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Thread: USB ext 500GB Problem

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    Default USB ext 500GB Problem

    I think this is the right forum, "Hardware" that is, But I have a 8-9 year old Seagate USB 500GB ext slim drive.

    It was xfering/playing fine with movies and music stored on it, but now, although it lights up, it is not recognized by my laptop or desktop or a media device (MxqPro), where it had been feeding movies thru the MxqPro on to a television. (a possible CAUSE is my friend removed the drive while powered up, but I do that all the time with USB flash drive mem sticks on my laptop with no problems)

    I'm using "Active File Recovery" software to analyze and hopefully repair/fix this problem but I'm not quite sure how to go about using the available tools/options to get this fixed.

    One thing I notice is that the "Active File Recovery" software reports TWO 500gb partitions, when I know there is only one! How is that possible to have two 500gb partitions on a drive that is 500gb max? Obviously this has something to do with the problem! But how do I delete the one partition without wiping out all the data on the other when they are both the same 500gb drive?

    See attached pics, and this was working fine for quite a while as external movie/music/data storage?

    Any ideas?







    Last edited by cmangle; 27-12-17 at 04:34 PM.



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    I'm also wondering if when USB drives first came out especially in large sizes, that you HAD to execute a software "eject" on them to prevent this kind of error. But I'm thinking newer USB removable drives, whether they were large ext HD(as in this case 500gb) or smaller size flash drives, had solved this potential software "handshake protocol" conflict?

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    i for one would not be doing the recovery through usb

    i would remove the HDD from the case and install it into a pc
    because its is quicker and also could actually be an issue with
    the case and not the Hdd.

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    I've used several different hard drive utilities to retrieve files/data from troublesome hard drives.

    1/. GetDataBack (one version for NTFS and another version for FAT).

    2/. EaseUS Data Recovery.

    As with most software, one version will often complement another as often no single version will ensure 100% success.

    I agree with fandtm666 that you should connect the USB drive direct to a PC rather than attempt to use its existing USB interface as otherwise (1) it will take forever, and/or (2) some recovery software will not work successfully via the USB port.

    Additionally, you should ALWAYS use the Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media facility of your operating system, regardless of the size media (USB stick or HDD).

    If you don't, there is a very real risk of continuing problems such as you have described, due to drive removal while the OS is actively accessing the drive contents for indexing purposes.

    NB. It can take a few seconds for drive activity to cease AFTER the OS advises that it is safe to remove the drive's USB cable from the computer's USB port.

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    I'm with fandtm on that. Also DO NOT attempt any recovery to that drive. It would be worth performing a full drive image and attempting to recover the data from the image.
    I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...

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    OK, attached you will see pics of the unit itself and of the progress of the error checking module of Active File Recovery software. Their recovery options/tools would NOT function on this drive "Quick Scan", "Super Scan" and "Recover" only returning error messages. The "Last Chance" option has correctly found all files/folders/data on this drive (see pic)

    If everything is intact on this drive, cant I just fix the partition table if indeed that is what is keeping it from being recognized by my laptop?

    And why does it have two? One as Local Disk(3:) and another as OU(2:), which is what the drive was originally called, when working correctly, and recognized as such by my laptop!

    This looks like a sealed unit, if I attempt to open it, even with great care, the possibility of damage to the hard drive is high! There are no screws, so it is a "snap fit" of some sort. It is quite thin, less than 8mm.







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    youll find if you open it will have like a adapter at 1 end for da sata, but its still just a sate drive
    open it from the rear end, not the connection end,
    https://www.facebook.com/philquad68

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    Quote Originally Posted by cmangle View Post
    ....If everything is intact on this drive, cant I just fix the partition table if indeed that is what is keeping it from being recognized by my laptop?
    I wouldn't trust the drive without beginning afresh.

    Re-partition and format the drive before re-using it.

    And why does it have two? One as Local Disk(3 and another as OU(2, which is what the drive was originally called, when working correctly, and recognized as such by my laptop!
    It sounds as if the partition table has been corrupted.

    This looks like a sealed unit, if I attempt to open it, even with great care, the possibility of damage to the hard drive is high! There are no screws, so it is a "snap fit" of some sort. It is quite thin, less than 8mm...
    Phil has already answered this.

    Although one should treat hard drives with respect, they are not as fragile as some would think.

    Removing it from the enclosure will not damage it if you exercise reasonable care. (Don't drop it or subject it to similar abuse).

    Remember, it is a wise precaution to keep a backup of all precious/irreplaceable data.

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    This picture attached, is from Active Partition Recovery "partition scan" of the Ou(2) partition.

    When done scanning it found items with a "$" in front of them! What does "$" mean? Also when I expanded the unallocated "GHOST" partition (3) it is displayed with a sub partition Ou (6)"excellent"and two other partitions, fr-FR_L2 (4) "poor"and fr-FR_L3 (5)"poor".

    The sub partition Ou (6) has the exact same folders/items (minus the "$" entries) as the Ou(2) partition, but adds the fr-FR_L2 (4) "poor"and fr-FR_L3 (5)"poor" partitions!

    Can anyone expound on the anamolies, The "$" entries and fr-FR_L2 (4) "poor"and fr-FR_L3 (5)"poor" partitions circled in blue?


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    Most likely those '$' files are being flagged as deleted. When a file is deleted its name is modified and the sectors it was using are marked as free but the data remains until other disc activity overwrites it. The 'poor' marker would indicate that those files or partitions have poor integrity and unlikely to be fully recoverable due to overwritten sectors.

    I've have problem drives (using MS Windows) that read much better with a Linux file manager for the purpose of extracting important files.
    Last edited by Skepticist; 28-12-17 at 09:16 PM.

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    when using the last chance option it does not give you the name of the file
    so would be "$" etc

    as for the part where it states excellent - good - poor
    that is letting you know of what chance you have of recovering the files

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    Quote Originally Posted by Skepticist View Post
    I've have problem drives (using MS Windows) that read much better with a Linux file manager for the purpose of extracting important files.
    Skepticist, I have a Linux program I use called "GPart" that does recovery.

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    Sometimes removing the drive isn't an option. With WD passport drives the connector is different and is unusable without their interface.

    I've had best success with EaseUS recovery....
    The fact that there's a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic flow.

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    Gparted is the sledge hammer so use that after all else fails if you're trying to recover some of the data on the drive. It can be very useful for examining the drive to see what the problem is but don't make any changes straight away unless your ultimate intent is to wipe it clean. Just using the Linux file manager can often read files that Windows won't so try that first.

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    quite simple if you can recover anything once done and files saved get a hammer to the drive
    and get rid of it. The price of drives today is cheap enough not to risk anything being stored on
    dubious HDD

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