[SOLVED] AT MY WITS END- can’t access old HD

[Flynavy812]

I’ll attempt to keep this clear and concise. I have my old HD from my old laptop with a bunch of files. I have a HD reader that I use with it.

If I plug this into my Samsung TV, I can access every file no problem.

When I plug into laptop or PC, nothing. I see system reserved and the drive letter. If I attempt to double click the letter it freezes. If I try to run disk manager it freezes. If I try to run any recovery hardware it freezes. As soon as I unplug the drive everything returns to normal.

I’m absolutely committed to learning and fixing this. I’ve read a ton I’m just still overwhelmed.

Boot in safe mode? Make a disc image? These are things I don’t understand well.
Please help my dumb little pilot brain underhand this and I will be eternally grateful!!!

 

[fzabkar]

Try to obtain a SMART report with CrystalDiskInfo.

 

[Flynavy812]

Unable, program won’t open once that drive is connected.

 

[USAFRet]

I’ll attempt to keep this clear and concise. I have my old HD from my old laptop with a bunch of files. I have a HD reader that I use with it.

If I plug this into my Samsung TV, I can access every file no problem.

When I plug into laptop or PC, nothing. I see system reserved and the drive letter. If I attempt to double click the letter it freezes. If I try to run disk manager it freezes. If I try to run any recovery hardware it freezes. As soon as I unplug the drive everything returns to normal.

I’m absolutely committed to learning and fixing this. I’ve read a ton I’m just still overwhelmed.

Boot in safe mode? Make a disc image? These are things I don’t understand well.
Please help my dumb little pilot brain underhand this and I will be eternally grateful!!!

What is the size/make/model of this old drive?
What is the "HD reader" you're using? Make/model, please.

 

[Flynavy812]

What is the size/make/model of this old drive?
What is the "HD reader" you're using? Make/model, please.

500GB western digital. WD5000BPVT

Reader is a unitek

 

[USAFRet]

500GB western digital. WD5000BPVT

Reader is a unitek

"unitek" tells us nothing.
Link to this device?

 

[Flynavy812]

"unitek" tells us nothing.
Link to this device?

It’s not letting me link.

Unitek SATA to USB 3.0, SATA III Cable Hard Drive Adapter Converter for Universal 2.5/3.5 SATA HDD/SSD Hard Drive Disk and SATA Optical Drive, Include 12V/2A Power Adapter

 

[USAFRet]

This?
https://www.amazon.com/Unitek-Adapter-Converter-Optical-Support/dp/B00GLL41MA

I'm just trying to get a handle on all the components, and maybe rule things out.

 

[Flynavy812]

This?
https://www.amazon.com/Unitek-Adapter-Converter-Optical-Support/dp/B00GLL41MA

I'm just trying to get a handle on all the components, and maybe rule things out.

Yes, sorry to make you do extra work. For what it’s worth, mini tool power recovery was able to see the drive and is currently scanning. ETA of 6 hours and 12 files found so far.

 

[fzabkar]

It would be better, for troubleshooting purposes, to connect the drive to a SATA port inside your PC. Then run CrystalDiskInfo. This will tell us if the drive has physical problems.

I suspect that Windows accesses different parts of the file system when it mounts the drive, so these bad areas won't affect the Samsung TV.

The fact that Minitool only finds 12 files is a worry. Instead I would first clone your drive with HDDSuperClone, and then recover your data with DMDE, if necessary. HDDSuperClone is an intelligent cloning tool which knows how to deal with unstable, failing drives.

 

[Flynavy812]

It would be better, for troubleshooting purposes, to connect the drive to a SATA port inside your PC. Then run CrystalDiskInfo. This will tell us if the drive has physical problems.

I suspect that Windows accesses different parts of the file system when it mounts the drive, so these bad areas won't affect the Samsung TV.

The fact that Minitool only finds 12 files is a worry. Instead I would first clone your drive with HDDSuperClone, and then recover your data with DMDE, if necessary. HDDSuperClone is an intelligent cloning tool which knows how to deal with unstable, failing drives.

Cloning won’t ruin the data? I closed out of the scan because it froze indefinitely. I’m pretty sure I’ve ran similar programs a while back and was able to at least see the folders. So I clone the drive... what if it just freezes as well and doesn’t allow me to get that far?

 

[fzabkar]

HDDSuperClone (and ddrescue) is designed to deal with unstable drives. Ordinary cloning tools will keep thrashing away at bad sectors and accelerate the failure of your drive.

 

[Flynavy812]

HDDSuperClone (and ddrescue) is designed to deal with unstable drives. Ordinary cloning tools will keep thrashing away at bad sectors and accelerate the failure of your drive.

Dont I need Linux to run first option? Second option just confuses me. I wish there were an easier way to understand what’s going on.

 

[fzabkar]

Windows cloning tools don't understand how to deal with unstable drives. If you try to run them against a failing drive, you will only accelerate its failure. HDDsuperClone has a bootable Live CD to make things easier.

 

[Flynavy812]

Windows cloning tools don't understand how to deal with unstable drives. If you try to run them against a failing drive, you will only accelerate its failure. HDDsuperClone has a bootable Live CD to make things easier.

I can use this on a non Linux system? I’m very very out of the loop on this stuff.

 

[fzabkar]

Yes, you boot from the Live CD. It doesn't matter if you have Windows on your primary HDD. The web site has plenty of tutorials.