program to mount a HD with broken index (?)?

I have this external USB HD that I only turn it on when needed. One
time, when trying to mount, it asked if I would like to check the HD.
I clicked yes, and it started checking for a while but stopped at 99%.
Maybe I was too impatient, I turn it off and tried to mount it again.
After attempting with disk reading noise, it couldn't. It gave a
message that the HD needed to be formatted to use. The drive changed
its name to "Local Drive." I tried a few programs and it seems that I
can recover files with programs such as R-Studio but I can't mount the
drive. It's rather inconvenient to retrieve files this way. I'd like
to mount the drive and copy some files and then reformat the drive.

Is there a program to mount a HD like the condition my HD is in?

Thanks,

liu

Previously cpliu wrote:
I have this external USB HD that I only turn it on when needed. One
time, when trying to mount, it asked if I would like to check the HD.
I clicked yes, and it started checking for a while but stopped at 99%.
Maybe I was too impatient, I turn it off and tried to mount it again.
After attempting with disk reading noise, it couldn't.

Not good.

It gave a
message that the HD needed to be formatted to use. The drive changed
its name to "Local Drive."

That is what it does, if reading the MBR fails.

I tried a few programs and it seems that I
can recover files with programs such as R-Studio but I can't mount the
drive. It's rather inconvenient to retrieve files this way.

Count yourself lycky you can retrive files.

I'd like
to mount the drive and copy some files and then reformat the drive.

Not a good idea. Expect it do die completely any time.

Is there a program to mount a HD like the condition my HD is in?

No. And you can expect that this disk will die completely very soon.

Arno

So this is a hardware problem and not a system problem? I can retreive
the files but it takes a long time to compare. It would be nicer if I
can mount it to desktop and compare folder sizes to decide which files
I may not have backup copies.

This is a replacement drive. Gee they give you a refurbished drive
that does not last even more than 3 months. What a crap. I will not
buy any Seagate drive again. None of them survive more than 2 years.

Previously cpliu wrote:
So this is a hardware problem and not a system problem? I can retreive
the files but it takes a long time to compare. It would be nicer if I
can mount it to desktop and compare folder sizes to decide which files
I may not have backup copies.

I think this is a hardware problem, yes.

This is a replacement drive. Gee they give you a refurbished drive
that does not last even more than 3 months. What a crap. I will not
buy any Seagate drive again. None of them survive more than 2 years.

They used to be good, just like IBM. However theri new "made in
china" drives are really bad, and that they let them get to
market is a strong reason not to buy Seagate again until their
is good reason to believe they got their act together again.

I think currently you can only buy Samsung or Hitachi. WD
is really as bad as the rumours are, with drives that have
long error recovery latency. And Maxtor, well, don't think I
need to comment. I used to think thet their drive quality would
improve when Seagate bought them, but it seems to have worked
out the other way round.

Arno

cpliu wrote in
I have this external USB HD that I only turn it on when needed. One
time, when trying to mount, it asked if I would like to check the HD.
I clicked yes, and it started checking for a while but stopped at 99%.
Maybe I was too impatient, I turn it off and tried to mount it again.
After attempting with disk reading noise, it couldn't. It gave a
message that the HD needed to be formatted to use. The drive changed
its name to "Local Drive." I tried a few programs and it seems that I
can recover files with programs such as R-Studio but I can't mount the
drive. It's rather inconvenient to retrieve files this way. I'd like
to mount the drive and copy some files and then reformat the drive.

Is there a program to mount a HD like the condition my HD is in?

Findandmount.


Thanks,

liu

On May 15, 7:47*pm, Arno Wagner wrote:
Previously cpliu wrote:
So this is a hardware problem and not a system problem? I can retreive
the files but it takes a long time to compare. It would be nicer if I
can mount it to desktop and compare folder sizes to decide which files
I may not have backup copies.

I think this is a hardware problem, yes.

This is a replacement drive. Gee they give you a refurbished drive
that does not last even more than 3 months. What a crap. I will not
buy any Seagate drive again. None of them survive more than 2 years.

They used to be good, just like IBM. However theri new "made in
china" drives are really bad, and that they let them get to
market is a strong reason not to buy Seagate again until their
is good reason to believe they got their act together again.

This one is the 500GB Seagate (ST350064) made in Singapore. I decided
to experiment to see what I can get from this drive. I formatted it
with Vista and it took 7 hours. It probably found many bad sectors but
it still showed 465GB of space. Does windows formatting tool screen
out the bad sectors so data won't be written on the bad sectors? It's
probably not a safe HD to use anyway. What program can I find the
condition of the HD so I can request for a warranty replacement? Under
what condition will they allow replacement?

Thanks for the help,

Previously cpliu wrote:
On May 15, 7:47*pm, Arno Wagner wrote:
Previously cpliu wrote:
So this is a hardware problem and not a system problem? I can retreive
the files but it takes a long time to compare. It would be nicer if I
can mount it to desktop and compare folder sizes to decide which files
I may not have backup copies.

I think this is a hardware problem, yes.

This is a replacement drive. Gee they give you a refurbished drive
that does not last even more than 3 months. What a crap. I will not
buy any Seagate drive again. None of them survive more than 2 years.

They used to be good, just like IBM. However theri new "made in
china" drives are really bad, and that they let them get to
market is a strong reason not to buy Seagate again until their
is good reason to believe they got their act together again.


This one is the 500GB Seagate (ST350064) made in Singapore. I decided
to experiment to see what I can get from this drive. I formatted it
with Vista and it took 7 hours. It probably found many bad sectors but
it still showed 465GB of space. Does windows formatting tool screen
out the bad sectors so data won't be written on the bad sectors?

I think it does on a long (slow) format. The problem is that
a large number of defects in a modern HDD is very likely not due
to surface defects, but some other problem, i.e. the defects are
not done with when they are mapped out, but new ones will
appear.

It's
probably not a safe HD to use anyway. What program can I find the
condition of the HD so I can request for a warranty replacement? Under
what condition will they allow replacement?

The easiest solution is to get an RMA number from the website. If the
procedure there requires a failed SMART status or other failed status,
sometimes it helps to claim the disk is not detected anymore (they
usually do not check the disk, just send you a replacement).

If you really have to kill the drive, any tool that writes data to it
in a loop should to, though some amount of random access helps. I did
this once by decompressing Linux kernel sources to a drive and then
deleting them again. Loop until drive fails. A disk wiper set to
maximum number of overwrites may also do the trick. This approach is
best done with a test system or left running when at
work/shool/whatever. Took 3 days to kill the drive permanently in my
case (old maxtor 200GB drive).

Arno

The easiest solution is to get an RMA number from the website. *If the
procedure there requires a failed SMART status or other failed status,
sometimes it helps to claim the disk is not detected anymore (they
usually do not check the disk, just send you a replacement).

They didn't ask last time. That made me wonder about the quality of
refurbished drives. Do they go through strict testing and fix things
before putting them out as refurbished drives? This drive is still
formattable and probably will resurface as a refurbished drive again
soon. What I'm getting back is probably just as bad or worse. Is my
concern valid? I never had a refurbished drives (4-5 so far) lasting
more than one year so far. And all of these were not used as main
drives. They were turned on only when needed. Is there a program you
can test to make sure it's a good drive after getting a drive?

Thanks for the advice!

Arno Wagner wrote:
Previously cpliu wrote:
On May 15, 7:47 pm, Arno Wagner wrote:
Previously cpliu wrote:
So this is a hardware problem and not a system problem? I can
retreive the files but it takes a long time to compare. It would
be nicer if I can mount it to desktop and compare folder sizes to
decide which files I may not have backup copies.

I think this is a hardware problem, yes.

This is a replacement drive. Gee they give you a refurbished drive
that does not last even more than 3 months. What a crap. I will not
buy any Seagate drive again. None of them survive more than 2
years.

They used to be good, just like IBM. However theri new "made in
china" drives are really bad, and that they let them get to
market is a strong reason not to buy Seagate again until their
is good reason to believe they got their act together again.


This one is the 500GB Seagate (ST350064) made in Singapore. I decided
to experiment to see what I can get from this drive. I formatted it
with Vista and it took 7 hours. It probably found many bad sectors
but it still showed 465GB of space. Does windows formatting tool
screen out the bad sectors so data won't be written on the bad
sectors?

I think it does on a long (slow) format.

Nope, the drive itself does, not Win.

The problem is that a large number of defects in a modern HDD
is very likely not due to surface defects, but some other problem,

Always, not very likely.

i.e. the defects are not done with when they are mapped out,

The english makes no sense there.

but new ones will appear.

Yep.

It's probably not a safe HD to use anyway. What program can I find
the condition of the HD so I can request for a warranty replacement?
Under what condition will they allow replacement?

The easiest solution is to get an RMA number from the website. If the
procedure there requires a failed SMART status or other failed status,
sometimes it helps to claim the disk is not detected anymore (they
usually do not check the disk, just send you a replacement).

If you really have to kill the drive, any tool that writes data to it
in a loop should to, though some amount of random access helps.
I did this once by decompressing Linux kernel sources to a drive
and then deleting them again. Loop until drive fails. A disk wiper
set to maximum number of overwrites may also do the trick.
This approach is best done with a test system or left running
when at work/shool/whatever. Took 3 days to kill the drive
permanently in my case (old maxtor 200GB drive).

I killed one with a lab power supply. Surprisingly hard to kill but I
did eventually manage to blow the side right out of one of the ics.

cpliu wrote:

The easiest solution is to get an RMA number from the website.
If the procedure there requires a failed SMART status or other failed
status, sometimes it helps to claim the disk is not detected anymore
(they usually do not check the disk, just send you a replacement).

They didn't ask last time. That made me wonder about the
quality of refurbished drives. Do they go through strict testing
and fix things before putting them out as refurbished drives?

Yes, but if the fault is intermittent, it may not be visible when they do that.

This drive is still formattable and probably will
resurface as a refurbished drive again soon.

Not if they can see the problem when it gets back to them.

What I'm getting back is probably just as bad or worse. Is my concern valid?

No, some refurbished drives have been properly fixed.

I never had a refurbished drives (4-5 so far) lasting more than one year so far.

How long do the new ones last ?

And all of these were not used as main drives. They were turned on only when needed.
Is there a program you can test to make sure it's a good drive after getting a drive?

Not with an intermittent fault.