External hard drive

External hard drive

Postby DARK TEMPLAR on 13 Feb 2012 07:45

Would it be possible for physical damage to some critical spots manifest as a software problem. When connected to the desktop PC, it recognizes that something is there, eventually a icon pops up(simply noting *local drive E*) however when trying to open access, it either crashes windows, freezes up or eventually gives error message saying *format disk before use*. Can not bring to a official techie due to some rather sensitive material on.
If forced to do the format, any ways of at least backing the data up before-hand, granted it it still there?
Nearly 1TB worth of stuff.
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Re: External hard drive

Postby rockingmtranch on 13 Feb 2012 16:14

Hook it up to a Linux box then you should be able to get the data off. You know how Windoze is about these things. Linux will treat it as raw data.
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Re: External hard drive

Postby DARK TEMPLAR on 15 Feb 2012 09:46

Interesting, will try that once we get a hold of a linux machine with enough storage space.
In the meanwhile, any other ideas?
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Re: External hard drive

Postby DARK TEMPLAR on 25 Feb 2012 12:58

Okay, so we got it hooked up to a rig with linux. It recognizes that the drives existence but we are currently still stomped as to how we could extract the data. Could you perhaps give some more specific instructions.
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Re: External hard drive

Postby rockingmtranch on 25 Feb 2012 17:32

If you can see the drive, you should be able to access the files. You can't see the files on the drive?
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Re: External hard drive

Postby DARK TEMPLAR on 26 Feb 2012 16:58

The existence of the drive and proper name are recognized without any freezing or crashing (unlike with windows) but the drive itself is still inaccessible, first there was a *can not access drive* error upon closing which popped up some numbered error.
](*,) Anything we might be doing wrong.
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Re: External hard drive

Postby rockingmtranch on 27 Feb 2012 15:10

No. You're not doing anything wrong. If it is damaged like, not spinning or the arm isn't able to move, then you won't be able to access the data because it physically cannot. The drive may want to allow access and just isn't capable. That is my guess and I personally don't know of anything else except data recovery services and they are dumb expensive. Doesn't hurt at this point if you want to open the drive and see what you see.
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Re: External hard drive

Postby rockingmtranch on 29 Feb 2012 01:35

After you try reformatting that is. I don't know if it will reformat. If it does, something was seriously wrong for sure. Data corruption usually doesn't manifest itself so severely as to not allow access to the drive..
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Re: External hard drive

Postby rockingmtranch on 07 Mar 2012 16:04

Any update? I found this: http://www.tvkim.com/watch/1518/kim-on- ... campaign=c Basically, you freeze the hard drive and it sometimes makes it work for a few minutes.
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Re: External hard drive

Postby DARK TEMPLAR on 15 Mar 2012 13:07

A few minutes wouldn't do much good beyond seeing if the data is still there. At the time of malfunction over half of the 1.5T HD was full
My brother found some guy who might be able to help a bit buut well live and see.
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Re: External hard drive

Postby rockingmtranch on 16 Mar 2012 15:42

Cool. Keep us posted.
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Re: External hard drive

Postby DARK TEMPLAR on 11 Apr 2012 09:41

:( It would appear that even if we get the drive itself back to working order the data would still be lost.
Oh well c'est la vie
THE DEDICATED, CERTIFIED RESIDENT MADMAN
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CAN YOU FEEL THE TRANQUILLITY OF THE ZONE
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Re: External hard drive

Postby rockingmtranch on 12 Apr 2012 03:11

Hard drives don't like dying for sure. Have you tried the reformat?
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Re: External hard drive

Postby DARK TEMPLAR on 12 Apr 2012 13:15

Aye, no dice though. Least through the desktop PC, will try through my laptop later, maybe it will yield a different result, unlikely though.
THE DEDICATED, CERTIFIED RESIDENT MADMAN
There is no such thing as innocence in the ZONE, only degrees of guilt.
CAN YOU FEEL THE TRANQUILLITY OF THE ZONE
Knowledge is power. Guard it well.
We are shaped by fate, just as we shape it
You should never be in the company of anyone with whom you would not want to die.
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Re: External hard drive

Postby rockingmtranch on 13 Apr 2012 02:47

Don't give up. It's not a canoe anchor yet!
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Re: External hard drive

Postby DARK TEMPLAR on 13 Apr 2012 20:30

On a bit unrelated matter, what is the 'boot menu' key for win Vista? Does not seem to be f12 as with XP.
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CAN YOU FEEL THE TRANQUILLITY OF THE ZONE
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Re: External hard drive

Postby Nightwatch on 14 Apr 2012 21:47

If you're trying to go to the menu at the start-up phase to choose from which hard disk or any other removable drive that the windows should start, then try pressing F8 (on some computers this may be F5, if the F8 doesn't work for you, then try F5) :mozilla_smile:

But if you want to access the BIOS menu, then DEL should work.

[While on the subject, start-up options (safe mode, etc) can be arranged through entering msconfig into the RUN menu, the menu that is then called should give those option. ]
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Re: External hard drive

Postby DARK TEMPLAR on 10 Jul 2014 18:49

Found some free time and some guts to pry open the hunk of junk.

Lift open the keyboard, move some wifi kagimafig a bit, disconnect, what by all assumptions based on the info my 'search fu' managed to dig up should be the bios battery.

Didn't take all that long, waiting a bit now and will try to put the thing back together in some 10 min.

ed: If i don't royally screw this up and it actually works instead of fubaring the hardware, I might just be the happiest person alive for a little bit ... I may have some tech savvyness but I am running purely on luck here.

ed2: Welp, procedure completed, thing boots up, as much as it can, which is the same as before, so back to square one.


GOD BLOODY DAMN IT :axe: :axe:
THE DEDICATED, CERTIFIED RESIDENT MADMAN
There is no such thing as innocence in the ZONE, only degrees of guilt.
CAN YOU FEEL THE TRANQUILLITY OF THE ZONE
Knowledge is power. Guard it well.
We are shaped by fate, just as we shape it
You should never be in the company of anyone with whom you would not want to die.
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Re: External hard drive

Postby rockingmtranch on 16 Jul 2014 23:27

Don't give up B-)
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