transfering data from one external hd to another but won't open in pc

fatbottoms · 23 Jul 2013

I have a 1.5 tb WD external desktop hd that is nearly full that will not open in my pc any more.

For some reason it's getting hung up.

It shows up in the computer menu with a drive letter but has no other info, like file size or free space remaining...in disk management, it gets hung up on connecting to virtual disk forever.

I've tried it on another pc running Windows XP and the same thing happens, but fortunately WD hd opens up on my friends mac book.

My question is how do I transfer all the data from the WD hd to the new Seagate external hd I just bought from a mac book?

Both external hd's are pc preformatted(I did nothing), but surprisingly, the WD hd works on the mac book.

I'm not sure if my friend's mac book has some driver that allows it to open the WD hd or if it already was pc and mac compatible.

Can i create separate partitions to make it compatible with both mac and pc?

Since the WD hd doesn't open on my pc, I have to do this from my friend's mac book.

whs · 23 Jul 2013

Try a Linux distro. That maybe easier for you. Here is one suggestion (don't get confused by the title of the tutorial):

Emergency Kit - save your files from a dead OS

fatbottoms · 23 Jul 2013

Hey thanks for the link and replying.

Is this method easier than this tutorial?
How To Partition An External Hard Drive For PC Usage [Mac]

whs · 23 Jul 2013

I don't know whether it is easier because I am not familiar with the other method. But the tool I describe in the tutorial is very useful in a lot of difficult situations and very worth having in your toolkit. Plus it is completely independent from your installed OS because it boots from the USB stick and thus can be used on any system (that is capable of booting from a stick - most modern system have that facility).

In addition you can run it like a full operating system with browsers and a lot of programs on any system with the above mentioned caveat. Main advantage is that you are very unlikely to get any viruses (because it is Linux) and it is fast - especially if you use a USB3 stick. Plus it has a very nice user interface if you set it up as described in Chapter 5 of the tutorial.

fatbottoms · 23 Jul 2013

Yes, I will try the linux method...it sounds intriguing.

Looks like a very useful tool.

When I took it into a repair tech, Linux is what he said he would use to recover the data from WD hd.

Thanks, I'll try this later today.

whs · 24 Jul 2013

Good, let us know how you make out.

fatbottoms · 24 Jul 2013

I've downloaded Mint Mate 14 and the universal installer.

Installed via universal installer without a problem.

Rebooted, and I see this in the computer menu: it says on the flash drive that it's installed on - "install Linux Mint (G:)" ....I did not boot from flash drive.

Does this mean, I have to click on the drive in the computer menu to finish installing.

Do I have to go into bios to change the boot order or something?

whs · 25 Jul 2013

You have to temporarily change the BIOS boot order to boot from the stick - often via F2 during power-on.

fatbottoms · 25 Jul 2013

Okay, I changed the boot order in bios and booted up from Mint Mate on the flash drive...I'm writing this post from the Mint Mate OS.

Everything seemed to go okay, but as I was looking around on the desktop after it came up, suddenly my screen went black and the network light went off...I didn't do or click on anything.

After waiting for 15 minutes with no change, I physically shut down the laptop by pressing and holding the power button down

Next, I plugged in the faulty WD external hd and started Mint mate again...I did not have it plugged in on the initial boot up.

This time, my laptop would not get past the mint mate booting page, instead getting hung up endlessly.

I physically powered down again, and rebooted again without the WD external hd and it started up fine.

But all my drives in the computer are unmounted...My WD external hd does show up in the computer menu.

Here's the message I get when I click on a drive:
"Unable to mount location
Adding read ACL for uid999 to /media/ mint'failed
Operation not supported"

When I tried to boot up from the Windows compatibility mode, it asked for a password...I do not have a password for my Windows account...I just restarted in regular mode, and this time it started fine.

How do I mount the drives?

Will it make a difference if I install the fully operational version and actually install it on a partition?

And yes, I downloaded Mint Mate form the James Madison University link.

whs · 25 Jul 2013

Did you install the full version or are you working with the bootstrap version.