Disk 2 is unknown, not initialized (external HDD)

Hi,

I've been recovering data from three older internal hard drives for a friend, by way of an external HDD enclosure connected via USB to my laptop. It went well for the first two HDDs but the third, well ....

It's a Maxtor DiamondMax 10 HDD, 120 GB and is also marked SATA150.

(1) On most occasions, the HDD in question does not appear under My Computer. Under Devices and Printers, I see the external HDD enclosure as "USB to ATA/ATAPI bridge" (but not the HDD). In Disk Management, I see my internal drives and CD/DVD ROM but for the HDD in question, only "Disk 2, Unknown, Not Initialised" - I get the option to initialise it as MBR or GPT (I cancel at that point).

(2) On rare and seemingly random occasions, my laptop does pick up the HDD as drive F: but usually asks me if I want to format it (nope!). At this point it also appears under Devices and Printers, My Computer and in Disk Management as 'RAW' and 'healthy'.

(3) On three occasions, I have seen the drive name; on two occasions, all of the files - and on one occasion, I was able to copy four files across to my laptop (before losing visibility of it). So I know all the files are there.

However the HDD disconnects itself (or is disconnected) quite quickly, such that I am back to position (1) for the vast majority of the time.

I have tried TestDisk and EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, which do not see the HDD. I have also tried MiniTool Partition Wizard, which mostly does not see the HDD but on one occasion did pick it up as F: and also its name. At that point I searched for files but after a short time the HDD became disconnected. PW carried on scanning but, after 2-3 hours, re-started having found nothing (though I suspect that behaviour was more to do with the HDD becoming disconnected in mid-scan).

So I am back at position (1); Disk Management sees it as Disk 2, unknown and not initialized; nothing else sees it. I hear the HDD quietly spinning and can feel a low-level vibration; on the rare occasions it appears as the F: drive it makes a bit more noise when reading but nothing out of the ordinary - so I think it's okay mechanically.

I'm now out of ideas. Any suggestions??
Thanks in advance for any help :)

Welcome to Seven Forums.

From your description, it seems to be an intermittent problem. Try connecting the Maxtor HDD directly in a Desktop as an internal drive and check.

Thanks Jumanji, connecting it as an internal drive worked - plus I was able to recover all the data.

Sorry for the delay in responding; having become so frustrated, I left the problematic drive on the side for some time (months!) before having another crack at it. Obviously physically installing it as an internal drive was the way to go - again, thank you very much for your help.

Glad and welcome. ( You had given a detailed description of the problem and that enabled the successful crack ).