My 1TB Hard Drive can't move files

[flowersbloom08]

I've been trying to move files from my hard drive but when it reaches half way it will suddenly pause and the copying sign turns red then it will hang. So i thought the hard drive just couldn't handle too many files (though i know it doesn't make sense because i still have more than 300GB). I could deleted some files but some says "error" or "could not read files" but when i try to open the file, it works fine. I tried using another laptop but the issue is still the same. I could not have courage formatting my hard drive because all files are just too important for me. Please help me what to do.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Welcome to the TH Community, @flowersbloom08!

Could you please tell me if this is an external or an internal HDD that is unable to move the files? I'd strongly recommend you copy all the files from that drive somewhere else as much of them as you can! I'd also ask you to go to Disk Management in Windows and post a screenshot of it here (e.g. through Imgur). This will help us determine how much of the capacity on the drive has been used. If it's an external drive, you should also try swapping the USB cable that is connecting it to the laptops and see if the transfer of files will improve.
Once you have a duplicate of the data stored on a different drive, you could also try running the HDD manufacturer's brand-specific diagnostic tool and determine the health and SMART status of the drive.

Keep me posted with the troubleshooting!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[flowersbloom08]

Thank you.. It's external drive. I could not copy any of them. It always stops half way, then the laptop would hang. I tried transfering connectors but the result is still the same.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there again, @flowersbloom08!

This sounds pretty concerning, if swapping the USB cable and the USB ports doesn't help on both laptops, then I'd strongly recommend you run the HDD's brand-specific diagnostic utility. It will help you determine the health and SMART status of your external drive.

The drive could potentially be failing, so make sure you backup as much of the data as you can somewhere else. Making duplicates (copies) of the files will hopefully avoid any potential data loss. 🙁 Could you please share a screenshot of Disk Management and the SMART status attributes, once you run the diagnostic tests?

Keep me posted!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[flowersbloom08]

Thanks once again, i tried using your recommendation but it keeps on aborting in the middle. I'm still trying it right now but it seems like it doesnt work. i guess my hard drive really have some serious problem. I checked it with anti virus, there were no virus seen instead there were too many errors in my files. I opened some of those error files but they were still working fine except i could not still move them. If only i could move them i could just format my disk.

 

[Guest]

Try moving the files by smaller batches. There is corruption somewhere on the drive. BTW, the drive is likely failing, so even formatting it, you should no longer consider it reliable.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there again, @flowersbloom08!

I'm afraid @Andy is right! You should definitely try moving the files in smaller batches. I'd advise you to check the warranty on the external drive and see if it's still covered. If it is, you should probably consider contacting the manufacturer's customer support for assistance with the RMA procedure and specific data recovery company referrals (if any). What about the HDD diagnostic tests? (check the hyperlink in my previous post) What did the SMART results show about the health status of the drive? These tests are pretty important as they help us determine the health status. I'm afraid you might be dealing with too many bad sectors on the external HDD.

Could you please share a screenshot of the errors when you try to move the files? It would be really helpful to us.

Let us know how it goes.
SuperSoph_WD

 

[flowersbloom08]

Hi there! Thank you so much for the replies..
I tried @Andy's suggestion and moved it with smaller batches, thankfully it worked. Just this morning when i was trying to connect it in the laptop, it won't open anymore instead it says "need to format before i can open it". I tried disconnecting and connecting it multiple times, i also tried it with another laptop but the result is still the same. Since i already got my important files i decided to format it but just like @Andy said i think it's failing because i can't format it either. I searched a little bit and found icare-recovery.com, I'm still working on it now so i'll just give an update if something happens but i hope you can give me suggestions too.


BTW, I'm really sorry i tried sending a screenshot but i don't know how to do it in here.

 

[flowersbloom08]

I did the diagnostic test and just like what i said, it keeps aborting when i reach the middle so i just stop using it. In the management setting it says the hard drive is healthy.

 

[Guest]

I did the diagnostic test and just like what i said, it keeps aborting when i reach the middle so i just stop using it. In the management setting it says the hard drive is healthy.

If you're still on warranty, get it processed ASAP. If not, you could try a final solutions, which is a bit complicated. Under linux, there is a software called "badblocks", which can scan your hard-drive unmounted by each sector. It's very aggressive and powerful. A command like "badblocks -p 5 -wvsb 4096 /dev/sdb" *assumes the device is sdb*

This is dangerous. This destroys MBRs, partitions and data alike. It will write and try to read every sector five times. Assuming the problem is a platter one, it might "revive" them. It's something you might want to try. I fixed one of 5 dead drives this way, so I know it can work. BTW, it takes a few days to run, and if your problem is the controller (the board that drives the HDD), it won't fix it.

It's probably dead and good for the garbage, I'm just mentioning this for completeness.

 

[Guest]

I did the diagnostic test and just like what i said, it keeps aborting when i reach the middle so i just stop using it. In the management setting it says the hard drive is healthy.

If you're still on warranty, get it processed ASAP. If not, you could try a final solutions, which is a bit complicated. Under linux, there is a software called "badblocks", which can scan your hard-drive unmounted by each sector. It's very aggressive and powerful. A command like "badblocks -p 5 -wvsb 4096 /dev/sdb" *assumes the device is sdb*

This is dangerous. This destroys MBRs, partitions and data alike. It will write and try to read every sector five times. Assuming the problem is a platter one, it might "revive" them. It's something you might want to try. I fixed one of 5 dead drives this way, so I know it can work. BTW, it takes a few days to run, and if your problem is the controller (the board that drives the HDD), it won't fix it.

It's probably dead and good for the garbage, I'm just mentioning this for completeness.