Recover data from external hard drive

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by cheungministro, Oct 20, 2008.

  1. cheungministro

    cheungministro Private E-2

    Hi
    I have a 320 GB Hitachi HDD Media Player which I use to store a number of media files and the other day whilst trying to add files to it from my pc it found an error and ever since then I haven't been able to access the drive on my pc as it says it needs to be formatted (I know this means deleting everything on there). I do not wish to format the drive as I wish to keep the files that are on the drive. I know the files are still on there because I can hook the drive up to my TV and view them, I am only restricted access on pcs. Is there anyway of taking the files off the HD so I can format it and then put them back on together with any new files I wish to add? or am I screwed and have to resort to getting a new HD simply using the original HD for viewing through the TV?

    Please advise.

    Thank you
     
  2. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi


    Which Windows Version?

    What error did it find?

    Try a different USB port to plug it into and remove any other none needed USB hardware ( printer, USB Pens and any other USB HD ), also check Disk Managment in Computer Managment for it being listed, if it is it may just have lost a drive letter as its taken by another storage hardware device, so right click and choose Chaneg Drive Letter and Path, and choose XYor Z as the letter.

    If you are using any tweaking apps like TweakUI check they are not hiding drive letters, its a tweak in hiding them to give a minor gain to the speed of a system.

    Try hooking it back up to your PC and hopefully if the drive is recognised in My Computer try this free recovery app, Recuva
     
  3. cheungministro

    cheungministro Private E-2

    Hi
    The error took place on a pc using XP but I also sometimes connect it to a Laptop using Vista. The laptop also asks me to format the drive. The Pc still recognises the drive when it's connect as drive J: but it won't let you open it to view the files without formatting it...There is nothing else plugged in via USB and I'm not using any tweak apps, and Recuva couldn't scan because of an I/O error :( Any other suggestions? I've also tried Pc inspector and Find and Mount they both found nothing. The files are definitely still on there though because I can watch them through my TV.

    Thanks
     
  4. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    Boot a live linux CD and mount the hard drive. See if you can see the files in linux. If so, attach another hard drive and move the files over. I assume the files are large so putting them on something like a pendrive would not be an option. Also with the live CD in an optical drive, I suspect you would not be able to burn them to a data CD or DVD.
     
  5. cheungministro

    cheungministro Private E-2

    Hi
    I'm not completely computer literate, so could you expand on exactly what I have to do. I'm currently downloading a knoppix live linux CD, so shall I burn that to a disk and then run it on my pc, try and read the HD through the new system and if i can read the files then copy them to my computer hard drive? or will that not work? Or is it not as simple as that...

    Thanks
     
  6. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    Make sure that you burn the Knoppix as an ISO, not a data disk.
    You then boot up with Knoppix, setting it as the first boot device so your computer won't boot from the hard drive.
    You should be able to see both your internal hd and the external hd.
    The windows partition will be something like hda1. I just fired up my external and it is showing as sda1.
    You should be able to see the files on sda1. You can then right click and select to move or copy. To be extra careful, I always copy. That way if something goes wrong during the operation, I still have the original file.

    Ok, I just moved a 300+MB file from my external to my windows partition.

    I opened konqueror and selected a file from media:/sda1
    I right clicked it and selected "copy To" then I browsed until I found a location I wanted. For me it was /media/hd/MyFiles
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2008
  7. cheungministro

    cheungministro Private E-2

    Thanks this worked perfectly :)

    But I did have an issue with my internal hard drive thinking that it was full on knoppix when it actually had 100GB+ free memory. But I've nearly managed to get all my vital files off the external now, so if I format it, then it should be clear and let me put it all back on and go back to working as normal? In theory I guess, fingers crossed!
     
  8. cwsartain

    cwsartain Private E-2

    I am have the same problem as far as not being able to get the data off my external HD without formatting it. I downloaded knoppix and burned it as instructed. Then I booted my computer with it and had my external HD on and pluged into the usb port. However, the only thing on the screen is the My Documents folder. It is not showing the external HD at all. Do you have any suggestions?
     
  9. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    cwsartain, welcome to MajorGeeks. The Major doesn't like it when you attach your problem to someone else's thread.
    Start here http://forums.majorgeeks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=22
    and click on the new thread button on the left. State your problem also mentioning the brand of external hard drive and about when it stopped working.
     
  10. cheungministro

    cheungministro Private E-2

    Hey
    I have a further problem and was wondering if you could assist. Now that I have recovered the files and formatted the hard drive I have re-added all my files. But, when I went to connect it to my TV it does not recognize any of the files... do you know why this might be?

    Thanks
     

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