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Data and formatting disappeared from 1 TB WD drive
Have a 1 TB WD SATA drive that I use as an archive drive. After firing
it up today XP recognizes it but now the data isn't showing and it shows up as unformatted. No "whirr click" like a dying drive, the data all just suddenly disappeared. I also notice that the computer activity light stays on constantly. Is there a way to potentially fix this? Thanks |
#2
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Data and formatting disappeared from 1 TB WD drive
Doc wrote:
Have a 1 TB WD SATA drive that I use as an archive drive. After firing it up today XP recognizes it but now the data isn't showing and it shows up as unformatted. No "whirr click" like a dying drive, the data all just suddenly disappeared. I also notice that the computer activity light stays on constantly. Is there a way to potentially fix this? Thanks The very first thing you do with a hard drive, before even putting important files on it, is 1) Get the model number of the hard drive. For example, my new drive is model number WD2002FAEX. 2) Google the model number and look for problem reports. Some drives have firmware related issues. If a replacement firmware was issued, you flash update the drive before using it. If a drive disappears due to a firmware issue, there are some recipes for recovery. They involve fitting a USB to serial port cable, with three pins on the end, and TTL logic levels. Such cables are apparently used for cell phones, but can also be connected to an interface on the controller board. But that doesn't happen too often, as a recovery method for a popular failure type. ******* To understand what to do with the disk now, it would help to know what kind of setup it had on it. For example, a Dynamic Disk might be treated differently than a Basic Disk. ******* You can run TestDisk and scan for partitions. This tool is available for Windows or Linux, and attempts to scan a disk looking for partitions. http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step It hardly ever pays, to accept a newly computed partition table from the thing verbatim. If you recently deleted some partitions, moved partitions around and so on, TestDisk can detect the "ghost" of those partitions, and improperly include the partitions in the new partition table. TestDisk can even compute a partition table, with the partitions overlapping one another (verboten). So for a first run, simply see whether the tool can detect partitions or not. If partitions are evident, then all is not lost. If, on the other hand, the drive is not responding at all, is not visible in the BIOS, and cannot be detected by the BIOS screen, then you could be looking at a data recovery effort by a professional. Remember to do a cable check, before panicking. If the SATA data or SATA power cable falls out, plug it in and try again. The SATA data cable can't be pinched. It should not be put through a tight bend radius. If you bend it in two, it upsets the signal impedance of the wires inside. If your cable has visible lines of distress, try an unblemished cable. Paul |
#3
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Data and formatting disappeared from 1 TB WD drive
Paul wrote:
Doc wrote: Have a 1 TB WD SATA drive that I use as an archive drive. After firing it up today XP recognizes it but now the data isn't showing and it shows up as unformatted. No "whirr click" like a dying drive, the data all just suddenly disappeared. I also notice that the computer activity light stays on constantly. Is there a way to potentially fix this? Thanks The very first thing you do with a hard drive, before even putting important files on it, is 1) Get the model number of the hard drive. For example, my new drive is model number WD2002FAEX. 2) Google the model number and look for problem reports. Some drives have firmware related issues. If a replacement firmware was issued, you flash update the drive before using it. If a drive disappears due to a firmware issue, there are some recipes for recovery. They involve fitting a USB to serial port cable, with three pins on the end, and TTL logic levels. Such cables are apparently used for cell phones, but can also be connected to an interface on the controller board. But that doesn't happen too often, as a recovery method for a popular failure type. ******* To understand what to do with the disk now, it would help to know what kind of setup it had on it. For example, a Dynamic Disk might be treated differently than a Basic Disk. ******* You can run TestDisk and scan for partitions. This tool is available for Windows or Linux, and attempts to scan a disk looking for partitions. http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step It hardly ever pays, to accept a newly computed partition table from the thing verbatim. If you recently deleted some partitions, moved partitions around and so on, TestDisk can detect the "ghost" of those partitions, and improperly include the partitions in the new partition table. TestDisk can even compute a partition table, with the partitions overlapping one another (verboten). * Tell me! Acronis once made a "clone" with that problem (there were other major problems about as bad). Apparently the guys at Acronis do not subscribe to the dictionary meaning of "clone". So for a first run, simply see whether the tool can detect partitions or not. If partitions are evident, then all is not lost. If, on the other hand, the drive is not responding at all, is not visible in the BIOS, and cannot be detected by the BIOS screen, then you could be looking at a data recovery effort by a professional. Remember to do a cable check, before panicking. If the SATA data or SATA power cable falls out, plug it in and try again. The SATA data cable can't be pinched. It should not be put through a tight bend radius. If you bend it in two, it upsets the signal impedance of the wires inside. If your cable has visible lines of distress, try an unblemished cable. Paul |
#4
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Data and formatting disappeared from 1 TB WD drive
On Jan 11, 11:03 pm, Doc wrote:
Have a 1 TB WD SATA drive that I use as an archive drive. After firing it up today XP recognizes it but now the data isn't showing and it shows up as unformatted. No "whirr click" like a dying drive, the data all just suddenly disappeared. I also notice that the computer activity light stays on constantly. Is there a way to potentially fix this? Thanks Easus makes good stuff. Either data or partition recovery, they're actually blended more over newer versions, as well as providing a partition-only setup utility. |
#5
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Data and formatting disappeared from 1 TB WD drive
On Fri, 11 Jan 2013 20:03:14 -0800 (PST), Doc
put finger to keyboard and composed: Have a 1 TB WD SATA drive that I use as an archive drive. After firing it up today XP recognizes it but now the data isn't showing and it shows up as unformatted. Could we see the partition table and boot sector with Microsoft's Sector Inspector? http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/SecInspect.zip If you extract the above archive to the one folder and execute the SIrun.bat file, then this will generate a report file named SIout.txt. - Franc Zabkar -- Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email. |
#6
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Data and formatting disappeared from 1 TB WD drive
In article , Doc wrote:
Have a 1 TB WD SATA drive that I use as an archive drive. After firing it up today XP recognizes it but now the data isn't showing and it shows up as unformatted. No "whirr click" like a dying drive, the data all just suddenly disappeared. I also notice that the computer activity light stays on constantly. Is there a way to potentially fix this? Thanks Make sure the cables are seated properly into the back of the drive. Also try booting into safe mode by hitting F8 on bootup and see if the drive shows up. If not look for EASUS Partition master free edition and use its recover partition section to recover it. |
#7
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Data and formatting disappeared from 1 TB WD drive
On 11/01/2013 11:03 PM, Doc wrote:
Have a 1 TB WD SATA drive that I use as an archive drive. After firing it up today XP recognizes it but now the data isn't showing and it shows up as unformatted. No "whirr click" like a dying drive, the data all just suddenly disappeared. I also notice that the computer activity light stays on constantly. Is there a way to potentially fix this? Thanks As others have said, it sounds like perhaps your partition table has been munged. They suggested Testdisk, another possibility is the program called Parted32. You can search for it on the Internet. Yousuf Khan |
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