Inaccessible Hard Drive

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  1. Posts : 5
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #1

    Inaccessible Hard Drive


    Yesterday a friend gave me two hard drives (2x OEM Seagate 250Gb 7200rpm) taken from 2 cable TV recording boxes.

    When i connected them to my pc (one in SATA, other in a external USB case) they appear in BIOS but not in windows. In Disk Management they are shown has unknown, not initialized (i'll try to translate the names since my windows isn't in english), the partitions not attributed and without free space!

    When i click in initialize a error appears:
    "Is not possible to complete the request due to an e/s* error"
    *maybe in english that word is different...

    After appears this error:
    "Data error (error cyclic redundancy)"

    I already tried to format them in Ubuntu and failed.

    Are the disks locked to the boxes board? Or is there a way to recover the disks to be used normally?
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Inaccessible Hard Drive-capturar.png  
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 1,379
    Win7 Pro 32-bit, Win8 Pro 32-bit
       #2

    They are most likely fully encrypted -- cable TV outfits do that to external drives so you can't copy off the media files stored on them.

    I have had some luck running Seagate Low Level formatting against drives. You'll need to go to the Seagate site, download and install their hard drive management app (I think it's called SeaTools) -- and see if it finds the drives. You then should be able to do a low level format with that app. After that, you'll be able to format the drives.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 9,606
    Win7 Enterprise, Win7 x86 (Ult 7600), Win7 x64 Ult 7600, TechNet RTM on AMD x64 (2.8Ghz)
       #3

    I just told another member something similar a couple of days ago. Yes, they make these DVR HD's with their special format.

    How do I reformat a HDD that W7 doesn't recognize?
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  4. Posts : 5
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #4

    I used seatools and when i tried to format it gave me an error.
    Next i tried to make a bootable usb of partition wizard, also unsuccessful..

    I really need those discs, is there other alternative?
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 9,606
    Win7 Enterprise, Win7 x86 (Ult 7600), Win7 x64 Ult 7600, TechNet RTM on AMD x64 (2.8Ghz)
       #5

    Here is another I just remembered

    Darik's Nuke & Boot

    Darik's Boot And Nuke | Hard Drive Disk Wipe and Data Clearing
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #6

    Hi pc123andre,

    In the Screenshot in your first post Partition Wizard shows both the disks as Bad Disk. Then it is what it is a bad disk.

    Now connect both disks as Secondary drives on the PC and check them with SeaTools for Windows.

    If the Short DST fails on those, download Seatools for DOS ISO SeaTools for DOS | Seagate ( You can burn the ISO to a CD or prepare a bootable pen drive with Rufus. http://rufus.akeo.ie/) Only Seatools for DOS can do Full Erase.

    Also read the tutorial SeaTools for DOS tutorial

    Boot from the CD or pendrive using the one-time boot menu.

    Run "Full Erase" on the two disks

    If the HDDs cannot be restored to the factory condition by that, those are indeed bad and dead and nothing can be done.

    As I already told, if Partition Wizard shows them as "Bad Disk", the prognosis is bad.

    Note: Be careful to choose the correct disks for Full Erase. Don't erase your system drive.
    Last edited by jumanji; 09 Sep 2013 at 01:29. Reason: additional info added.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 196
    Windows 7 Professional / Windows 8 Pro
       #7

    bad disks would suggest full format needed.
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  8. Posts : 5
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #8

    I sorted out the problem: the disks are blocked and need the Master Password.
    I tried a million different tools to format/wipe/discover the password and with no success.

    Any suggestion?
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 196
    Windows 7 Professional / Windows 8 Pro
       #9

    errrr... in a polite word...

    No. if you don't have the master passwords I would suggest that you are going to struggle.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #10

    pc123andre said:
    ....I tried a million different tools to format/wipe/discover the password and with no success......
    Can you name a few atleast ten or twenty out of that million? :)

    Did you run Seatools for DOS and try a Full Erase? When a suggestion is given to help you, it would be basic courtesy to give a feedback whether you tried it and what result.

    Otherwise get going on your own.
      My Computer


 
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