External hardrive not "loading".

[Skulblaka]

Greeting everyone,

I ran into a problem again, it's my external 2TB hard drive. Yesterday it worked fine. Now, I connect my hard drive, then I go to "My Computer", the window is blank, it's loading... for a while, most of the time Windows becomes unresponsive, I'm starting to get a "little" frustrated. All of my programs become unresponsive and I have to end them. I received an error earlier, I'll try to recreate it.

I cannot access my external hard drive. It's a "Seagate Free Agent." The data on it is crucial, I cannot lose any of it, 1TB of data!

If you need more things about this situation, please ask.

 

[Mashed1316]

Hello there, Skul!

Are you connecting the HDD to the same USB port as always?

Have you tried accessing the HDD in Safe Mode? There's no need to panic, i know your data is important and let's try to solve the issue

 

[Skulblaka]

Hello there, Skul!

Are you connecting the HDD to the same USB port as always?

Have you tried accessing the HDD in Safe Mode? There's no need to panic, i know your data is important and let's try to solve the issue

Thanks for your quick response, I like your avatar by the way, I'm not panicking. Heheh, "Don't Panic!". Anyway, I'll try you suggestion.

Also, it's the same USB port as always, also, the external drive isn't making the "usual" clicking sound when I access it. I hear the disks spin up, but no major clicking... strange.

 

[Mashed1316]

Hehe thanks in the worst case you could just try to access it via Ubuntu Live CD, also.. could you check the HDD in Device Manager? to see if something unusual comes up :huh:

Did you install any programs since yesterday when the HDD was working?

 

[Skulblaka]

I tried safe mode, same thing, no luck. No new programs installed, the last task I was performing was a defrag which I stopped later on when I came home. The program was TuneUp Utilities, a trustworthy application. Nothing is unusual with the Device Manager.

Huh, the system confirms there is a device connected. "Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media" shows up, when right clicking it shows the hardware that I try to access, my external drive.

 

[Mashed1316]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait :shock: i usually don't trust TuneUp Utilities, i said that to another guy on the forums and you'll find here a lot of member who share the same feelings...

Were you defragging the HDD with TuneUp??

 

[Skulblaka]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait :shock: i usually don't trust TuneUp Utilities, i said that to another guy on the forums and you'll find here a lot of member who share the same feelings...

Were you defragging the HDD with TuneUp??

Yes, but I don't see much of a problem, I had done it multiple times with no problems.

I don't see the problem with defragging. Besides, I've used TuneUp for quite a while.

 

[Mashed1316]

Nono, defragging it's OK it's just that i don't like TuneUp Utilities at all hehe but hey! it works for some, it doesn't for some...

Any news yet? have you been able to access the HDD?

 

[Skulblaka]

I haven't been able to access it, I fear the worst. I have two possible ways, one I will try right now, try to access through Ubuntu and/or from an other computer. The last option is to try use some sort of software to try to salvage what I can if at all possible.

I'll still try to take suggestions or ideas on what I can do, any help will be appreciated.

--- EDIT ---

Well, I really need this explained. Right now I'm on Disk Management, look at the image included, I need to know what that means, there should be 980GB free from this external hard drive (F).

This possibly means... I've lost... about four months of work... this isn't happening. :shock:

 

[Mashed1316]

Wait, why is there a "RAW" partition on the 2TB drive, and why is it empty?! :shock: now that's scary...

Boot from a Ubuntu Live CD and try to access the HDD.. that'd be my last option :huh:

 

[Skulblaka]

I have the same question, I need someone to explain it to me, perhaps someone here may know.

 

[Mashed1316]

I think this is the answer

A RAW file system defines a situation when your operating system fails to recognize the associated volume because the file system extension has been deleted. The system cannot access data from such partitions. When Windows reports this error, it could be because you haven't initialized the partition, haven't formatted the drive or you are trying to access a partition that is corrupt. In such situations, various errors may appear, the most common being is discussed further.

Cause

The file system type is defined at least two different locations: partition table (or LDM in case of dynamic disks) or volume boot sector. The above situation can occur in one of the following possibilities:

Both volume boot sector and partition table possess incorrect file system type information The file system type information contained at these two locations contradict with each other Neither of the two locations contain the correct file system type information

These conditions arise when the partition table, volume boot sector and/or LDM database is corrupt. In NTFS volumes, damage to MFT can also cause this behavior.

Solution

Check for the latest backup you have and restore your data if it fulfills your requirements. Later, you can reformat the drive to solve the error.

In case when no valid backup is available, Windows Partition Recovery utilities can work. The partition recovery utilities are highly competent tools, equipped with graphically rich features, that can recover lost data from corrupt, lost, inaccessible or formatted disk partitions.

 

[sreedhav]

Dear Skulblaka,
Hi there! One thing is clear: you are connected to the "Seagate free agent pro" (i too have it ,but of 750GB cap.) If our eyes have not deceived us it shows the "space" on the EXTN.HDD.

Though the Seagate is shown as "healthy", let us probe this further! There is a tool called the "ACRONIS DRIVE MONITOR", which gives a fairly accurate statistics based on the S.M.A.R.T. TECH. Website to download : Acronis corporate backup solutions: backup or clone hard drive on servers and workstations

I request you to kindly post the monitor results, for all of us to view! Hope is what keeps the flame from dying! My philosophy is"hope for the best but prepare for the worst"! I hope you have not been tinkering with the registry UNLESS you are an expert geek!
Regards,
DR.Sreedhav.

 

[Skulblaka]

I'll try it out, I've downloaded one of the Seagate utilities which is supposed to diagnose errors, but it failed to even start the scan. Hopefully this may at least show us something. Also, no, I don't "tinker" unless I'm very confident and know what I'm doing. I haven't touched the registry.

--- EDIT ---

There is a lot of "red", this can't be good. I'm not sure if this is what I have to post, but here it it, the image included.

 

[DeVandal]

...Also, it's the same USB port as always, also, the external drive isn't making the "usual" clicking sound when I access it. I hear the disks spin up, but no major clicking... strange.

Healthy drives do not make a clicking sound.

Unhealthy drives make a clicking sound.

 

[sreedhav]

Dear Skulblaka,
My apologies to Punkster, because being a slow typer i missed His/Her post! The post was educative. I have cultivated a habit of "creating" system restore points, before installing or any major change! I do not want to insult your intelligence by explaining as to how to go about creating them!

I have a seperate power connection to the EXTN.HD,but the connection via USB to the CPU is untouched! This is b'cause, repeated inserting and removing the USB plug-in WILL damage the hardware! I recently bought a Transcend 8GB pen drive and it is already loose after repeatedly connecting to the USB dongle (the one which has 4-6 usb slots)! When did you buy the Seagate Free Agent Pro? Usual life span of any HD is 5-7 years and beyond it is a blessing!
Regards,
Sreedhav

 

[Skulblaka]

...Also, it's the same USB port as always, also, the external drive isn't making the "usual" clicking sound when I access it. I hear the disks spin up, but no major clicking... strange.

Healthy drives do not make a clicking sound.

Unhealthy drives make a clicking sound.

Not really, this drive does that when reading data. It's a rather cheap drive. I don't like it, but I got it during August.

Dear Skulblaka,
My apologies to Punkster, because being a slow typer i missed His/Her post! The post was educative. I have cultivated a habit of "creating" system restore points, before installing or any major change! I do not want to insult your intelligence by explaining as to how to go about creating them!

I have a seperate power connection to the EXTN.HD,but the connection via USB to the CPU is untouched! This is b'cause, repeated inserting and removing the USB plug-in WILL damage the hardware! I recently bought a Transcend 8GB pen drive and it is already loose after repeatedly connecting to the USB dongle (the one which has 4-6 usb slots)! When did you buy the Seagate Free Agent Pro? Usual life span of any HD is 5-7 years and beyond it is a blessing!
Regards,
Sreedhav

No, I don't make those mistakes, this is a "bit" more serious. The drive is always connected.

Check above post for what you have asked.

Also, I'm going to bed, I'm tired and have school tomorrow. I'll respond asap.

 

[DeVandal]

Clicking sounds from a hard disk drive may emanate from the head actuator as the drive repetitively tries to recover from one or more errors. The clicking sounds can be the heads repetitively loading or unloading, or they can be the sounds of the actuator striking a stop, or both.

See Failing hard drive sounds - Datacent.com - Datacent for audible samples.

 

[Skulblaka]

Clicking sounds from a hard disk drive may emanate from the head actuator as the drive repetitively tries to recover from one or more errors. The clicking sounds can be the heads repetitively loading or unloading, or they can be the sounds of the actuator striking a stop, or both.

See Failing hard drive sounds - Datacent.com - Datacent for audible samples.

So you're saying I could have received a defective product?

 

[DeVandal]

All that I am saying is that healthy drives do not make a clicking sound.

Defective product is a loaded term. The facts, as you have provided, are that a working formatted drive now presents as raw.

You are in the warranty period and should exercise it. Prior to doing so, you should also use a tool like File Scavenger to recover your data to the extent possible.

Many experts on this site will afford you their opinions as to the better, more cost effective, options for data recovery software.

It is possible that the drive mfgr will guide you through the process necessary to remove the drive from its assembly so that you can attach it directly to a working system SATA/IDE port.