# [SOLVED] External Hard Drive not accessible



## ldrki

I have a 1.5Tb Samsung external HD. When plugged in a window popped out (Windows 7) asking whether to run a test on it, whick I did. It took so long that I had to stop it after quite a few hours. Now the unit shows up (not the capacity or free space) but you can't access it. 

When I click on this drive it warns me to format it plus _Data Error (cyclic redundancy check)_.

PS: It gets a warning on Acronis Disk Monitor too...

Thanks for your help.


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## spunk.funk

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*



> asking whether to run a test on it, whick I did. It took so long that I had to stop it after quite a few hours.


Stopping the *Check Disk* in the middle without it finishing it has corrupted the file system on the drive. It is not uncommon for a drive to take several hours to run 
Check Disk, especially if there are a lot of errors. This process checks for bad sectors and marks them and does not save data to them in the future. *C*yclic* R*edundancy *C*heck errors are also a bad sign that there are several bad sectors on the drive. 
On another computer, download the ISO image for *Seatools* in my signature, burn the image to CD using* IMGBurn*. Boot off of the newly created CD and run the short and long tests on the external drive. If it fails the drive needs to be replaced.


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## ldrki

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*

Thanks for your help. Did what you said but the external drive won't show up on Seatools. Anything left before doing a killdisk? Cheers,


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## spunk.funk

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*

If Seatools isn't seeing the drive, then there is an issue with either the enclosures *Logic Board*, or the drive itself. *Killdisk *will not see the drive either in this state. You can remove the drive from it's enclosure and attach it either internally, to a USB Adapter or another enclosure with a power adapter.


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## ldrki

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*

How can it be the logic board or the drive when it stopped being recognized after a failed test/repair.


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## spunk.funk

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*

Because one of those failed.


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## ldrki

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*

Seatools doesn't recognize a perfectly normal USB drive either. Is there any other tool?


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## spunk.funk

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*



> Seatools doesn't recognize a perfectly normal USB drive


Two tests do not recognize this drive. do you still think it is perfectly normal? 
If you need more confirmation, take the drive out of the enclosure. This will take the logic board of the enclosure out of the trouble shooting equation. Either attach it internally to a computer, or as previously stated a *USB Adapter* or another *USB Enclosure*. Then try *Seatools* again, or download the ISO image for *Drive Fitness, *or *DataLifeGuard *in my signature and burn either of those to CD using *IMGBurn *also in my signature. If none of these programs recognize this drive then it has failed and needs to be replaced.


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## ldrki

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*

I meant a 2nd USB drive (without issues) isn't showing up on Seatools either.


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## spunk.funk

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*

Is the second HDD showing in the Bios, or in Windows?


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## ldrki

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*

Yes it does


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## spunk.funk

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*

Go to Start/Search and type *diskmgmt.msc *right click diskmgmt icon in the search results and* Run As Administrator*. In Disk Management, is the drive listed there? Does it say the drive is *Unallocated Space* or does it say the Disk is *RAW*? Can you attach a Screen Shot of *Disk Management*?


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## ldrki

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*

Simple/Basic/Raw/Healthy (primary partition)/100% free/no fault tolerance/0% overhead

I have disk drill pro for Mac. Is there anything I can do with it to get the files or fix the drive? Thanks.


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## spunk.funk

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*



> Simple/Basic/Raw/Healthy





> Can you attach a  Screen Shot of *Disk Management*?


 Are you reading this in Disk Management? It is either a *Simple, Basic, Drive *that is *Healthy* meaning a drive that has a partition and is formatted. or it is a drive that is *RAW *(meaning the drive needs to be initialized) and does not have a partition and is not formatted and probably has failed. You cannot use *Mac recovery *software to retrieve an *NTFS file system*. Download the Demo version of R-Studio and let it scan the drive and it will tell you what if anything that it can recover,and then you decide if it is worth it to actually recover your files. You will need another drive of the same size to recover your files to.


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## ldrki

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*

No partition on the drive, 100% unformatted free space. 129 bad sectors. I was hoping to fix the drive issues, not recovering my files. As I said, it happened after an interrupted scan/fix of the drive so blamed the issues on this and not on a drive failure.

In this particular case, disk drill pro for Mac supports NTFS and FAT. I have a serial for it so I'd rather use this one. I've contacted the developer for advice. 

It's my biggest HD and the rest are almost full so I'll have to get another one to backup/retrieve the files. Is it true that the original file names are lost?


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## spunk.funk

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*



> 129 bad sectors. I was hoping to fix the drive issues


 You cannot _Fix_ HDD's. When you _Fix _a HDD, all it does is mark the bad sectors and does not put data on them. If there are too many bad sectors then the drive becomes unusable and the sectors start spreading to the rest of the drive. 
You can try HDD Regenerator that might help you


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## ldrki

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*

Thanks for your patience and advice. Already running HDD Regenerator. When it is done (in a few weeks) and all the bad sectors are taken care of, what should I expect? will I have full access to the drive and will all my previous files be there?


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## spunk.funk

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*

No one knows if HDD generator can _Fix_ the drive until it is done (remember there really is no _fixing _a HDD) Files are most certainly lost. The HDD may have some life left to it, but I wouldn't trust anything important saved to the drive that isn't backed up. There are just too many bad sectors. And HDD's are not that expensive. If the drive is less the 3 years old, it would be better to get an *RMA* and return the drive to the manufacturer and get a refurbished one in return for free.


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## ldrki

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*

It finally died yesterday with that clicking sound, thanks again for your help and support. I opened the external hd and cut the warranty stickers so i don't know if this one will be replaced. My mother's tv and microwave oven also went the way of the dodo, weird to say the least. Cheers,


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## spunk.funk

*Re: External Hard Drive not accessible*

Go to the HDD manufacturers Support site, and check warranty. Type in the part# and Serial # and it will tell you if it is under warranty. Then type in the symptom and they will Email you an RMA form. Box the drive up and mail it back to them. Expect a refurbished drive in the mail in 6-8 weeks. 
Please mark this thread Solved in the thread tools at the top.


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## ldrki

They won't change the drive as I had opened the external enclosure, very unfair. Last time I get anything from the seagate group.


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