WD EXTERNAL HARD DISK 1TB suddenly "unallocated" and "not initialized"

Jon Snow · 18 Jun 2014

After restart, it still shows "bad disk". Oh well. Im so mad :/

jumanji · 18 Jun 2014

Now it shows its true colour. Bad Disk

If Partition Wizard shows BAD DISK no software solution will work.

In most cases the Interface card inside the enclosure is the one that gives up. In some cases there may be another electronic card on the HDD. ( I don't know the innards of the enclosure) Even that could have gone bad. Since it was a power interruption I guess only the electronics would have been affected and the Hard drive itself - I mean the mechanicals inside - may be OK. In such a case
the data can be retrieved only by professional data recovery service. The Data recovery service may try to change the cards if those are available or they may use their own electronics to get access.

Jon Snow · 18 Jun 2014

Alright. I guess I just have to let the expert solve this. Thanks for your help guys. I appreciate it.

Slartybart · 18 Jun 2014

You're welcome Jon, hopefully the repair isn't too costly, you might still get your data. Just make sure the shop knows the data is important.

You're gained a lot of experience on the thread. If the shop can repair the HW waive the recovery until you attempt it using the tools on the thread. If you still can't get the data then you might consider paying for recovery - it is usually expensive.

Oh, you might want to tap the scale icon (just below the post#) on any of jumanji's posts - he gave it his best effort trying to recover your data, but software can only do so much.

Best of luck,

Bill
.

Jon Snow · 19 Jun 2014

Yes I gained a lot of info from you guys. First experience about this sh*t and already the worst case ever for me haha. Life goes on. I still believe the data is in the HD, so I'm gonna try my best to get them back. Those videos, photos, argh. It makes me mad, so mad actually. But yeah, I'll send this to the repair shop. It's expensive, i already surveyed them. But those data inside are priceless, i cant afford to lose them, really.

jumanji · 19 Jun 2014

That is the sudden power interruption that killed the electronics.

1. Buy an UPS so that your computer can continue to run when power fails suddenly. Then you will have sufficient time to close any activity and shut down. Most UPS will also suppress surges.

2. Back up all your data into another external drive which you will use and connect only for backups. Backup means you should have the same data in more than one device. If one fails you have it on the other which again you should backup to another device.

Slartybart · 19 Jun 2014

Here are the instructions I mentioned I would write in our PM.

Remember, this is only an exercise to determine if PW under Windows gave a false indication of the drive status. We'll have to see what this test tells you to know if other actions might help recover the data.

I cobbled these instructions from another post I wrote and added PW - there might be some "translation" errors from a Linux boot to PW boot. Basically, if I missed an edit - if you see Linux or Mint Mate - it should read Partition Wizard or PW.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

1. Download the Rufus bootable USB drive creation utility

Additional references:
> Rufus home page
> Rufus FAQ

2. Download the Partition Wizard ISO

Free Download MiniTool® Partition Wizard Now!
Scroll down to the second table of downloads on the page (bootable CD - don't worry about the CD reference)
Select Local Download in the right most column of the table
pwhe811.iso (48.3 MB)

3. Create a bootable USB thumb drive using Rufus and the Partition Wizard ISO

Partition Wizard is only 48.3 MB, so you don't need a huge thumb drive.

Creating a bootable thumb drive erases all data on the thumb drive.

If you have data on the thumb drive that you need, move it to your Hard Drive or burn it to an Optical Disc.

Connect the USB thumb drive to a USB port
Launch Rufus
The fields in Rufus are filled in with defaults. The defaults work well, but a few things need to be verified or changed.
1. Verify that Rufus selected the thumb drive you want to write. Change the Device if the wrong USB thumb drive is presented in that field.
2. Change Create a bootable disk using from the default to ISO image
3. Press the small button (CD/disk icon) next to ISO Image to add the Partition Wizard ISO file
  Select Partition Wizard ISO (pwhe811.iso) as the source.
  The file name should appear on the status bar
  The ISO name in the status bar is subject to change as new versions of PW are released
4. unTick Create extended label and icon files
5. Compare your Rufus window with the image above. If everything other than the Device field and New volume label are the same, then continue to the next step.
6. Press the Start button
The status bar notifies you when the process is DONE
Press the Close button

Leave the Partition Wizard thumb drive connected for the next steps

4. Boot to Partition Wizard

Save any files you are working on, then Restart your machine
Check your machine documentation to determine the Fkey assigned by BIOS that brings up the Boot Order startup menu.

When the machine begins to start again (black screen) tap the BIOS Fkey you identified to bring up the Boot Order startup menu. There is only a short time to "catch" the Boot Order menu. If Windows starts, you will have to try again.

When the Boot menu appears, use the arrow down key to select the USB device and press enter

Launch PW and check the status of the faulty drive on the main screen.

If PW still tells you Bad Disk, then you're done with this exercise.

If PW can read the disk, there is hope and we can pick up the recovery attempt later.

jumanji · 19 Jun 2014

Slarty.

Slartybart · 20 Jun 2014

jumanji: Figure two in a row couldn't be just bad luck

Jon Snow: Please post a camera shot of the PW Main window if the disk is NOT flagged as a Bad disk
I don't know of a way to screen capture using the PW USB boot.

It doesn't have to be great photography, a phone camera is fine. Try to limit the glare (turn off flash if camera has one) so the image is readable.

Bill
.

Jon Snow · 20 Jun 2014

It still shows as "bad disk".

Nevermind guys. I really appreciate your help.

Btw, I check again on my other hard disk (old but still working, didnt use for years!), turned out I've made backups before. (or by accident with blessings, I've copied them to that sucky HD) They're all saved!

Nevermind the movies saved inside, i can still download them. What's more important is my memorable photos and all. Like i said, those are priceless. I'm gonna make a lot of backups later on.
Thank you Slartybart and Jumanji! You guys are awesome, I've learned a lot from you guys.