Drive is not accessible

InfernalRageInfernalRage
edited August 2011 in Hardware
Hello,
I have recently started to have problems with my external Cavalry 500GB harddrive. Windows detects the drive, but it will not let me access it. Here is the exact error message I get: "G:\ is not accessible. The file or directory is corrupt and unreadable."

I took the harddrive out of the enclosure and I put it in my PC to see if that helped, but it did not. I keep getting that same error message every time I try to access the drive. After restarting my computer, Windows automatically runs chkdsk on my Cavalry harddrive. At the end of the scan, it brings up an error saying: "An unspecified error occurred (766f6c756d652e63 3f1)."

Then I manually ran chkdsk from the command prompt with the r paramter so: "chkdsk G: /r". It took about 3-4 hours to complete all 5 stages, and at the end I got the same unspecified error occurred message. The first attached image shows the exact output of the chkdsk scan I did.

I used testdisk to make a copy of all the files on the harddrive. However, testdisk produced some errors while copying the files. The second attached image shows the output of testdisk from copying. It seems like everything was copied over, but I am not entirely sure. The only thing is the permissions on my copied .exe files are messed up.

Is there someway I can restore my external harddrive with all the files intact still? It seems all the files are there, but Windows is unable to read the drive.

Thank you for your time

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited August 2011
    Try a program called Recuva for a GUI-driven way to see and recover all of your files. If that doesn't get everything, you're looking at thousands to recover what's still missing.
  • ButtersButters CA Icrontian
    edited August 2011
    I tried Recuva first mentioned by Thrax on another thread. It worked fairly well, I had a similar situation as you do.
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    edited August 2011
    From quick googling, drive may be dead, but I'd use the manufacturer's HDD test to establish that rather than conjecture. Look at the actual drive (Hitachi, WD, Samsung, etc) and most/all of the major test utilities (among a host of other useful tools) are available on UBCD.

    I would double check your files for normalcy, then try the recovery options within Testdisk detailed here. If the drive passes manufacturer tests, you may be forced to do a low level format, but lets take it one step at a time.
  • InfernalRageInfernalRage
    edited August 2011
    It seems like testdisk copied all the contents of the unreadable drive to my main harddrive fine so all my data is recovered. I have a backup of the data now, I just need to manually fix the permissions on my .exe files.

    I will try out your suggestion Tushon.
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    edited August 2011
    Reread my post, and report your results.
  • InfernalRageInfernalRage
    edited August 2011
    I ran a quick test using the WD diagnostic tool and it said there were no errors. I was going to run the long scan later tonight so I restarted my computer and Windows ran chkdsk automatically on the G drive (as it has been since the G drive became corrupted). However, this time it successfully completed. Once Windows started it brought up a message saying the recycle bin on the G drive was corrupted and asked if I wanted to clear it. I said yes and now my drive seems to work just fine. I have full access to my G drive and everything seems to work.

    Should I still run any diagnostics?

    Thank you everyone for your input and time.
  • trolltroll Windsor, Nova Scotia Icrontian
    edited August 2011
    If this is one of the Cavalry 3.5 Drive external cases I would be very suspicious of the power supply. I've had a quite a few LaCie cases do the same thing... Corrupt data reading the HD in both case and computer, (MD5 comparison of files copied to it) the power supply was dropping out allowing bad data to be written to the HD in the case.

    When I reformatted the drive in my computer, data written to it was ok, put the drive back in the case and corrupt data again... Changed external power supply and problems went away.

    If yours is just a 2.5 USB drive powered from the usb cable then never mind... :)
  • InfernalRageInfernalRage
    edited August 2011
    It it one of the Cavalry drives that has its own power supply. I have taken it out of enclosure and put it in my PC now. It is working fine now though for some reason. I will probably just leave it in my PC since I don't need a mobile harddrive really. I might try it in the enclosure though later out of curiosity. Thank you for your input though.
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