External hard drive transfer stops after few files

[sidlauskaz]

So recently I've updated to Windows 8.1 from Windows 7 (did a clean install) and backed up all of my files into my external hard drive (Touro 500GB)

When I try to transfer the files from my external hard drive - for around ~40-60 seconds it transfers fine (30-40mb/s) and then it suddenly goes to 0 bytes/second

I can transfer some files without this problem, but only a folder or a file at a time but some files/folders do the same thing "transfers fine (30-40mb/s) and then it suddenly goes to 0 bytes/second".

I've tried to transfer files from this external hard drive to a Mac computer and the same thing happens

This doesn't happen with other drives and I don't wanna lose my files in that drive.

I've tried optimizing it and it still doesn't work.

It was working perfectly fine before the Windows 8.1 update

Oh and when I try to cancel the transfering I can't and the only way to stop it is by removing the drive from my computer

Help!

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there, sidlauskaz!

It sounds like there's something wrong with your external, unfortunately! 🙁
I'd suggest searching your HDD manufacturer's website for a diagnostics utility to test the drive's heath and show you the SMART status.
Or you can check out this thread for third-party test tools: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/282651-32-best-diagnostic-testing-utility

Do the diagnostics and keep me posted with the result!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[sidlauskaz]

Hey there, sidlauskaz!

It sounds like there's something wrong with your external, unfortunately! 🙁
I'd suggest searching your HDD manufacturer's website for a diagnostics utility to test the drive's heath and show you the SMART status.
Or you can check out this thread for third-party test tools: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/282651-32-best-diagnostic-testing-utility

Do the diagnostics and keep me posted with the result!
SuperSoph_WD

Ok, so I've ran it through CrystalDisk and here's what I got http://i.imgur.com/xBEVbkl.png

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there, sidlauskaz!

It sounds like there's something wrong with your external, unfortunately! 🙁
I'd suggest searching your HDD manufacturer's website for a diagnostics utility to test the drive's heath and show you the SMART status.
Or you can check out this thread for third-party test tools: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/282651-32-best-diagnostic-testing-utility

Do the diagnostics and keep me posted with the result!
SuperSoph_WD

Ok, so I've ran it through CrystalDisk and here's what I got http://i.imgur.com/xBEVbkl.png

That's too bad! 🙁 I strongly recommend backing up all the data from the external HDD ASAP, otherwise you risk losing it. Your drive is corrupted and I'd suggest to check your warranty. If it's still covered, you can contact the tech support of your manufacturer and send out an RMA request. You might be able to get a replacement. If not, I'd suggest to start looking for a new external.
Back up as much as you can. Afterwards, I'd recommend running chkdsk from the Command prompt in Windows.
Run the command: chkdsk /r :x (where x is the drive letter assigned to your external)
Here's a tutorial you can use: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/433-disk-check.html
Hopefully this can help you backup all the files successfully.

Keep me posted!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[sidlauskaz]

Hey there, sidlauskaz!

It sounds like there's something wrong with your external, unfortunately! 🙁
I'd suggest searching your HDD manufacturer's website for a diagnostics utility to test the drive's heath and show you the SMART status.
Or you can check out this thread for third-party test tools: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/282651-32-best-diagnostic-testing-utility

Do the diagnostics and keep me posted with the result!
SuperSoph_WD

Ok, so I've ran it through CrystalDisk and here's what I got http://i.imgur.com/xBEVbkl.png

That's too bad! 🙁 I strongly recommend backing up all the data from the external HDD ASAP, otherwise you risk losing it. Your drive is corrupted and I'd suggest to check your warranty. If it's still covered, you can contact the tech support of your manufacturer and send out an RMA request. You might be able to get a replacement. If not, I'd suggest to start looking for a new external.
Back up as much as you can. Afterwards, I'd recommend running chkdsk from the Command prompt in Windows.
Run the command: chkdsk /r :x (where x is the drive letter assigned to your external)
Here's a tutorial you can use: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/433-disk-check.html
Hopefully this can help you backup all the files successfully.

Keep me posted!
SuperSoph_WD

Is it possible to see which files/folders are corrupted?

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Is it possible to see which files/folders are corrupted?

I'm afraid not. Your best option is to run chkdsk /r
This command repairs bad sectors and retrieves readable data and some corrupted files from your drive. Check the link I've shared above.
Be patient, the procedure might take a while. Oh, and also make sure to "Run as Administrator" the Command prompt line!

Keep me posted!

 

[sidlauskaz]

Hey there, sidlauskaz!

It sounds like there's something wrong with your external, unfortunately! 🙁
I'd suggest searching your HDD manufacturer's website for a diagnostics utility to test the drive's heath and show you the SMART status.
Or you can check out this thread for third-party test tools: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/282651-32-best-diagnostic-testing-utility

Do the diagnostics and keep me posted with the result!
SuperSoph_WD

Is it possible to see which files/folders are corrupted?

I'm afraid not. Your best option is to run chkdsk /r
This command repairs bad sectors and retrieves readable data and some corrupted files from your drive. Check the link I've shared above.
Be patient, the procedure might take a while. Oh, and also make sure to "Run as Administrator" the Command prompt line!

Keep me posted!

Uh oh http://i.imgur.com/3DSbfUv.png
So I've ran chkdsk and a disk read error occurs, it's trying to correct it and then it happens again and again.
What do I do?

UPDATE: I've just realised, that these are errors that chkdsk is fixing. lol.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Uh oh http://i.imgur.com/3DSbfUv.png
So I've ran chkdsk and a disk read error occurs, it's trying to correct it and then it happens again and again.
What do I do?

Yep, this is very bad! 🙁 However, you should let it run its course and wait until the stages of chkdsk are completed! Did you back up any data from the drive before running the cmd command like I advised you to?
Hopefully it will work and lock the bad sectors only. If it doesn't, you can try using Ubuntu Live CD to recover your files.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/use-ubuntu-live-cd-to-backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/
Or a third-party data recovery utility: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/291895-32-best-data-recovery-software

Let me know how it goes!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[sidlauskaz]

Uh oh http://i.imgur.com/3DSbfUv.png
So I've ran chkdsk and a disk read error occurs, it's trying to correct it and then it happens again and again.
What do I do?

Yep, this is very bad! 🙁 However, you should let it run its course and wait until the stages of chkdsk are completed! Did you back up any data from the drive before running the cmd command like I advised you to?
Hopefully it will work and lock the bad sectors only. If it doesn't, you can try using Ubuntu Live CD to recover your files.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/use-ubuntu-live-cd-to-backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/
Or a third-party data recovery utility: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/291895-32-best-data-recovery-software

Let me know how it goes!
SuperSoph_WD

ok, so I'm trying to back up as much data as possible, but the thing I've noticed, that when I first plugged in the hard drive there were 38GB of storage left. Now - there's 36.1GB of storage left. Could this be a virus or something?

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

ok, so I'm trying to back up as much data as possible, but the thing I've noticed, that when I first plugged in the hard drive there were 38GB of storage left. Now - there's 36.1GB of storage left. Could this be a virus or something?

It might be a virus as well, but it doesn't change the fact that your drive is dying and it's severely damaged.
You can try using a cleaning utility but I doubt it's going to make any difference. Better thing of ways to backup all the data that you can access ASAP!

Keep me posted though!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[sidlauskaz]

ok, so I'm trying to back up as much data as possible, but the thing I've noticed, that when I first plugged in the hard drive there were 38GB of storage left. Now - there's 36.1GB of storage left. Could this be a virus or something?

It might be a virus as well, but it doesn't change the fact that your drive is dying and it's severely damaged.
You can try using a cleaning utility but I doubt it's going to make any difference. Better thing of ways to backup all the data that you can access ASAP!

Keep me posted though!
SuperSoph_WD

Ok, so I've backed up most of the important files in there, some I just can't copy, and some are gone. The hard drive still operates the same, so now I don't know, should throw it away or format it?

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Ok, so I've backed up most of the important files in there, some I just can't copy, and some are gone. The hard drive still operates the same, so now I don't know, should throw it away or format it?

Well, I'm glad you were able to save your data, or at least the most important files!
You can now reformat it through Disk Management or use a utility to write zeros which will fully erase everything to the point of no return. Here's a link that explains the procedure: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=8fHfem
You can also use WD Data LifeGuard Diagnostics tool, if your HDD manufacturer's tool does not have the option of writing zeros.
I'd recommend the latter because it hides the bad sectors, so you won't have any data written to them. But keep in mind that it won't fix them! Use it until it fails completely and make sure you don't save any important data on it. Afterwards you'd have no other choice than to throw it away.

Hope I was helpful!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[fzabkar]

@sidlauskaz, your drive is seriously ill. The Reallocated Sector Count has dropped to its minimum value, which would suggest that one or more heads/surfaces are probably degraded. Data recovery professionals advise that you must NOT run CHKDSK against such a drive, especially not in repair mode. Note also that the Reallocated Event Count has also bottomed out. Its raw vale (0xA0E = 2574) suggests that the drive may have as many as 2574 bad sectors. The Current Pending Sector Count is indicating that 536 (= 0x218) weak sectors are waiting to be replaced.

IMHO the best DIY approach would have been to clone your drive, sector by sector, using a tool that understands how to work around bad media (eg ddrescue) and then run data recovery software against the clone.

Ddrescue can perform multipass cloning. It clones the easy sectors on the first pass, and attempts the more difficult ones on subsequent passes. It can also clone your drive in reverse, thereby disabling lookahead caching. It keeps a log, allowing it to resume after an interruption.

http://www.gnu.org/software/ddrescue/ddrescue.html

Ubuntu Rescue Remix:
http://ubuntu-rescue-remix.org/

Install Ubuntu Rescue Remix to a Flash Drive:
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/install-ubuntu-rescue-remix-to-a-flash-drive/

Clone a failing Windows hard disk with ddrescue on Ubuntu Rescue Remix:
http://keystoneisit.blogspot.com/2011/08/clone-failing-windows-hard-disk-with.html

 

[sidlauskaz]

[/quotemsg]Well, I'm glad you were able to save your data, or at least the most important files!
You can now reformat it through Disk Management or use a utility to write zeros which will fully erase everything to the point of no return. Here's a link that explains the procedure: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=8fHfem
You can also use WD Data LifeGuard Diagnostics tool, if your HDD manufacturer's tool does not have the option of writing zeros.
I'd recommend the latter because it hides the bad sectors, so you won't have any data written to them. But keep in mind that it won't fix them! Use it until it fails completely and make sure you don't save any important data on it. Afterwards you'd have no other choice than to throw it away.

Hope I was helpful!
SuperSoph_WD[/quotemsg]

Ok, so I finished writing zeros and now the drive just won't come up.
Is that it? Is it dead?

 

[fzabkar]

@sidlauskaz, it is possible that your drive has developed too many defects. When this happens, the defect list overflows and the drive fails to come ready. At least that's what happens with WD and Seagate drives.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Ok, so I finished writing zeros and now the drive just won't come up.
Is that it? Is it dead?

Hey again, sidlauskaz!

Have you tried the drive on another computer? I'd suggest to do so and see if it will come up there.
It is also possible that the drive is too damaged as @fzabkar mentioned.
Make sure you try it with a different cable and on a different computer, hopefully it will get recognized without any issues.

Let me know how it goes!
SuperSoph_WD