Seagate FreeAgent 1TB now RAW files ystem

Seagate FreeAgent1TB now RAW (works fine w/MAC OS)

UPDATE.........Been using the drive for 2 years, figured the reason why it's no longer working on my windows 7 pc is because i been using it on my gf's Mac(my hdd is write only)
Since the hdd is no longer recognized by my windows pc
I may have to purchase another external just to back up my files using my gf's mac then re-format my free agent 1tb to a more windows/mac friendly format

any other suggestions



it's suppose to be about 80% full
also not recognized on TestDisk

This is usually a file system problem. All of your files are still there, but the file system has lost track of them.

You can use a program like the free Partition Wizard which has a function to rebuild the MBR. This is assuming the disk is a MBR disk and not a GPT system - do you know?

I also recommend trying to recover the files using a program like the free Recuva before starting anything. There is always a chance of something destructive happening unintentionally when playing with the file system.

The first thing I would try is to change the drive letter (in Disk Management) to G: . A: and B: are reserved for legacy floppy disk drives. That is a pretty safe procedure.

Thank you, will try those possible solutions as soon as I can.

This is normally caused by un-plugging the HDD too many times without using safely remove hardware...so get into the habit of doing that.
Best of Luck getting your data back.

MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Ed.
grayed out options for drive...

26 hours later analyzing on testdisk

The options in Partition Wizard will be greyed out until you click on a drive to highlight it.

Is it that the drive is not recognized at all in PW?

windows has been having trouble recognizing the drive connected(although Safely Remove hardware/media mentions 'Safely Remove FreeAgent Drive'

Hi goke,

The thread http://www.sevenforums.com/software...ive-turned-raw-partition-wizard-testdisk.html should help you in using TestDisk or Partition Wizard for partition recovery.

Follow the steps carefully.

I would advise that you go with Partition Wizard first.

EDIT: Run Partition Wizard and put out a screenshot as to how your 1TB drive looks in it.

i have over 700 gigs of music(FLAC format).....would i need another 1 TB drive to recover my files with the help of TestDisk?

Hi,

Based on your TestDisk screenshots, I expected the worst from the Partition Wizard screenshot. Unfortunately it turns out to be it.

Your Disk shows as bad disk and the prognosis is not good. Anyway, let us go through the rest of the drill.

Select your external bad disk and go through the drill of partition recovery. Follow the procedure outlined in my thread ( click on Partition Recovery wizard, run quick scan and see whether it recovers the partition.) If quick scan fails, do a full scan. The process may take a long time, and so wait patiently. If at the end of the full scan also the partitions/file system is not shown, bad luck. You have to run the HDD manufacturer's diagnostic utility, check the status of the hard disk and see whether it could repair any faults or it is beyond repair.

Do report after running the Partition Recovery Wizard.

Partition wizard doesn't open.....it crashes
+ when it was working for the bad hdd...everything was grayed

OK, now leave it at that. Download Seatools for Windows. SeaTools | Seagate You can also read the guide there on using it.

Perform the long test and get the results.

Note: If you can successfully run the PW, when it shows the drive as Bad Disk, do not right click on it. You will only click on it to select the drive, move your mouse pointer to the left pane and click on Partition Recovery Wizard to run it. Please read through my thread on it carefully.

Anyway that is only for information. Go ahead with Seatools and check your disk.

still no luck

You are running Seagate File Recovery.

You have to check your disk with Seatools for windows.

After seeing the results, you can go ahead with any file recovery.

ran long test
got Long Generic - Failed
result

Because of frequent power interruptions, I had to shut down my computer and go shopping.

As expected your external hard disk is now confirmed defective.

Did you view the log file after the test? What does it say?

Did it find bad sectors?

If it did, then some or most of your data would have been corrupted already.

Did you attempt to fix the bad sectors? ( It is a long long time since I ran Seatools and so if you can elaborate the test process, the log file and other details, perhaps some others who are familiar with it can advise you.)

What all I know is if the drive is really beyond repairs, it would have prompted you to RMA it if still under warranty.

If your drive is not in warranty, or you do not want to return the drive for replacement before attempting some data recovery process, then you may try different recovery software in "as is" condition and try your luck but I am skeptical.

From my point, I would recommend that you try PhotoRec. It is unique in that it ignores the file system and goes after the underlying data, so it will still work even if your media's file system has been severely damaged or reformatted. http://www.sevenforums.com/software/193467-guide-using-photorec-recovery-software.html

Another Recovery software you can try is Zero Assumption Recovery. Digital image recovery - ZAR usage demo. The digital Image recovery part of it is free but I am not sure whether it will work with an external drive. But no harm in trying. We will also learn from your experience.. Again ZAR, if what it says is true, does not assume anything to start with much like PhotoRec. And that is the reason I have chosen these two for you to try first. Good luck, and yes we have to now depend/place hopes on it.

Also wait for other other experts' suggestions based on your reply to the many queries in this post on the Seatools test..

Thank you so much for your help, I'll post the log files as soon as I can.

been really busy because of work/travel.....have yet to try any other methods
most likely will have to use a data recovery service

Before you decide to go in for any data recovery service, try PhotoRec and then ZAR as advised in my post #17.