External hardrive can no longer access

Hi there,
I'm wondering if anyone could help me, I think I've lost my boyfriend's full terrabyte from his external hardrive:eek
I was copying photos onto it to back up, then my computer and it froze. Now it recognizes it differently.
I've tried on multiple computers but now it just comes up as a message to reformat and it's name in the 'my computer' list has changed to just 'H Drive'. I've done some research online as to what to do and I've checked by going into Disk Management via My Computer and it states that
(H: )Layout=simple
Type=basic
File system=RAW
Status=Healthy (Primary Partition)
Capacity=931gb
%Free=100%
However, I know for a fact that his terrabyte was 99% full.
Have I completely wrecked his harddrive or can I salvage any of it before he returns?!
I would really appreciate any replies,
Thanks a million

 

Hi, Welcome to MG!

Download Partition Wizard and install.

Open Partition Wizard. In the top pane you will see pictures of HDs. Click on the picture for the external HD. From the options on the left click Partition Recovery Wizard.

Again, select the external HD. Click Next and then Full Disk and Next then Quick Scan. It should come up with a list of partitions. Hopefully, only one large one of type NTFS and it will show a lot of used space. If it is only one and a lot of used space you can double click that partition to see a list of files you should recognize. If all that runs as expected you can check the box for that partition and click Finish.

If there are more than one partition listed or you can't see a list of your files, tell me what you see.

Basic Guide to what you are doing: http://www.partitionwizard.com/help/partition-recovery.html

 

Missed the ten minute edit time. If it is only one partition and you go ahead and recover it, after hitting Finish you will need to hit Apply in the main window. (The guide leaves that step out, as did I.)

 

Hi there,
Firstly thank you so much for the quick reply.
I've followed your steps and clicked 'Finish' as luckily i could see the large NTFS file and recognised his files and after clicking finish it returned me to main page and it wouldn't let me click the Apply button?
Thanks

 

It has bee a while since I have done the steps.

Did you tick the check box next to the large partition before hitting Finish?

Does Windows see the partition without hitting Apply? Without hitting Apply in the main window does the partition have a drive letter?

 

Hi,
Yes I ticked the box and clicked finish, it then returns me to Partition Wizard's main page where i can see his file (with it's old name as it used to appear in 'my computer') and will not allow me to press apply, however on windows it still appears now as Local Disk (H)

 

I'm having the same problem. Does Disk Management still show it as RAW? Try disconnecting and reconnecting the drive. And then check My Computer.

 

I think the not being able to hit apply is because Partition Wizard sees the partition as existing, so it doesn't see itself as making any changes. Before trying to delete/recover that partition or use a different software, I think you should in Partition Wizards main window higlight the partition by right-clicking on it then choose Check File System then in that window tick the box for Fix the errors. Does the chkdisk run? or do you get an error? Then disconnect and reconnect the external and see if any change in My Computer.

 

Yes it still says it's RAW. Then, once I unplugged and plugged it in 'my computer' still has it as Local Disk 'H'

 

Just clicked fix and it asks "would you like to force a dismount of the volume?" (behind this box i can read it says that

"Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. May run if this volume is dismounted first.
ALL OPEN HANDLES TO THIS VOLUME WOULD BE INVALID. "

 

Say yes to dismount.

 

Before when doing partition recovery did partition wizard show only the one partition?

 

Yes it only showed one. It's currently dismounting

 

Dismount should only take a couple seconds. If it is still waiting for dismount just hit Cancel.

 

it's still dismounting i think but won't let me press cancel, it might be frozen because it got so far but hasn't changed in the last ten mins at all however i can feel and hear the hard drive working?

 

Just unplug it and reattach. Does it still show drive H: in My Computer.

 

tried that and it still called H

 

I'm leaving for the day in about an hour so I can't test things out with Partition Wizard. I think using the Partition Recover Wiard when it finds the one partition ticking no boxes hitting Finish then Apply will remove that partition. Then running the wizard again but his time ticking the box for the (now deleted) partition and hitting Finish will allow you to hit Apply and recover the partition. But I can't test. I would try Testdisk even though it is an old fashioned interface. It should work. Close Partition Wizard.

Download TestDisk 6.14. Unzip it and go into the folder. Find the win folder and then testdisk_win.exe and double click it to run the program.

Create is highlighted so hit <enter>
Arrow down to select the external (going by size) and hit <enter> to Proceed
Intel is highlited so hit <enter>
Analyse so <enter>
Quick Search so <enter>
type Y and <enter>
It should show your one partition in green type face. type P and does it show your files? Type q to go back.
Continue is highlighted so <enter>
Arrow to Write and <enter>
type Y for yes and hit <enter>
Type Q a couple of times to quit the program
Remove and reattach the HD and check My Computer.

It sounds complicated but it really isn't. No changes are made until you say yes to the Write command. As long as the partition is in Green and P shows your files you are OK to write. If either of those is not true ask before writing.

 

Thank you so much for all this. Ill give this a go. I'm really sorry for taking up so much of your time but I really appreciate the help. I'll post back how I get on. Thanks a million though for the help and have a nice day

 

Ok, I'll check back tomorrow and if necessary test out PW on another machine. Testdisk is avery good program but feel free to wait if you need advice.

 

I tried the TestDrive programme and procedure but to no avail. So I tried using the Partition Wizard to do what you suggested but I tried on a usb first to be safe as you'd mentioned you'd not tested it, but once again it never gave me the option to 'Apply' when the box was both ticked, and unticked.
Thanks again, I really appreciate it,
C

 

Hmm,
Did you see your files when you typed "P"?

Then you went through the Write process, got a confirmation question asking you to reply Y/N and you said Yes and the files are still not visible after removing and inserting the drive?

 

Hi, Yes I saw the files when pressed P, however when I finished the process and disconnected/reconnected hard drive it still does not show the files then.

 

Testdisk is the most powerful partition manager I know.

I don't know of anything else I could suggest. I would work through those steps again and tell us if any one step gives you a different message than I expected.

Both partition wizard and testdisk show a list of the files so they are there. Only Windows itself can't see them.

If reworking testdisk doesn't help than all I can suggest is to boot to a Lnux environment and see if it will recognize the external and see the files.

I like Parted Magic which is relatively small at 150mb. It will boot from a CD or an empty USB flash drive and hopefully see the external and the files and let you explore and copy them to an internal HD or different external HD.

Lili is an easy to use utility if you have an Empty USB flash drive. It will download and install Parted Magic linux and put it on an empty USB flash drive and then you can boot the computer from that and see if it recognizes the external and sees the file system so that you can copy your files.

Or you can download Parted Magic or Puppy linux and burn the ISO file to a blank CD and boot from that. Then you should again be able to explore the external and see if it recognizes the files so you can copy them to an internal HD.

I would concentrate on seeing if you can get a copy of the files before worrying about the partition structure since there appears to be a rather persistent problem.

 

Hi there,
Sorry for the delay in replying, I've been away for a few days and been without internet. Thank you for all your work and time you've put into replying to my post. I will try do what you suggest and if that doesn't work I'll just bring it into a shop in town to be fixed, because either way you've put my mind at ease by helping show me that his terabyte of info is still there and I can sleep better knowing I haven't ruined his years of stuff saved on it! Thanks again and best wishes