1/2 HD Crash

I say 1/2 because somehow it was partitions to "F" drive and "N" drive. The "N" drive is unreadable. "F" drive of my 1TB SATA has windows files (that seem to be intact) and some movies. I have tries everything including
1. Opening it up
2. Properties--> Tools--> Ck Disk
3. Recovery From start-up
4. Safe Mode
5. Explore

I have inclosed pictures of msgs I have gotten.
it is FULL and I need the stuff off of this drive.
PLZZZZ HELP!

PS I did run Malwarebytes and it did go thru the drive (N). It showed files that were in it. It showed NO Threats

I should say that if I hook this up directly and boot my computer with another drive as the main it does not show up at all in "My Computer"
Its only if I hook it up on a external USB as a 2nd drive is it recognized.

See error messages.

 

Hi,

Try downloading and installing Partition Wizard.
Run the program.
Click on the disk number of your 1TB drive which should show both partitions.
Look at drive N or the (870 gb partition if there is no drive letter assigned to it) does it say NTFS as the file system?
If you right-click on the 870gb partition and choose explore does it see your files?

 

Yes it does. It shows it all! Now What?
"F" is FAT and "N" is NFTS

 

So you want to right click on where it says Disk 2 in the bottom pane and choose Partition Recovery. Then in the recovery window select Full Disk and then choose Quick Scan in the next window. Let it run and in the results window check all the boxes (should be just two boxes one for F: and one for N: ) and click Finish.
Then in the main window hit Apply at the top.

That should make the partition visible as NTFS in Disk Management. If it doesn't have a drive letter assigned in disk management then you can assign the letter N: back to the partition. Once it has a drive letter it should be visible in My Computer and accessible.

Here is a guide to partition recovery: http://www.partitionwizard.com/help/partition-recovery.html

It is screenshot four (after the scan is complete where you select both boxes and then hit Finish). Be sure to check the box for F: as well as the one for N:.
The guide doesn't say so but also be sure to hit Apply in the main window after hitting Finish.

 

OK I did everything you said and it seemed to run smoothly BUT...... In disk Mgmt it shows the disk empty. It also give me the same message that the disk can not be accessed. It does show the files in the Program I just can't accessed them in explorer. Also I tried to click Apply and it was not highlighted to do so. I did try. I didn't try BUT..... can I drag and drop files out of Partition Wizard? I didn't do it because I didn't want to disturb the partiition.
See error pics

 

Also, This "Should" be a bootable drive with windows XP on it. Shouldn't on of these partitions say "Active & Boot & System" as the "C" drive does? Just checking.

 

The boot and system tags will only show when you actually boot from the drive. If you were booting from that drive then disk management would show F: as active, boot and system.

Run Partition Wizard again and when finished scanning as in screenshot 4 of that guide right-click N: from the list and choose Explore. Does it list any files from that window?

 

What we are looking for in partition wizard is that N: will show in the list as having a portion of its space as used. It appears that in disk management N: has been written to the partition table but without the list of files.

When you get to screenshot 4 of the PW guide are there only two partitions listed and do both say existing? Is N: shown as having no used space or is some portion used? And can you get a file list by right-clicking N: and choosing Explore from that screen? (I'm trying to figure out if PW sees the files and writes the partition table from this screen, why it is being written as empty.)

 

Yes it shows all the files on a double left click. I am going to restart computer and try and boot from that drive. BRB

 

GOT IT! (so far) I restarted and tried to boot the disk. NO GO. I pout it back on the USB abd ran the program again. I knew if I could only get a CHKDSK to run it would be ok. It would not run in explorer BUT... it did run in the program. It ran for 10 seconds and crashed, I thought I was done. I tried it again and it ran a little farther. After 6 time it ran all the way thru. I ran it again. Normally a CHKDSK can tak hours BUT.... it only took about 10 minutes and ran thru 3 tiers when I know it should run 5. It is visible in My computer with all the files. I am going to try and reboot the computer from this drive. If it is ok I will run a full CHKDSK from start-up tonight and let it run all night.
THank You Very Much for your help!
I will get back tomorrow and let you know how I made out!
YOU ARE THE MAN! (OR WO-MAN)
What do you know about Carbonite?

I have many drives will it back up 3 or 4 drives? Movies and MP3's for one price.
Once again thanks for your help!
Carl Restivo
Jamestown NY 14701

 

Interesting. I had thought about chkdsk but because it had all the space unused didn't think that would be possible. Good work!

The three tiers of chkdsk are all that is necessary to fix errors in the filesystem.. The other two are for moving any data from bad sectors on the HD. Still a good idea to go ahead and run the full version but what you have done should be a complete cure for the missing directory structure.

Do let us know how you get on and if your files are all accessible.

I have no information on Carbonite other than what I have heard on radio commercials. I believe it is an online backup system which I don't really like the idea of because a company can conceivably just shut down with little notice. Then again I don't have much irreplaceable data so I haven't paid much attention.

 

4 hours later its still in Phase 4 of the ChKDSK. Are you saying I am waisting my time doing this or no? Either way I can't )or won't) stop it in the middle of it. I did get a msg of "Write Failure on Disk "N"" or something like that right before I shut it down. The message you would get if you unpluged a drive while it was transfering files or a drive failure. Had some $$ in it.

But so far so good, and files WERE accessible before I started the CHKDSK BUT...... when I tried to boot it hitting "ESC" for boot menu it did not show up. ummmmm...... not sure on that one. It does show a drive when I put in a different SATA drive (my main is IDE). So we'll have to see when we're all done.
Thanks Again for your help.
Carl Restivo

 

It went 1/2 way thru Phase 4 and then Died. I restarted it this morning at 8AM about 5 hours ago. 1/2 way thru phase 4 again and so far so good (I shouldn't have said that) 1TB HDD nearly full gonna be a while. It will be morning (Wednesday) before its done.

I'll keep you posted
Thanks again for your help
Carl Restivo

 

OK so thats what I get for opening up my big mouth!. It died 1/2 way thru Phase 4 again. It DID NOT boot nor Recognize the drive to boot or in explorer hook directly in the computer. I tried another drive and it was fine. I am going to re-connect it to the USB port and transfer files to another drive the writew Zeros to the drive (is that necessary?) to clean the drive and reformat it. If it still doesn't work correctly it will go in the trash. It is not that old so I hate to toss it BUT.... the main thing is I can get my files off it.
Thanks
Carl

 

Try the maker's diagnostics program and use the 'return to factory condition' option, of course after you first back up your stuff. You may be able to RMA it depending on the brand.