Question chkdsk is taking forever to fix an external HDD, is there an alternative fast way ?

[Teekiii]

Hi everyone,

I recieved an external SAMSUNG 500 GB HDD from a friend trying to fix it because he wanted the data on it but couldn't access it, the main problem with the HDD was that when it connects to a PC the windows asks to format it before using it as in the usual message :
"You Need to Format the Disk Before You Can Use It"

I had this problem before with my external HDD and I was able to fix it using Find and Mount, it was totally easy and successful and most important FAST solution.

But with my friend's SAMSUNG HDD things wasn't that easy, I tried Find and Mount and it fount a partition and I mounted it but it didn't complete the process it says "The Parameter is incorrect".

Then i tried another solution i found on youtube, some guy used a tool called testdesk which works on a cmd window and it didn't work also for this case.

The third solution I found was the cmd chkdsk command, the guy in the video wrote this command so did I, "chkdsk /f /r /x h:" (h is the HDD partition letter) this seemed to be a working solution as it really found some data and started to recover it as I saw in the cmd window, but its literally taking forever to solve the problem. it has been 3 days already and it only recovered almost 10 images, I saw a video of someone who took a month to recover his HDD but in this case mine wold take over a year.

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My Question is, is there any way, new or alternative, to chkdsk to fix that HDD and recover the data ? any software that can do this process faster than the chkdsk command, knowing that the priority is to take out the data in any possible way.

And another thing, if i formatted the HDD as the windows asks, would I be able to recover it with a recovery software like Active@ File Recovery Ultimate? , and what is the real problem with that HDD, what is the cause if all this mess that is blocking me from exploring the data or mounting it?

I'm Using Windows 7
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Here you are the progress of the chkdsk over 3 days:

 

[SkyNetRising]

You're repairing file system there. It doesn't fix surface errors.

Can you show screenshot from HDtune health?

Use MHDD scan with relocate to fix pending sectors.
https://hddguru.com/software/2005.10.02-MHDD/

 

[Teekiii]

First of all, Thanks for replying,

you're saying: You're repairing file system there. It doesn't fix surface errors.

do you mean that i don't have to repair the system file, and the problem is surface error? or do you mean that i'm fixing system file so its normal to take forever to fix?

one minute i'll download the software and show you screenshot

 

[ex_bubblehead]

That drive has failed. Running chkdsk is likely to cause even more damage to the file system, to the point that no recovery is possible. Even by professionals. If there is important data that must be recovered then your friend is going to have to bite the bullet and pony up the money for a professional recovery service. Anything you do will only make things worse.

 

[Teekiii]

That drive has failed. Running chkdsk is likely to cause even more damage to the file system, to the point that no recovery is possible. Even by professionals. If there is important data that must be recovered then your friend is going to have to bite the bullet and pony up the money for a professional recovery service. Anything you do will only make things worse.

thank you for your reply,

Okay i stopped the chkdsk, what do you mean with professional recovery service? is it done via a software? can i do it myself?

 

[ex_bubblehead]

No, you cannot do this yourself. The drive needs to be taken to a professional recovery service. They have the skills and equipment to do what you can't, such as opening the drive in a clean room. Although in this case the damage may already be done.

 

[Teekiii]

You're repairing file system there. It doesn't fix surface errors.

Can you show screenshot from HDtune health?

Use MHDD scan with relocate to fix pending sectors.
https://hddguru.com/software/2005.10.02-MHDD/

this is the screenshot you asked for, i have no clue how to use mhdd but i can google it but do you think it will work?

 

[Teekiii]

No, you cannot do this yourself. The drive needs to be taken to a professional recovery service. They have the skills and equipment to do what you can't, such as opening the drive in a clean room. Although in this case the damage may already be done.

okay i get it now, its not only about software its about hardware too, but sir are you sure that the HDD is so damaged to that point that it need a professional recovery? it wasn't hit of something the thing happened suddenly probably because he used to disconnect it suddenly from the pc
My point is how to be sure that the HDD is damaged or has failed as you said earlier, before i lose hope about fixing it ?

 

[SkyNetRising]

This is external drive. You didn't mention this.

There are a lot of pending sectors + interface errors.
Could be bad cable connection, overheating, shock received.

Remove it from USB enclosure.
Connect it to a desktop pc with sata data/power cables.

Make MHDD bootable CD or USB flash drive.
Boot from it,
Run mhdd program.
Use PORT command to select 500GB samsung drive,
Use SCAN command to scan the drive (set relocate=on in command options).
And wait ...
(it might be several days until this process finishes).

But yes - this drive is considered failed. Recover, what you can and replace the drive.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

okay i get it now, its not only about software its about hardware too, but sir are you sure that the HDD is so damaged to that point that it need a professional recovery? it wasn't hit of something the thing happened suddenly probably because he used to disconnect it suddenly from the pc
My point is how to be sure that the HDD is damaged or has failed as you said earlier, before i lose hope about fixing it ?

The fact that chkdsk essentially hung, and indicated a large number of moves due to bad blocks is all you need to know. The drive has failed. All devices eventually fail, some sooner than others. There is nothing, repeat, nothing that you can do that will improve this drive. In fact, the more you mess with it the less likely that even the professionals will be able to recover anything useful.

 

[Teekiii]

This is external drive. You didn't mention this.

There are a lot of pending sectors + interface errors.
Could be bad cable connection, overheating, shock received.

Remove it from USB enclosure.
Connect it to a desktop pc with sata data/power cables.

Make MHDD bootable CD or USB flash drive.
Boot from it,
Run mhdd program.
Use PORT command to select 500GB samsung drive,
Use SCAN command to scan the drive (set relocate=on in command options).
And wait ...
(it might be several days until this process finishes).

Thank god, I was waiting for your reply,

I mentioned it the the beginning of the thread that its external,
I use a new cable, a different one of my friend's cable,
and yes i understand the reasons for this problem now thank you

"Connect it to a desktop pc with sata data/power cables."
is it a must to connect it, cant i just use the usb cable, if not, then why ?

i think i can use MHDD i was googling it while you're not here, and i found another program called HDD Regenerator which i easier to use, can i use it instead of MHDD ?

 

[ex_bubblehead]

This is external drive. You didn't mention this.

There are a lot of pending sectors + interface errors.
Could be bad cable connection, overheating, shock received.

Remove it from USB enclosure.
Connect it to a desktop pc with sata data/power cables.

Make MHDD bootable CD or USB flash drive.
Boot from it,
Run mhdd program.
Use PORT command to select 500GB samsung drive,
Use SCAN command to scan the drive (set relocate=on in command options).
And wait ...
(it might be several days until this process finishes).

But yes - this drive is considered failed. Recover, what you can and replace the drive.

Keep in mind that a large number of external enclosures encrypt the drive (WD, for instance), making what you just suggested impossible. In addition, many external drives do not have standard controllers on board (again WD). They have a modified controller with only a single USB port, leaving no way to use internally.

 

[Teekiii]

The fact that chkdsk essentially hung, and indicated a large number of moves due to bad blocks is all you need to know. The drive has failed. All devices eventually fail, some sooner than others. There is nothing, repeat, nothing that you can do that will improve this drive. In fact, the more you mess with it the less likely that even the professionals will be able to recover anything useful.

I totally understand you, but you have to understand me too, here in Egypt i can't trust professionals not to extract the data and keep a copy for their own use, these data are work data private pictures & videos etc.

so i have to try every single way to exctract these data before losing hope and dropping the case because if i didn't manage to do it i won't take the HDD to a stranger even if he is professional, its a trust issue.

so please if you think the solution of SkyNetRising is gonna work, or if you have anything to suggest please mention it and try to understand me point. thank you so much

 

[Teekiii]

and if i formatted the drive without fixing it, would i be able to recover anything?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Keep in mind that a large number of external enclosures encrypt the drive (WD, for instance), making what you just suggested impossible.

MHDD would not care about any encryption.

 

[SkyNetRising]

and if i formatted the drive without fixing it, would i be able to recover anything?

Nope. That would be pointless.
Any writing to the drive reduces chances of data recovery.

 

[Teekiii]

Nope. That would be pointless.
Any writing to the drive reduces chances of data recovery.

okay i'm going for the MHDD solution, but you did't answer my inquiry about if i can use the usb port instead of sata/data cable and if HDD Re-generator can do the job or not

 

[SkyNetRising]

Not sure about regenerator. Haven't used it.

 

[Teekiii]

Not sure about regenerator. Haven't used it.

Okay i'll try MHDD and tell you the updates, but i'm gonna use usb cable is that okay?

 

[SkyNetRising]

MHDD will not detect any drives connected to USB.
You have to use sata data + sata power cables.

 

[seanwebster]

Oooo, the controller board on that external may be bad too. Definitely you should open it up and use the drive over SATA and not the stock USB controller. I’ve had so many of those cheaply made pieces of crap die on me, even newer ones. I don’t think I recall Samsung doing any sneaky encryption on their externals. That thing would have been chucked into the trash by now if it were mine lol. let us know how your recovery goes. As others have mentioned, you may be damaging things worse with what you are doing. Professional service is recommended.

 

[jsmithepa]

these data are work data private pictures & videos etc.

Well if the data is important enough to you, may have to fly it to a country to hand it over a competent Western professional where they respect privacy.

 

[Teekiii]

Thanks All for replying,

There was a shocking solution in only 48 seconds!

I've been able to recover almost all the data (90 %), before trying to fix the HDD,
How did that happen? okay i was about to try SkiNetRising solution, which i have to thank him for giving me hope on this case, when i thought to try a final solution i saw on youtube, its a software called iBoysoft Data Recovery, i found it on a video the guy said it helped him to solve "the parameter is incorrect" problem, i thought to give it a try, it was a long shot but also a turning point.

in less than a minute the software did three steps i didn't think of taking screen shots of them and then BAMM it opens the HDD as any recovering program, (I already tried active @ software for recovery but it didn't recognize the HDD partition), i managed to move most of the data to my PC's HDD and then it came to a part when it said the HDD was offline, i unplugged it and then plugged it again, and it worked again, i noticed that when i try to recover a specific file it keeps telling me that the HDD is offline, tried the unplugging/plugging thing for the fourth time but nope it didn't work this time so now i'm trying this HDD Regenerating program and if it didn't work i'll try MHDD with sata cable. and i'll keep you guys updated.

P.s That was all done with usb cable

Thanks to iBoysoft Data Recovery i managed to get almost all my data, now let's see if i can fix the HDD without even formatting it!