4TB HDD suddenly RAW

Okay a little update. After the full scan had finished, I rebooted my computer. In doing so, during boot it said that drive F should be checked...I allowed it and let it run over night.



On the left, you can see the 4TB is usable. The icon isn't showing but I can get into it. On the right is the root of the F drive. First thing I notice is the locks on the folders. I can open an manipulate everything in them. (I think it's just because the permissions have been completely stripped from the folders.) The second thing I noticed is my Music folder (Which resides on the root of the drive) is missing. And I'm sure there may be other things missing too that I just haven't noticed yet.



Unfortunately PW still only shows half the drive, as did Test disk for /dev/sdc. Running a deep scan using GetDataBack and will also try Recuva for the music folder.

Will update again with results

Okay, CHKDSK ran but didn't do anything to help. I've formatted the drive and now its only showing 2TB max. how to I get full use of the drive back?

Did you initialise it as GPT before formatting? Please post a screenshot of how your drive looks in Partition izard. Also let me know the manufacturer and model number of the drive.

Well, the drive was already GPT before formatting.

However, after taking the drive out of my computer and plugging it into my bare drive bay, it reads at 4TB. I've since partitioned the drive into two partitions. (Do you think that'll help windows deal the fact that it's over 2TB?)
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Okay, I just checked it in PW...and well,, look at this weirdness.


But as you can see in windows explorer, the two partitions.


Also the model is WDC_WD40EZRX-00SPEB0. It's a Western Digital Green

You have disclosed some new information hitherto unknown to me. Either you didn't put it across before or I missed it - most unlikely. You have a dock. Confirm.

A dock has some specifications, how many GB/TB HDD each bay can handle, and the total HDD capacity it can handle. This can create a wraparound problem if you put a larger capacity drive into a bay. For example if each bay can handle 2TB and you put a 4TB drive into it after 2TB of data is written any further data will wraparound and start writing from the beginning overwriting the old data. The dock may also muck up your HDD in many ways. ( Sector 0 , other volume boot records, GPT drive partition header, partition table, and the partition data backups))

OK, now please do this. Connect your 4TB drive as an internal drive. Do a full erase using WD Datalifeguard Diagnostic for Windows. http://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?lang=en Essentially you are writing zeros to all sectors and a clean wipe to clear all muck. For a 4TB drive it may take hours. So do it overnight.

Once a full erase is completed, when you reboot you will need to initialise the disk as GPT. Create as many volumes as you would like and format.

As far as the dock is concerned, check its specification and comply with it. Older docks can handle only 2TB HDDs /bay.

OK, It is a drive bay built into the case.

You must check the drive properly with Datalifeguard Diagnostic for Windows. It should work with/test all WD drives, no exceptions.. See the WD Green support page here http://support.wdc.com/product.aspx?ID=608. You can download Datalifeguard Diagnostic for Windows from this page also. ( It will be the same v1.31) See the User Guide here Testing a drive for problems using Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows | WD Support
. When run it should enumerate all the WD drives alongwith their capacity. If your 4 TB drive is not enumerated with full capacity shown , God help you. But next to God, contact WD Tech support and discuss with them on what you should do further.

If your 4TB drive is recognised with full capacity, then run the Quick Test, Extended Test and check the results. You should also be able to Full Erase the drive if the Quick Test and extended test pass..