External HDD Problems...

raoul_1101

raoul_1101

Member
So I have a terabyte external HDD. And it was sitting on top my computer. and my cat (damn her) decided to push it off, and it took a stumble to the floor. I checked my computer, and I could still access the files on it. But the next time I went to restart my computer, It would lock up before booting into windows whenever i had the HDD plugged in. And if I let it boot and then plug it in, I cannot access and files on it. Windows knows its there in device manager, but cannot produce it in My Computer. The HDD did become unplugged in its stumble. Are these signs of it being corrupt?
 
To add to this, in disk management, disk1 shows up below my normal HDD. It has a little red arrow on the picture of it, and it shows 931.51 GB of Unallocated space..
 
Step 1 - Cut all power to the Drive, and if you can open it up and make sure all the connections are properly-seated.

Step 2 - Boot into Windows, then plug in the Drive and see what happens.

...

Step 3 - ditch the cat and get some fish:D;)
 
Well, windows can identify the drive as WD 10EACS, which is of course what it is, so wouldn't that mean its connected properly?
 
Well, jw, this is a learning experience for me ;), although maybe not with my favorite circumstances.
But all I'm trying to get at is.. the HDD itself is getting a signal to the computer (right?) in order to tell my computer that its a stupid piece of unreadable WD 10EACS garbage.
Idk, maybe not. More on topic:
For reasons unknown, in the devices properties, under the Volumes tab, I can now click Populate with the following results:

Disk: Disk 1
Type: Unknown
Status: Unreadable
Partition Style: Not Applicable
Capacity: 953870 MB
Unallocated Space: 0 MB
Reserved Space: 0 MB
 
Yes, Windows sees the Drive but for some reason (it's not the Drives' fault after all, it was the cats', yes?) Windows doesn't see the files that were on it. There are two causes for this: the first being the heads were knocked out of alignment when the Drive fell, in which case you're SOL (sorry!), or Windows is just being a bitch (which it often is with things like this) and the whole thing caused it to think the Drive is Unformatted.

My advice would be to either try hooking up the Drive to another computer and see how it's recognized (both in terms of format and files), or download and burn a copy of Gparted to view the same. You could also try removing the External Drive, then uninstalling all the Drivers for it, then hooking it back up again and see how your current system recognizes and installs it.
 
Yes, Windows sees the Drive but for some reason (it's not the Drives' fault after all, it was the cats', yes?) Windows doesn't see the files that were on it. There are two causes for this: the first being the heads were knocked out of alignment when the Drive fell, in which case you're SOL (sorry!), or Windows is just being a bitch (which it often is with things like this) and the whole thing caused it to think the Drive is Unformatted.

My advice would be to either try hooking up the Drive to another computer and see how it's recognized (both in terms of format and files), or download and burn a copy of Gparted to view the same. You could also try removing the External Drive, then uninstalling all the Drivers for it, then hooking it back up again and see how your current system recognizes and installs it.
Click to expand...

In which case... F*%&. I've tried hooking it up to another computer, and disk management tells me its full of unallocated space, and again, I can't read the files off of it. I'll take a look at Gparted (with no optimism), and I'm contacting WD to see if I can RMA it (again, not so sure it'll happen, not sure what WD warranty policies are). Haha, if all else fails, I'll talk to a computer repair shop, and if that doesn't work either, I'll have a 1GB SATA HDD in which I can open up and play around with.

edit: Is my HD most likely formatted in fat32, do you know? If so, do I need the software "dosfstools" (reading http://gparted.sourceforge.net/features.php)
 
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It's probably NTFS, but regardless, no you do not need the extra software. a basic GParted will be fine.
 
I'm having trouble finding Gparted & installing :o, nothing I'm ending up with is working right.... mind linking me to a download?
 
I'm having trouble finding Gparted & installing :o, nothing I'm ending up with is working right.... mind linking me to a download?
 
Well, I would say GP is a moot point at this time, actually, since more than one Windows Install is telling you the same thing. At this point, I'd probably go the RMA route (telling whatever story you want) and see if they'll replace it.
 
Haha. Well I'm trying to talk to WD support, but they haven't gotten back to me yet. Hehe, I wonder if they'll do it despite the fact I never got a warranty ;). Which brings up a good question.. Do you know if WD has a standard warranty on any of their products?
 
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