[SOLVED] Recovering data from unrecognized MBR HDD (Seagate Expansion)

[immelmann]

Hi everyone, I got this problem - I've got data on my Seagate Expansion drive and the MBR-formated enclosure malfunctions. I need to move files from this drive but after copying several files (30-60 gbs), the drive either stops being recognized or restarts. I know that there's a program that enables you to move files from MBR drives without enclosures. I know that because I did it with another Seagate Expansion drive of mine - I took it out of the Seagate enclosure, put it into a HDD enclosure and moved all files, before formatting it GUID. The problem is I don't remember the name, can't find it in the Control Panel or in my browser history. Does any one know program(s) to access and move files from such a drive? Thanks in advance. P.S. I forgot to mention the size of the drive in question is 3 TB.

UPDATE: Found the program myself - it's TestDisk, you can download it for free, it lets you access and copy files from and unrecognized Seagate Expansion drive without Seagate enclosure. Sorry if I took somebody's time and thanks to everyone who tried to help me.

 

[mbarnes86]

Hi

you should not need to use any special software for fat32 or NTFS formatted external USB hard drive on a Windows PC

changing from GPT or MBR partitioning is normally only important for internal bootable disks larger than 2 TB

Both Western Digital & Seagate make windows diagnostic software to test internal & external USB drives for hardware errors.
This should be your first step

The next step is to test the drive on a different USB port on the same PC then on another PC

Sometimes changing USB enclosures can cause problems when the original enclosure include encryption (even if no password is asked for)

If you have eSATA Ports or spare internal SATA ports you may be able to read the external drive but not if the drive has been encrypted or is physically damaged

The only time special software would be useful would be if the USB drive was formatted in one of the MAC or UNIX formats and you wanted to use the disk in a Windows PC or vica versa

regards
Mike Barnes

 

[fzabkar]

Seagate's 2TB+ external drives are configured with a 4KB sector size. That's how they circumvent the 32-bit LBA limitation for 512e drives and MBR partitioning. When you remove such a drive from its enclosure and connect it directly to a SATA port on your computer's motherboard, you expose the drive's native 512e LBA size and render the file system inaccessible. Essentially you now have a 4Kn file system on a 512e drive.

Tools such as DMDE can access your data, but it's not freeware (US$20).

https://dmde.com/

I would first examine the SMART report with a tool such as CrystalDiskInfo. Look for reallocated, pending or uncorrectable sectors.

https://crystalmark.info/en/software/crystaldiskinfo/

It does sound as if the drive is unstable, so I would suggest cloning it with a tool that understands how to work around bad sectors.

https://www.gnu.org/software/ddrescue/
http://www.sdcomputingservice.com/hddsupertool

 

[immelmann]

Hi

you should not need to use any special software for fat32 or NTFS formatted external USB hard drive on a Windows PC

changing from GPT or MBR partitioning is normally only important for internal bootable disks larger than 2 TB

Both Western Digital & Seagate make windows diagnostic software to test internal & external USB drives for hardware errors.
This should be your first step

The next step is to test the drive on a different USB port on the same PC then on another PC

Sometimes changing USB enclosures can cause problems when the original enclosure include encryption (even if no password is asked for)

If you have eSATA Ports or spare internal SATA ports you may be able to read the external drive but not if the drive has been encrypted or is physically damaged

The only time special software would be useful would be if the USB drive was formatted in one of the MAC or UNIX formats and you wanted to use the disk in a Windows PC or vica versa

regards
Mike Barnes

Thnx for your help. It's bigger than 2 TB and I know there's such a program but I can't recall its name. It worked perfectly on another Seagate Expansion that I had to take out of enclosure because it din't even start in it.

 

[immelmann]

Seagate's 2TB+ external drives are configured with a 4KB sector size. That's how they circumvent the 32-bit LBA limitation for 512e drives and MBR partitioning. When you remove such a drive from its enclosure and connect it directly to a SATA port on your computer's motherboard, you expose the drive's native 512e LBA size and render the file system inaccessible. Essentially you now have a 4Kn file system on a 512e drive.

Tools such as DMDE can access your data, but it's not freeware (US$20).

https://dmde.com/

I would first examine the SMART report with a tool such as CrystalDiskInfo. Look for reallocated, pending or uncorrectable sectors.

https://crystalmark.info/en/software/crystaldiskinfo/

It does sound as if the drive is unstable, so I would suggest cloning it with a tool that understands how to work around bad sectors.

https://www.gnu.org/software/ddrescue/
http://www.sdcomputingservice.com/hddsupertool

Thanks for your such a quick reply to my post. The program I used before was freeware and it enabled me to copy 3 TBs from another Seagate Expansion drive. I just can't recall its name.