated just about everything. I had thrown in the towel as well, but last night before I went to bed, I tried to run scan disk again. I went to bed with it running. I got up during the night, and it had stopped on its own. Nothing had changed. I still had the Expansion Drive properties window open, so I ran defrag and went back to bed. Woke up this morning to a functional drive. I am moving files off of it as we speak, but the drive appears to working normally. You might give it a try.

In order to get the Expansion Drive properties to come up, I would plug in the usb cable. It would be found, but I would take no action. Instead, I went to Windows Explorer and right-clicked the drive to get to the properties window. Of course nothing happens. So I unplugged the drive without safely removing it. When you unplug it, the properties window will appear. Plug the drive back in and let defrag be the first thing you do before the drive causes everything to freeze.

Xarddew · Feb 5, 2017

ciresmis :

I have been following this thread for a few days. I have exactly the same problem, and it just so happened on the same day. I investigated just about everything. I had thrown in the towel as well, but last night before I went to bed, I tried to run scan disk again. I went to bed with it running. I got up during the night, and it had stopped on its own. Nothing had changed. I still had the Expansion Drive properties window open, so I ran defrag and went back to bed. Woke up this morning to a functional drive. I am moving files off of it as we speak, but the drive appears to working normally. You might give it a try.

In order to get the Expansion Drive properties to come up, I would plug in the usb cable. It would be found, but I would take no action. Instead, I went to Windows Explorer and right-clicked the drive to get to the properties window. Of course nothing happens. So I unplugged the drive without safely removing it. When you unplug it, the properties window will appear. Plug the drive back in and let defrag be the first thing you do before the drive causes everything to freeze.

I will try this today, I'll update it if is see any change.

ciresmis · Feb 25, 2017

UPDATE: I got my expansion drive to work and managed to get half my files off of it, but it quit again shortly thereafter. I again defragged it, and it came back to life. I got the rest of my files off, and the drive seems to be working fine, but I do not trust it anymore. I have a feeling this will happen again one day, and this neat defrag trick will not work. My drive is under warranty, and Seagate has sent a replacement.

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Any type of querry (chkdsk included) made to an external HDD hangs the process

Xarddew

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Xarddew

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D_Know_WD

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Xarddew

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