Corrupted File System?

[Darzk]

Hey guys,

So I was dumping files onto an external (mostly video files, recorded tv/movies, some of our home picture collection, etc) and after the transfer was complete (didn't notice any problems) I noticed I was unable to open one of the folders on the drive - I was getting a message about corruption.

I disconnected + powered off the external, reconnected and rebooted the system - and now the drive is showing as having no formatting. It's showing as 0/0 bytes and asking me to format rather than open it.

I grabbed a few free data recovery programs and none of them can open it - 'Can not analyze this type of file system'.

I'm getting errors all over the place, from 'P:\ is not accessible. The parameter is incorrect.' to messages about there being no file system, to messages about corruption.

I'm thinking the next step is a quick format of the drive, so the recovery programs can go in to recover 'deleted' files. I just want to be sure that's the right thing to do - a quick format won't flip the bytes, right?

Any particular (free) program you'd recommend?

FYI - System is W7x64, drive is a 3TB Western Digital Green, was about 2.2 terras full of data but pretty new. No physical trauma to the drive.

 

[ulysses35]

How is the driver connected to your PC ? it could be something as simple as a loose or poorly fitting USB connector or dodgy cable. I would try those first.

Formatting the HDD will make it near impossible without a professional data recovery service (expensive) to recover much

 

[Darzk]

It's connected via E-SATA, but iirc this external case may have had trouble in the past. I'll try plugging it in internally and see if the data's accessible.

Edit: Nope, same error - 'You must format this drive before you can use it.'

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there, Darzk!

I'm sorry to hear about your issues with the WD Green drive! I really hope you have a backup of the data!
Before proceeding with any other troubleshooting, I strongly recommend testing your drive with WD's Data LifeGuard Diagnostics tool. This will let you know what's the health and S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. Here's a link to the utility: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=T6CH7B
I'd also suggest to try booting with an Ubunto Live CD and attempt to recover your files. ( http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/use-ubuntu-live-cd-to-backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/ )
If this doesn't work, you could try chkdsk command to repair bad sectors and recover readable data, but it might as well NOT work and lose some of your data.

Keep me posted! Hope this helps!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Darzk]

The SMART quick test says the drive is fine. Ubunto can't even see the drive.
Gonna run the long test overnight and take a stab at chkdsk tomorrow.

 

[fzabkar]

@Darzk, you say that the drive had about 2.2TB (2 TiB ?) of data when it became corrupt. I've seen many cases where a 32-bit LBA limitation has resulted in this kind of corruption. Typically a user creates a time bomb which is triggered when data are written beyond the 2TiB mark on a 3TB+ drive. In your case the limit may show up via USB but not via eSATA.

 

[Darzk]

Hmm. I've tried plugging it directly into an internal SATA cable with no luck, and ESATA, but haven't tried via USB - but you're saying that would be the problem, right, not the solution?

Disk was originally set up as GPT, rather then MBR, so shouldn't be having that problem, yeah?

Full SMART check says the disk is fine but the tool doesn't read file system or space allowances for the drive in the lower window.

Chkdsk time, yeah?

 

[Darzk]

After chkdsk the disk was still not accessible and listed 0/0 bytes. After a quick format no files were present (obviously) but I was then able to recover 90% of the files with Recuva, although not the folder setup so it's quite a mess. Still, got the data I needed.

 

[WebBeachBoy]

Try EaseUS data recovery tool

http://www.easeus.com/data-recovery-software/

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

After chkdsk the disk was still not accessible and listed 0/0 bytes. After a quick format no files were present (obviously) but I was then able to recover 90% of the files with Recuva, although not the folder setup so it's quite a mess. Still, got the data I needed.

Hi again, Darzk!

Great job with the data recovery! Count yourself lucky and always keep backups in the future to prevent such headaches!
It's a pretty new WD Green HDD, right? So now I'd recommend you to get in touch with our tech support and tell them about the failures. You can RMA it and get a replacement product.
The contacts: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=rIvkXR
& How to RMA: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=d823L8

Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[fzabkar]

@Darzk, formatting the drive was a bad move. You managed to recover your data despite formatting your drive, not because you formatted it. It's too bad that this Internet myth hasn't been put to rest long ago. You were lucky this time. Definitely don't try this with a FAT formatted drive, especially one that is highly fragmented.

Congratulations anyway.