Member Avatar for arcybarrios

I've had my external HD for a while now (Rock mobile disk). Last time I tried to access the data in it was a few months ago without issues. I tried using it yesterday and started to have issues. I have 600GB of data that needless to, is very valuable.

It doesn't matter what machine I plug the laptop to (Vista, 7 or 8.1) I have a hard time getting them to read the HD. Once it finally decided to show up, I cannot do anything with the files.

What I have done:
[*] Uninstalled drivers
[*] Ran windows Fix It
[*] Used 3 different laptops
[*] Changed cables
[*] Ran chkdsk E: /F
[*] Shaked it (out of sheer frustration) In case you are wondering, it didn't work lol

It shows as it being NTFS but the first few times I ran chkdsk E: /F it said the files were RAW.
When I ran windows' Fix it, I was able to successfully run chkdsk again. Below is the information that was sent back:

C:\windows\system32>chkdsk E: /F
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is 1TB HD.

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...

53504 file records processed.

File verification completed.

27 large file records processed.

0 bad file records processed.

Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...

57350 index entries processed.

Index verification completed.

0 unindexed files scanned.

0 unindexed files recovered.

Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Security descriptor verification completed.

1923 data files processed.
A disk read error occurredc0000185
An unspecified error occurred (6c6f6766696c652e 29c).

Can someone shed some light as to how I can recover the files in the HD?

Edited by Dani because: We do not support BBCode
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  • Latest Post Latest Post by mindmergepk
Member Avatar for rubberman

The disk read error at the bottom of you lising would indicate that the drive is starting to fail. You likely need to replace it asap, reinstall Windows on the new drive, and copy your data files to the new disk.

Member Avatar for rch1231

Hello,

Ok so if I understand you correctly the drive initially shows up and is readable but after it is running for a bit it starts giving I/O errors. It sounds like as the drive warms up it starts to fail. This is going to sound a little crazy but Freeze the drive in your freezer for at least 24 hours in a sealed ZIP Lock bag. Then when you go to attempt to recover the files system, keep it in a cold area and it may continue to read long enough for you to run chkdsk and pull data off of it.

A second option is to use A USB (2.0 if you have one) housing to mount the drive in instead of connecting it to the conputer directly. It will slow down the I/O from the drive and possible keep it cooler longer (does not always help).

The reason for using the cold is that solder expands when cold and if it is cracked it can break the solder connection as it heats up and shrinks.

Member Avatar for mindmergepk

it is worth to get a s.m.a.r.t report of the disk to find out exactly if it is failing or there are some filesystem errors.

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