G:/ is not accessible. The file or Directory is Corrupted and Unreadable. Halp!?

lateraleslaterales
edited September 2011 in Hardware
Hello boys and girls, I have a problem with my external Gateway drive. When I try to access it, I get the error:

G:/ is not accessible.

The file or Directory is Corrupted and Unreadable. :mad:

I have tried:

Right click > properties > tools > error checking > check now
Start > run > chkdsk/g
Start > run > chkdsk g:/f

When I try any of the above, the window simply disappears and nothing happens. :confused:

It is possible a virus is causing the problem, as I ran a scan on it a while back and discovered one, but it said it had been contained. Has it caused more trouble than I think?

I have tried to run a scan on it for malware, but the scan is just over in one second and it says scan is complete, one item scanned.

Please help!

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    Try this:

    chkdsk G: /R

    Failing that:
    http://icrontic.com/articles/advanced_data_recovery
    rameshreddynorteno3000
  • lateraleslaterales
    edited September 2008
    Thank you so much for your fast response Thrax, that's awesome.

    I downloaded that utility, and went through everything. Happily, all the info is still there, as I got the green line. Magic! ;D

    Unfortunately, when I hit P to list files, I got Can't open filesystem. Filesystem seems damaged. Boo. :shakehead

    I got funny messages telling me something about heads per cylinder is 255
    but it should be 16, so I changed that to 16, and 240, but it didn't like that so I changed it back to 255.

    I'm at a loss. Should I just take it to a PC doc and see what they say, or any more brilliant ideas? I would be so grateful :respect:
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    In the advanced section of that program, there's an option to repair the master file table. Use that option. :) Also, check the master boot record option in the advanced section too. The primary and backup should both list as OK.

    Repair the MFT and the MBR if they're broken with testdisk. :)
  • OttoOtto
    edited September 2008
    Thrax wrote:
    Try this:

    chkdsk G: /R

    Failing that:
    http://icrontic.com/articles/advanced_data_recovery


    Thanks alot mate, i just read ur info and i have some seriously sentimental pics and videos on my recently failed harddrive

    im currently running chkdsk on the git, thru a friends portable usb thingy
    fingers crossed its on stage 4 now :)

    thanks for a glimpse of hope haha
  • lateraleslaterales
    edited September 2008
    Thrax, your support is legendary, thank you so much for helping me.

    Ok, like you said I got Boot Sector and Backup Boot Sector both OK.

    But boo again, MFT and MFT mirror are bad. Failed to repair them.

    I wish I was having as much luck as you Otto, great to hear you are seeing the light. This is my backup archive hard drive, hundreds of hours of my writing is on there, years of photos etc etc. :sad2:

    I have faith though! The files are still there, that's good, right? :rolleyes2
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    If you're willing to spend some money, GetDataBack will surely be able to recover your information. :) It's a little more robust than TestDisk is.
  • lateraleslaterales
    edited September 2008
    Aw, so the drive is kaput? I was kind of hoping I could save that too. So this means I have to get myself the software, and a new drive?

    Boo, not a good morning. :bawling:

    Thanks so much anyway Thrax, you rock! :rockon:
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    The drive is probably just fine, but the file system is damaged beyond the ability of testdisk to recover. You'll have to use GetDataBack to recover the data, then format the drive, then reinstall Windows to get it back in working order.

    To be sure, I would use my article here to test the drive after recovering info to see if it's worth using still.
  • Mike-RotchMike-Rotch Richmond,Virginia
    edited October 2008
    Thrax wrote:
    Try this:

    chkdsk G: /R

    Failing that:
    http://icrontic.com/articles/advanced_data_recovery
    I had the same problem with my external hard drive, so i tried your suggestion and it worked like a charm.Thank's.
  • triplex805triplex805
    edited May 2009
    Hey Thrax

    just wanted to say thank you i tried your solution for corupted hdd using chkdsk G: /R and i was able to recover all my files your top dawg here homie
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited May 2009
    Glad it worked for the both of you. :)
  • gtech50gtech50
    edited June 2009
    Thrax wrote:
    Try this:

    chkdsk G: /R

    Failing that:
    http://icrontic.com/articles/advanced_data_recovery

    Testdisk helped a lot. I got my files back. Many many thanks! :rockon:
  • shedridcshedridc
    edited July 2009
    Thrax wrote:
    Try this:

    chkdsk G: /R

    Failing that:
    http://icrontic.com/articles/advanced_data_recovery

    :bigggrin: I did the chkdsk x: /r and all data reappeared in less than a minute. Thanks for saving me and my data!
  • JOELINOJOELINO
    edited November 2009
    I am having the same problem with an external drive so I am doing the chkdsk G:/R It has been on step 4 (verifying file data) and shows 0 percent complete for the last 45 minutes. Is this normal? What should I do?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2009
    Large drives can take a VERY LONG TIME. If it takes more than 12 hours, the drive may simply be irreparably damaged.
  • JOELINOJOELINO
    edited November 2009
    Thrax wrote:
    Large drives can take a VERY LONG TIME. If it takes more than 12 hours, the drive may simply be irreparably damaged.
  • JOELINOJOELINO
    edited November 2009
    The chkdsk G:/R just finished and it worked!! It took a very long time, so if anyone else tries it, don't get frustrated. Let the computer do its thing. I am so greatful for your help. Thanks so much.
  • Techtiger4Techtiger4
    edited November 2009
    Just try any efficient data recovery software that helps to get back the data from the formatted and corrupted partitions. Software posses these features will surely solve the problem.. So google out with the keyword "recovery of data from corrupt partition", you will get a huge list of software's. just select any effective one and do the recovery of corrupted disk or partition.
  • ileongileong Sydney, Australia
    edited January 2011
    Hi all,

    I am at stage 4 - and my failed 1Tb external drive is barely a year old and I use it once a month or so... nonetheless I will be getting a second drive and have a back up of the back up. The content (photos) are far more valuable than the price of the disk drive itself... It is frustrating that these things fail. I also had a SD card fail, so lost those photos... but maybe I'll search for SD recovery next.

    Thanks Thrax, I'll post an update later after Stage 5 is done to report on success.

    Update: Stage 4 took about an hour, Stage 5 took longer, but everything seems to be back. Thanks a billion, probably saved myself a hundred bucks from taking it to a shop.
  • Meld-AlexanderMeld-Alexander Malaysia
    edited February 2011
    Hello everyone,
    Well currently I'm at stage 3 when suddenly the whole process disappeared just like that... i am wondering what had happened. I checked on the drive and still it says unreadable and corrupted. I started back the whole process and after a moment when it starts entering stage 2..it disappeared again??? I was like thinkin what actually happened. am now about to start over again... Shall I or how??
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    edited March 2011
    You are probably out of luck if the computer is just rebooting/failing without warning.
  • non-geeknon-geek
    edited September 2011
    Thrax wrote:
    Try this:

    chkdsk G: /R

    Failing that:
    http://icrontic.com/articles/advanced_data_recovery

    Brilliant. I just recovered 106 files from a corrupt memory card with Testdisk Thanks for the tip
  • brian80brian80
    At first, I got the CRC error. Then, as per advised of this forun, I did CHKDSK but it did not work at all, instead, it spoilted my hard disk and now it shows READ ERROR in teskdisk which previously showed a green light on my hard disk...
  • js_pcrepairjs_pcrepair
    edited April 2012
    Hi!. I realize this thread is a little old but in doing a Google Search for an explanation, I found several forums with this issue and have decided to post here for anyone in the future who has this problem.

    I have been a Computer Repair Tech for about 8 years now and I have never seen this issue on ANY computer drive and to confirm my issue, I spoke to a close friend who is also a repair tech in my local area and he too said he has never in 15 years ever seen or heard of this issue and was curious to look it up.

    Here is/was my issue:

    Recently, my personal 300GB EIDE in a USB External Case, using it as an External Backup for all my data, had mysteriously stopped responding. One minute it was working fine and the next, nothing...

    The drive always tested in good health by CrystalDiskInfo and HDDScan S.M.A.R.T. tests... No errors, no unusual sounds like whirs, clicks, scraps, humming from motor, nothing... No firmware or physical issues... nothing.

    Now, the drive also shows CRC and Temperature Errors (yet this could have been due to a bad or bumped external cable).

    1) Right click and Properties had shown 0 Used space, 0 Free space, and 0 Capacity.
    2) chkdsk /x /r would not run and was saying that it was an undetermined file system or structure and could not be accessed. No chkdsk commands would work or run.
    3) The drive could be seen in explorer but could not be accessed, saying "The file or directory is corrupt and unreadable".
    4) Hiren's Boot CD MiniWindows showed the drive but again, same message.
    5) LinuxLiveCD - same issues.
    6) I found forum threads suggesting TestDisk so I performed several of the test functions and at one point it said the boot and boot mirror were OK but the CHS was not matching... I think it was the amount of logical heads that was wrong - can't remember now - but...
    7) MFT and MFT mirror did not match
    8) I attempted to reset the CHS to all possible combinations and nothing worked.
    9) Now the drive was not being recognized.
    10) The MBR and MFT and File Structure could not be fixed by TestDisk or any other means.
    11) I could tell that all of the data was intact and present but just could not be seen by Windows or any other means but TestDisk was showing the size of the data present was nearly 262GB (which was roughly what was on the disk).
    12) 5 hours in, I decided to run Data Recovery using 2 different Data location and recovery programs.
    13) Finally, EaseUS Data Recovery located and read 262GB data and after 25 hours total, I was able to recover 98% of all data, intact and with correct file names.
    14) After recovering the data to a new external, I wiped the 300GB drive and used partition programs to rebuild the partition.
    15) Once recognized in Windows, I used Windows built in partitioning processes and did a FULL format instead of a quick.
    16) I can again use the drive as an external with no issues.

    Tested in CrystalDiskInfo and HDDScan S.M.A.R.T. tests shows Good Health again.
    The CRC and Temperature Errors are gone.
    No unusual sounds, no firmware or physical problems... nothing and the drive is working fine again!


    Conclusion... My suggestion to anyone with this issue is to go ahead and run TestDisk to see what the issues could be but go ahead and find a good Data Recovery Program and run it... recover your data to another drive and attempt to recondition the old one.

    Because of the sheer size of the drive, it took 18 hours running the Recovery program... the rest of the time was Hands On checking and trial and error.

    The methods of Data Recovery, File Transfer, wipe, and reformat finally worked for me.

    Thanks for your time.
  • javdangermousejavdangermouse
    I want to do all of the above but run TestDisk can't see my disk at all, only my other external disk and boot disk that is my problem the device manager says that the disk is unknown and not Inilized? I don't what to initialized it or I will lose everything. I don't want to buy another application only to find that that can't see the hard drive either?
  • javdangermousejavdangermouse
    I have just tried your EaseUS Data Recovery
    and it couldn't see my hard drive?
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    javdangermouse said:

    I want to do all of the above but run TestDisk can't see my disk at all, only my other external disk and boot disk that is my problem the device manager says that the disk is unknown and not Inilized? I don't what to initialized it or I will lose everything. I don't want to buy another application only to find that that can't see the hard drive either?

    Start a new thread here describing what you have done and what symptoms you are experiencing.
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