How can I fix my External Hard Drive that says it needs to be formatted?

[Daniel543M]

Hey guys,
So I have a Seagate 3TB External Hard Drive that all of a sudden tells me it needs to be formatted. All I did prior to this happening was restart my PC, the same way I do every day.

I have 2.8TB of files, pictures, videos and more on that drive with no backups of it anywhere and I really need everything back.

I have read many threads similar to this one but others don't seem to have exactly the same problem that I do, in that when connected, my EHD constantly appears and then disappears in My Computer with a pop-up message.

This means that no matter which data/partition/HD recovery software I use, it doesn't allow me to select the EHD as it keeps disappearing from the list.

So basically, when it is plugged in, every 10 seconds or so it disappears and then reappears with this pop-up message:

"You need to format the disk in drive G: before you can use it.
Do you want to format it?"

Obviously I don't want to format it as that means I lose all my data.

Also, it uses USB 3.0 and is connected with a USB 3.0 cable into a USB 3.0 port.

I have tried:
- Changing the letter of the drive

In terms of recovery software, I have tried a few and another thing that makes it difficult for me to use (besides my EHD disappearing all the tim) is that I don't really know which options to choose.

For example, iCare Data Recovery has 4 sub-menus:
1. Lost Partition Recovery
2. Advanced file recovery
3. Deep Scan Recovery
4. Format Recovery

To me, it would be between 1 and 2, but I don't really know. In the help PDF, it showed this:
- http://prntscr.com/2e2754

These are the ones that seem like they are appropriate:
- http://prntscr.com/2e27h8

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
- Daniel

 

[Sushant Choudhary]

Uchetil
I ve used twice process for 500gb hard disk by chkdsk H:/X infront of prompt.
But. Afteatep step 2 verificaton of indexes

 

[Sushant Choudhary]

Hi uchetil
I ve used twice chkdsk to recover my 500 gb He segate hd. But after 2nd stage 72%index verification there is
AN UNEXPECTED ERROR OCCURED (696e647863686b2e dee).
Comes and fresh prompt appears below
Please help me..



Thanks I restarted. Again ran and now its showing recovery… thanks.a lot..

 

[nananarayanan]

Try this:

Start: All Programs: Accessories: Right click on Command Prompt, run as administrator...

at the prompt type:
chkdsk (Your problem drive letter here no parentheses): /x

hit enter.

wait.

this will fix the most likely cause for windows to be crying for you to format a good drive... corrupted data... you maybe didn't wait for a write to finish or lost power to the drive... this will find and correct this... if it doesn't work then you're gonna need another 3 TB HDD to save your data to when you use the recovery software the choice to try first would be lost partition recovery, if that doesn't do it... deep scan. probably chkdsk will fix you up though.

Thanks much! This helped me.

Hi thanks very much this worked. The only thing it took me some time to understand the space between the k and F drive. If F is the letter of the drive for example. chkdsk(Space no parentheses)(Your problem drive letter here no parentheses):/x. So I think an example like this would help some folks.

Hi, Thanks it worked to me as well.
I tried using /f
chkdsk /f E: (where E is the name of the drive)

 

[sonsh]

Try this:

Start: All Programs: Accessories: Right click on Command Prompt, run as administrator...

at the prompt type:
chkdsk (Your problem drive letter here no parentheses): /x

hit enter.

wait.

this will fix the most likely cause for windows to be crying for you to format a good drive... corrupted data... you maybe didn't wait for a write to finish or lost power to the drive... this will find and correct this... if it doesn't work then you're gonna need another 3 TB HDD to save your data to when you use the recovery software the choice to try first would be lost partition recovery, if that doesn't do it... deep scan. probably chkdsk will fix you up though.

hi i tried this..but it just said "the type of the file system is NTFS" what does that mean?

 

[asala]

Hello ,
Is your problem solved? if yes could u please tell me which solution was the best for you so i can use it?

thanks in advance,
Asala

 

[Anilkalasa]

Thank you guys, appreciate your inputs. Many thanks again. Solution worked perfectly.
C:\>chkdsk D:/X

 

[Mouh Sine]

Try this:

Start: All Programs: Accessories: Right click on Command Prompt, run as administrator...

at the prompt type:
chkdsk (Your problem drive letter here no parentheses): /x

hit enter.

wait.

this will fix the most likely cause for windows to be crying for you to format a good drive... corrupted data... you maybe didn't wait for a write to finish or lost power to the drive... this will find and correct this... if it doesn't work then you're gonna need another 3 TB HDD to save your data to when you use the recovery software the choice to try first would be lost partition recovery, if that doesn't do it... deep scan. probably chkdsk will fix you up though.

 

[Mouh Sine]

Very good solution , thank you very much Mr Uchetil ))

 

[John Raguinan]

Try this:

Start: All Programs: Accessories: Right click on Command Prompt, run as administrator...

at the prompt type:
chkdsk (Your problem drive letter here no parentheses): /x

hit enter.

wait.

this will fix the most likely cause for windows to be crying for you to format a good drive... corrupted data... you maybe didn't wait for a write to finish or lost power to the drive... this will find and correct this... if it doesn't work then you're gonna need another 3 TB HDD to save your data to when you use the recovery software the choice to try first would be lost partition recovery, if that doesn't do it... deep scan. probably chkdsk will fix you up though.

Thank you This helped me for my 2TB Seagate external HD.

 

[Thando22]

Hi Uchetil

chkdsk (Your problem drive letter here no parentheses): /x
I got an error: The type of the file system is FAT32,cannot read boot sector.

what do i do now?

Thando

 

[rezonans]

Thank you Uchetil for the life saving suggestion.

uchetil said:
Try this:

Start: All Programs: Accessories: Right click on Command Prompt, run as administrator...

at the prompt type:
chkdsk (Your problem drive letter here no parentheses): /x

hit enter.

wait.

this will fix the most likely cause for windows to be crying for you to format a good drive... corrupted data... you maybe didn't wait for a write to finish or lost power to the drive... this will find and correct this... if it doesn't work then you're gonna need another 3 TB HDD to save your data to when you use the recovery software the choice to try first would be lost partition recovery, if that doesn't do it... deep scan. probably chkdsk will fix you up though.

 

[EvilPrince]

Nice worked for me to, days i been looking at format J drive, but did what uchetil said and clicked start, all programs, Accessories then right clicked command prompt, and clicked run as administrator, then i typed in with the space chkdsk J:/x and pressed enter. i waited but all was complete in about 3 minutes. thankyou

 

[CAPITTAN]

GREAT....... THANKS IT ACTUALLY WORKED.....LIFESAVER

Try this:

Start: All Programs: Accessories: Right click on Command Prompt, run as administrator...

at the prompt type:
chkdsk (Your problem drive letter here no parentheses): /x

hit enter.

wait.

this will fix the most likely cause for windows to be crying for you to format a good drive... corrupted data... you maybe didn't wait for a write to finish or lost power to the drive... this will find and correct this... if it doesn't work then you're gonna need another 3 TB HDD to save your data to when you use the recovery software the choice to try first would be lost partition recovery, if that doesn't do it... deep scan. probably chkdsk will fix you up though.

 

[Nik Jurgec]

I do this..
Not to worry, this should be straightforward. Although feel free to ask again if the following method does not work.

Firstly, find out the drive letter that your USB stick is. Let's say for argument's sake that it is the F drive.

Go to the start menu, and search for "run". Open that and type CMD. Depending on your Windows version, you can simply type CMD into the search bar and open the Command Prompt.

When this is open, type the following, without the brackets: [Chkdsk F: /r] Also remember that I am using the letter F as a reference, yours may be another but you can find it in My Computer.

Back to the point, when you have pressed enter, it will start repairing damaged files and you will see some of your filenames (relief!) before it finally asks if you want to save lost chains into another location. These are essentially remnants of damaged files, I tend to click "Yes" just in case.

Your USB drive should now be working, please let me know how you get on!

NOW on the usb is nothing 1g of storage shows on but no icons nothing.buts wins ask me conwert lost chains to files not save and i press Y..what now??

 

[Matthew Hildewig]

So I was experiencing this same issue, and though my fix was possibly just luck and not in most cases a practical resolution; I sprayed air into the port of the hard drive where the USB connects. My drive has sat for months and not feeling like pulling it all apart I went with that good old layer one troubleshooting. I cleaned it, cleaned the wire, plugged it and there it was all working normal, hopefully this helps someone out there.

 

[JD20917]

Hello... I would first try removing the HD from the enclosure... and trying a direct connection to a MB... to determine if it's a enclosure/USB3/Cable problem, before trying to force any type recovery on your DATA.
What was the Drive ORIGINALLY formated at and # of partitions/sizes?

Thanks for the very fast reply!

I'm not sure why I didn't mention this in the original post, but this has happened before to this same EHD. And I fixed it. I just can't for the life of me remember how.

I recall using software that wouldn't work on my PC and so I connected my EHD to a laptop and did it on there and then when it was finished, it worked. However, I don't think I had the issue with it constantly disappearing and appearing. I also vaguely remember the interface of said software to be that of similar appearance to the CMD's interface (it wasn't TestDisk).

Regardless, I'd rather not physically open up anything unless it is 100% absolutely necessary as I don't want to inflict any physical damage where it isn't needed.

Is there anything else you can suggest I try?

Also, is there a way to find out what the drive was originally formatted at & the number of partitions?

Sorry about this, I'm not really technologically savvy...

Thanks again

I hope you are able to get decent replies and a resolution to this as I am having similar issues with my WD Elements EHD. Mine isn't disappearing like yours but I do keep getting the format message. It is less than 3 mos old. I have tried test disk and a few other downloads that just aren't resolving the issue. My drive was formatted at the default from when I bought it. I never changed it. I have years of information on this and something I really need right now but can't get to it. In test disk I saw all my files. I just couldn't figure out how to fix the issue.

 

[menauhant]

I had the same exact problem with my Backup EHD Toshiba 1.6GB. I rebooted and had the message to reformat to use. I left it alone and it fixed itself. I have been using this drive for over a year and this is the first time this ever happened.

 

[philoxy]

Try this:

Start: All Programs: Accessories: Right click on Command Prompt, run as administrator...

at the prompt type:
chkdsk (Your problem drive letter here no parentheses): /x

hit enter.

wait.

this will fix the most likely cause for windows to be crying for you to format a good drive... corrupted data... you maybe didn't wait for a write to finish or lost power to the drive... this will find and correct this... if it doesn't work then you're gonna need another 3 TB HDD to save your data to when you use the recovery software the choice to try first would be lost partition recovery, if that doesn't do it... deep scan. probably chkdsk will fix you up though.

Hi! thank you so much, your solution solved my problem. now i can access bact to every file in the hardisk. thank you! 😀

Please, what is the name of the recovery software you can suggest,I have similar problem and chkdsk can't solve it.I already have a another drive to write to.
Thanks

 

[Rahat93]

uchetil
April 18, 2014 9:26:51 AM
Try this:

Start: All Programs: Accessories: Right click on Command Prompt, run as administrator...

at the prompt type:
chkdsk (Your problem drive letter here no parentheses): /x

hit enter.


Help me to solve this problem..Thank you uchetil

 

[sonchee]

Try this:

Start: All Programs: Accessories: Right click on Command Prompt, run as administrator...

at the prompt type:
chkdsk (Your problem drive letter here no parentheses): /x

hit enter.

wait.

this will fix the most likely cause for windows to be crying for you to format a good drive... corrupted data... you maybe didn't wait for a write to finish or lost power to the drive... this will find and correct this... if it doesn't work then you're gonna need another 3 TB HDD to save your data to when you use the recovery software the choice to try first would be lost partition recovery, if that doesn't do it... deep scan. probably chkdsk will fix you up though.

hi i tried this..but it just said "the type of the file system is NTFS" what does that mean?

 

[bagichris]

Try this:

Start: All Programs: Accessories: Right click on Command Prompt, run as administrator...

at the prompt type:
chkdsk (Your problem drive letter here no parentheses): /x

hit enter.

wait.

this will fix the most likely cause for windows to be crying for you to format a good drive... corrupted data... you maybe didn't wait for a write to finish or lost power to the drive... this will find and correct this... if it doesn't work then you're gonna need another 3 TB HDD to save your data to when you use the recovery software the choice to try first would be lost partition recovery, if that doesn't do it... deep scan. probably chkdsk will fix you up though.

It worked like magic. Well done, just saved me 10 years worth of backup

 

[robert2ro]

Please help me.
I have this issue with an HDD and when I chkdsk I get "The type of the file system are RAW. CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives"

Please help me. I don't want to lose data.
Thx

 

[Dondon09]

Hi. I tried the "chkdsk F: /x" but the following shows up:

The type of the file system is FAT32/
An error occurred while reading the file allocation table <FAT 1>.
An error occurred while reading the file allocation table <FAT 2>.
There are no readable file allocation tables <FAT>.

What should I do? Please, help me here.

 

[Sarath2k16]

chkdsk helped meee.... cheers brothers

this morning i connected my hard drive and after use forcefully removed .and when i connected it later it showed 'format disk,. checked online for solutions. and finally guardian angel "chkdsk".following steps
1. go to run type cmd
2. command prompt window will arrive.
3. type " chkdsk j:/x" (j stands for my drive letter .it can be h,k,c, or whatso ever.
4.wait some time
5. your removable disk window will auto appear after disk check.kudossssss....

my drive : WESTERN DIGITAL Passport Ultra 1TB

 

[adamzalez]

Try this:

Start: All Programs: Accessories: Right click on Command Prompt, run as administrator...

at the prompt type:
chkdsk (Your problem drive letter here no parentheses): /x

hit enter.

wait.

this will fix the most likely cause for windows to be crying for you to format a good drive... corrupted data... you maybe didn't wait for a write to finish or lost power to the drive... this will find and correct this... if it doesn't work then you're gonna need another 3 TB HDD to save your data to when you use the recovery software the choice to try first would be lost partition recovery, if that doesn't do it... deep scan. probably chkdsk will fix you up though.

This just resolved my problem. My hard drive is back with all the original files as if nothing had happen. Just like magic!!