# External Hard Drive unallocated and not initialized



## swat7334

Hi guys,

I've been using a Buffalo HD-PCU2 external hard drive for a while now. 
Just yesterday after booting my laptop up the hard drive was no longer available as a drive under 'My Computer'. 

The device is still listed in Device Manager, but in Disk Management it is listed as Unallocated and Not Intizialized.

When I go to initialize it, it comes up with 'The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error.

I'm running windows 7 64 bit.

Any help either fixing this or getting my data off the device would be greatly appreciated.

I've tried various windows data recovery soft ware to no avail.

Thanks


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## montiaro

Have you tried to unplug the device, restart your computer, and then replug it back in with a different cable (if available) and USB slot or try the external hard drive on another computer? Is there any symbols next to the external hard drive in Device Manager or any new software you have installed? Always make sure to safely eject your external hard drive before unplugging it, the hard drive could also be damaged.


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## Rits

Did you tried connecting it on any other computer to check if it works?

Is your external drive drive letter appearing as X in device management then I will suggest you to try performing chkdsk please follow the steps below:

*1.* Open the Start Menu.

*2.* In the Start Menu search box area type *cmd*, then right click on *cmd.exe* (at top), and click on *Run as administrator*. (see screenshot below)




In command prompt Type CHKDSK X: /F/R (Replace X to your external drive drive letter)

It might ask you to schedule chkdsk in next reboot. select yes and restart your computer chkdsk will run at startup.


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## spunk.funk

Make sure you have the correct power adapter that came with the enclosure as this would cause this problem. If correct, Either the HDD itself has failed or the logic board inside the USB enclosure has failed. Remove the HDD from the enclosure and attach it to a USB Adapter. Power it up and you can tell if the drive is clicking, scrapping or is cold (dead). If not, and you do not need to try and recover any files from the drive, plug it into the Back USB port of the computer not the front or through a hub as these are weaker ports. Go to Disk Management and *Initialize* the drive and *Format *it. If you _do_ want to try and recover, then try GetDataBack NTFS Download the trial version and let it scan your drive, it will tell you what if any files it can recover, then you decide if you want to pay for it to actually restore your Files (you will need another drive of the same size to recover to.)


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## swat7334

montiaro said:


> Have you tried to unplug the device, restart your computer, and then replug it back in with a different cable (if available) and USB slot or try the external hard drive on another computer? Is there any symbols next to the external hard drive in Device Manager or any new software you have installed? Always make sure to safely eject your external hard drive before unplugging it, the hard drive could also be damaged.


I've restarted quite a few times and tried different ports but same result.
I'm away at the moment so don't have access to another computer, all I have is my HP laptop. There are no symbols next to it in Device manager, and it does not come up with a drive volume. 
Thanks!


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## montiaro

Did you try what spunk.funk suggested?


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## swat7334

spunk.funk said:


> Make sure you have the correct power adapter that came with the enclosure as this would cause this problem. If correct, Either the HDD itself has failed or the logic board inside the USB enclosure has failed. Remove the HDD from the enclosure and attach it to a USB Adapter. Power it up and you can tell if the drive is clicking, scrapping or is cold (dead). If not, and you do not need to try and recover any files from the drive, plug it into the Back USB port of the computer not the front or through a hub as these are weaker ports. Go to Disk Management and *Initialize* the drive and *Format *it. If you _do_ want to try and recover, then try GetDataBack NTFS Download the trial version and let it scan your drive, it will tell you what if any files it can recover, then you decide if you want to pay for it to actually restore your Files (you will need another drive of the same size to recover to.)





montiaro said:


> Did you try what spunk.funk suggested?


The HDD is powered only through usb and no adapter is present. The hard drive once attached comes up with a blue light to signal it is powered. The blue light is still working once plugged in so I assume it's fine on power. I can hear no clicking or scrapping or any noise really.

I only have my laptop so no back ports, and when I try and initialise it in disk management it says 'request could not be performed because of an I/O error'.

I'll check out the recover software however.

Thanks for the suggestions.


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## swat7334

I think it's toast, I ran GetDataBack and it came up with I/0 Error 'Unknown error (23)' reading sector ' over and over.


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## montiaro

Try to get a hold of another computer to try it out on.


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## swat7334

would a mac work with it?


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## montiaro

Yes, you should be able to see whats on the drive if it is still working as intended. But you might not be able to copy files over from the mac to the external hard drive depending on the format of the external hard drive.


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## swat7334

Same thing on the mac. Blue light comes on. Disk is not readable and unable to initialize


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## pwpeace

I have a similar problem...I just posted a question regarding my laptop and the appearance of a grey/black screen. When the laptop did this, my external (WD Passport) was connected. I tried to use the external on two separate laptops. When the folder opens, it appears empty, however, it registers the current capacity of space available sin the "computer" file. I also scanned it for errors, and every file showed up while being scanned. I changed cords with another WD external, and I even re-installed the drivers on the current laptop I am using. Questions: What could the problems possibly be? Could the sudden shut down of my laptop possibly be related to this problem? 
Could it have caused damage because it was still connected?
(I don't recall dropping it.) 
If the drive is damaged, how (if at all) can I recover any data? (It contains MP3 files only.) 
Any suggestions are welcome.


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## Networks

Swatt7324 did you remove the drive from the enclosure as already suggested ? What is the make model of the drive ? Did you remove the controller board from the drive and clean the contacts ?


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