Question What's wrong with my HDD?

[cartmaan001]

So, long story short: I've got an HDD (WD10EZEX, approx. 1 years old), and I have no idea what's wrong with it. Meaning, it works... but it doesn't.
To simplify it, I'm on another HDD right now, I connected my old one, firstly, it doesn't detect the drive on it where Windows was installed. It may be why it told me that "no bootable system" (or something along those lines.) was found when I tried to boot from it. It shows up, but it doesn't say anything regarding its capacity, and I can't access it. It's just there.

Now, the other drive on it, where most of my data is, gets detected, I can access it, but it's unbearably slow. I mean that as in you can barely open up folders in there. Let alone copy even a document or something. Also, when I try to open up windows disk management, it gets stuck on "Connecting to Virtual Disk Service".

So I was just wondering is there any way in hell I could save my files in there, or should I try to wipe the HDD, or just throw it out.

 

[fzabkar]

Start with a SMART report from a tool such as CrystalDiskInfo. Look for reallocated, pending or uncorrectable sectors.

 

[popatim]

Don't trash the drive, its a year old and has a 2yr warranty.
https://support.wdc.com/warranty/?lang=en

 

[fzabkar]

You can apply the "WD slow fix" using HDDSuperTool scripts (mod 02 and mod 32) and then clone the drive with HDDSuperClone.

 

[sonic.millenium]

That's a lot of replies all of a sudden

Take note that if your HDD is already toast or approaching that status (which you can check with a S.M.A.R.T. reading program like CrystalDiskInfo, WD's own software -- I imagine it's the Data Lifeguard Diagnostic, or a surface test (Verify, Butterfly, whatever you prefer) in HDDScan -- but be careful with this one, see below),
you may want to avoid drastic, data transfer-heavy actions which could butcher your drive completely. Consulting a data recovery expert is always an option.

Anyway, got 2 things to say on this matter:

1. If it doesn't make grinding, scratching or clicking noises, the mechanics are probably fine. Beeps and/or general slowdowns, I reckon, would suggest the controller is feeling as "good" as Spidey in the Infinity War. Not a bad thing because even though they're quite proprietary, controllers (together with heads) are much less of a pain to fix. Contrary to the platters, they're replaceable. Got a scratched or shattered platter -- now that's an oof. Anyway, if the drive doesn't make scary sounds you can proceed with less caution.
2. Cloning is a good idea and probably the easiest way to retrieve stuff from such a drive. I personally used Drive Snapshot to recover data from a WD Caviar Blue which had had 25% of its sectors wrecked after water damage.

Hope this helps, at least somewhat.

 

[fzabkar]

@sonic.millenium, I see no evidence that Drive Snapshot knows how to deal with bad heads/media. Normally those tools will thrash away at bad sectors, causing the kind of "drastic, data transfer-heavy actions which could butcher your drive completely". Instead, data recovery professionals recommend ddrescue or HDDSuperClone for this very reason.