Hard Drive Disappeared

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by LMJ, Jun 16, 2008.

  1. LMJ

    LMJ Private E-2

    I spent the better part of the weekend removing malware from my computer. However, during an early reboot, before everything was successfully removed, I received an error message indicating that my H: drive volume was dirty. It went through a painstakingly long time period during which it ran through a percentage of files. The computer rebooted to Windows. Shortly afterward I noticed that I can no longer access this external drive through "My Computer". I have no clue as to what happened and I have no clue on how to proceed. I only know that I have thousands of photos and documents that I can no longer access. Please help.
     
  2. sosaman

    sosaman Sergeant Major

    Last edited: Jun 17, 2008
  3. sosaman

    sosaman Sergeant Major

    i ran out of time to edit it. don't format, or delete any partitions, just look!! ;)

    wait on this part. i want to see if you see it in comp management. - sos
     
  4. LMJ

    LMJ Private E-2

    I did shut down the computer, unplugged, and rebooted. I can hear the external hard drive spinning when connected. I still do not see the device in "My Computer". I also went to the device manager to try to uninstall it, however, I do not see it listed anywhere?? I also went to control panel, admin tools, comp magaement, and disk management and it is not listed there either??
     
    Last edited: Jun 17, 2008
  5. sosaman

    sosaman Sergeant Major

    have you tried it on another comp to make sure it works? have you tried another usb cable (just in case)? do you get that noise, or acknowledgement when you plug it in?

    when you were looking in comp management, were you looking at the top or the bottom (or both)? if it doesn't show up in device manger (under disk drives), or in comp management, then it might be toast? make sure you try what i said above. - sos
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2008
  6. LMJ

    LMJ Private E-2

    Actually I have made a little progress but not necessarily good news. I used Western Digital's Diagnostic Software that I found on their website and was able to locate the drive. After rebooting, it now appears in My Computer. However, when I try to access the drive I get a message that says the Drive is not formatted....The disk in drive F: is not formatted....Do you want to format it now? I am assuming that I will lose the data if I format the drive so I am once again stuck as to where to proceed.
     
  7. sosaman

    sosaman Sergeant Major

    yes, do not format it!! you can try some data recovery software (dlb, posted a few in my thread), or you can try to get your data thru knoppix (link below).

    http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=160438 <-- can't access desktop h/d (check out posts 5&6)

    i'll have to remember that!! :) - g/l, sos
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2008
  8. LMJ

    LMJ Private E-2

    I feel like I'm losing the battle. I tried to run Ultimate Data Recovery and received a message that said "Disk is not supported. Sector size not 512Bytes" Then when I went back to "My Computer" to look.......... instead of receiving a message saying I need to fromat the drive, I now receive an error message that says "F:\ is not accessible. The parameter is incorrect."
     
  9. risk_reversal

    risk_reversal MajorGeek

    Are you saying that your external HDD was connected & visible to your pc during the remedial work which you undertook?

    Sounds like the drive's MBR may have become corrupt.

    Hopefully, other users will offer their opinions.

    Cheers
     
  10. LMJ

    LMJ Private E-2

    Yes. The external HD was working whle removing the malware. It was only on the final reboot that I began to have problems. I hope someone can help too.
     
  11. sosaman

    sosaman Sergeant Major

    no offense, but i only have my external h/d's, plugged in when i'm ready to use them, not on all the time, thru reboots, etc. <-- this is my personal opinion though..

    anyway, i'd try to d/l knoppix, and see if you can access your external h/d thru there. i found it a bit wierd (prior to this i had been on there @ 5 times trying to figure stuff out), but it wasn't too bad. i'm by far no expert, but maybe i can help walk you thru this (if you'd like).

    http://www.knoppix.net/ <-- Knoppix is a Live Linux CD based on Debian GNU/Linux (i copied the text from their site)

    http://knopper.net/knoppix-mirrors/index-en.html <-- Download KNOPPIX from Mirrors

    KNOPPIX_V5.1.1CD-2007-01-04-EN <-- this is the version i have

    basically knoppix, is run from a cd, there is no installation needed (make sure you have your cd/dvd player set in your bios to boot first. if you are able to access your h/d thru knoppix, you don't want to save it to your desktop (in knoppix), you want to save it somewhere else (ie - your h/d, or another external h/d, or burn to cd - i couldn't figure this out, or my burner didn't work on that comp). g/l, sos
     
  12. LMJ

    LMJ Private E-2

    make sure you have your cd/dvd player set in your bios to boot first

    Can you explain how to do this? I think I'm going to give Knoppix a try. Oh.........and thanks for the advice about not always running the external HD. I guess I've learned my lesson on that one.
     
  13. sosaman

    sosaman Sergeant Major

    well, you'll know if you put your disk in and boot up. if windows starts up, then you need to change your boot order. you need to look when you are starting up your comp (before it gets to the windows splash screen). there are several ways to enter your bios, it depends on the manufacturer. sometimes it's the delete key, etc, sometimes it will briefly say it as it's booting up, and sometimes there is a way to change boot order when the comp is booting up, besides getting into the bios.

    when you d/l knoppix, it will be an image file (.iso), you will need a s/w (ie nero, or imgburn) that can burn an image file (.iso), to a cd, you will also need a 700 mbyte cd, to burn to.


    http://majorgeeks.com/ImgBurn_d4870.html <-- ImgBurn 2.4.1.0

    note: you can't burn the disk as a data disk, it won't work. you have to be able to burn the image to a disk (you'll see it in the s/w). g/l, sos

    let me know if/and when you get knoppix d/l'd and your disk burned. i'll be in and out all day running errands. <-- you don't have private messages enabled.
     
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2008
  14. LMJ

    LMJ Private E-2

    I looked at Knoppix and unfortunately, I am too much of a novice to think that I would know what I was doing with it. In addition to Ulta Data Recovery I ran Recuva and Get Data Back. Both programs are unable to read any files on the drive. I thought I was being clever in recovering all my C: drive files with Recuva since many times I transfered the files to my external drive but most of those were unrecoverable too for some reason. Since my external HD is under warranty I am at least able to receive a replacement but I am thinking my data is toast.:cry
     
  15. sosaman

    sosaman Sergeant Major

    did you boot up into knoppix? at least you could try and see if there is anything recoverable (rather than a total loss). here's a couple of screenshots.

    screenshot #1 - you can just close that
    screenshot #2 - is of the desktop - notice the drives that were detected (on the left)
    screenshot #3 - i just plugged in my thumbdrive (notice it's name - "sda1")
     

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  16. risk_reversal

    risk_reversal MajorGeek

    Your data may not be toast. There are several things to try.

    Firstly, follow sosaman's advise. Secondly, you always have the oprion to approach HDD recovery specialists.

    In my opinion it appears likely that the partition table to the external HDD has become corrupt. This probably happened when you were running malware progs with the external HDD connected to the pc. The partition tables define where a partition begins and ends on your hard disk. If these tables become corrupt then the o/s does not know how to address the drive. The data that you have on the drive is likely still their.

    With this in mind then it is possible to rebuilt the partition table with the aid of 2 progs. MBRWork and BiNG (both work in dos ie from a floppy). These programs are free and available from

    http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/index.htm

    The process of resetting your MBR and partition tables using MBRWork and 'Undeleting' the partition with BiNG is not difficult to do but not recommended for the total novice. You would also have to take the HDD physically out of the enclosure.

    You could also try to use Partition Table Doctor which can just be installed normally on your pc and which many people swear by.

    Good Luck
     
  17. sosaman

    sosaman Sergeant Major

    screenshot #4 (only one on this post) - i am making my thumbdrive writeable.

    ok, this is what i would do if i were you. 1st make a folder or something on your computer (where you want to copy your data to).

    boot up knoppix, plug in your external h/d, you should see something like my 3rd screenshot.

    on the desktop (the one that looks like a thumbdrive), you want to "right click" it, and select "change read/write mode" (basically you want the drive writeable). <-- this would be your source (where you want to copy from)

    you also want to do this (change read/write mode) to the drive that you want to copy your data to. <-- this would be your target

    so, basically find what you can, then copy it to your other folder (if you look at the bottom right, next to 1-2-3-4, that is like your taskbar, what you have open).

    i've noticed that when you "left click" on an item it opens (single click), so you might have to "right click", then click on the folder, then select other items (it takes some practice). also, to change the folder view, up at the top in the folder - view --> view mode --> tree view

    i would just do some, and see how it goes. when you are thru, i'd just shut down the comp, then you can unplug your external h/d (or you can right click, and "unmount" in knoppix). this should be enough to get you going, hopefully you can recover some data? - g/l, sos

    if you have more questions, just shoot (not at me though)!! :p

    edit - the only reason i'm suggesting this way, is i was able to get at data that was from 11-2000 - 11-2004, or so. i couldn't figure out any of the s/w that dlb posted in my thread, and some of the other s/w couldn't see the drive, as it wasn't showing up in "my computer". as mentioned by "r.r." below, my mbr probably got messed up (like yours), and i had to try an alternate way of trying to get my data. anyway, i got what i could, and deleted the partion, and formatted the drive, and it seems fine. - sos
     

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    Last edited: Jun 19, 2008
  18. sosaman

    sosaman Sergeant Major

    fyi, i know i mentioned this, but i'll say it again.

    when you copy your data (i'd copy it for now), do not save it to the desktop of knoppix, as it is not saved when you logoff of knoppix!! you actually want to save it to your h/d (folder), or another external h/d, or thumbdrive. i'd play around with it 1st before you start deleting stuff (or actually moving the data from your external h/d). that's why i said i'd copy (instead of moving) for now.

    also, if you are able to recover stuff in knoppix. i noticed that i could see/open pics, and when i actually recovered some data and tried to open it in xp, i couldn't (screenshot below). well, i knew these were pics (on my thumbdrive), and i wound up renaming them (.jpg), and they work fine in xp now. <-- if you have to try this, make a copy, so you don't actually lose the data, by changing the extension. - sos
     

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