[GeekForgotten]

Alright its ok we dont need to do a virus scan, I'll just get a new HDD

One more question

I think this happened while i was searching for a program that could partition my external HDD

Do you know any good free program that can create different partitions on my HDD with different formats such as FAT32, NTFS, etc??

I tried windows disk management but it only gave me the format of exFAT and NTFS

Edited by GeekForgotten, 14 November 2010 - 01:11 PM.

[Advertisements]

The Disk Management console in Windows 7 can create, delete, shrink, expand and format partitions.

I would be happy to provide instructions for manually adding the correct partition structure for your drive, which if successful, may allow you to get back into Windows and run some further diagnostics on the drive - I just wanted to make sure you had all of your data secured before attempting to do anything else. Performing a virus scan isn't a bad idea either.

Edit - I see you edited to say that disk management wouldn't allow you to format Fat32. You might try the Fat32Formatter

[noahdfear]

The Disk Management console in Windows 7 can create, delete, shrink, expand and format partitions.

I would be happy to provide instructions for manually adding the correct partition structure for your drive, which if successful, may allow you to get back into Windows and run some further diagnostics on the drive - I just wanted to make sure you had all of your data secured before attempting to do anything else. Performing a virus scan isn't a bad idea either.

Edit - I see you edited to say that disk management wouldn't allow you to format Fat32. You might try the Fat32Formatter

[GeekForgotten]

Well I've got everything I need backed up

I will try that FAT32Formatter

Is it really possible to get back into windows in that corrupted drive ?
even if we fix it, do you not think it might fail again?
Is it physical damage ?

[noahdfear]

There's always a possibility - no way to know without trying. You already have the WD Diagnostics program (Datalifeguard?) and ran it on the drive - did it offer to attempt any repairs? If not, then I'd suspect that your time would be better spent obtaining and setting up on a new drive.

Do you have installation media, or will you need to attempt cloning the old drive, or even using the recovery image from the old drive for the new?

[GeekForgotten]

WD Lifeguard said it didn't pass the smart test
Is it really possible to clone the old drive and make it run on the new one ????

If so how would I go about doing that?
sounds interesting, never heard of it

[rshaffer61]

Is it really possible to clone the old drive and make it run on the new one

Possible yes but realistically why would you with the issues you are having.
It would be better to start fresh to be honest with you. That way you know everything is right from the start.

[noahdfear]

Yes, it's possible using dd in xPUD, and it's success would depend on how far gone the drive is, eg; the ability for dd to read the data on the old drive.

Lets say the old drive is sda and you attach a new drive which is assigned as sdb. The command to clone the drive (block by block copy) would be:

dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb conv=notrunc,noerror

dd = the utility to use
if = the source drive
of = the target drive
the conv=notrunc,noerror option tells it to continue on errors, such as blocks that cannot be read.

There is no way to track the progress with this method, and it can take quite a long time, especially if it has trouble reading from the old drive. You would simply have to wait until the Terminal window returns to a command prompt.
With a bit of searching you will find there are ways to speed up the cloning by changing the sector count to use, and a method for tracking the progress as well - the above is the most basic method and recommended for most users unfamiliar with the linux environment.

It is possible as well that even after successfully cloning the drive, the boot sector and/or master boot record would need to be repaired. Bad blocks could cause inconsistencies as well - some file corruption or missing files, etc, which may or may not affect the use of the operating system. Basically, it's success is a craps shoot - some get lucky, some do not.

[GeekForgotten]

Hmm, well I think I will just start fresh, I've already got backed up what I needed and I'll just install a new fresh copy of Win 7 with my new HDD

This drive is really badly corrupted, I dont know but it may be physically damaged somehow

As for the partitioning, I will try that tool out

Thanks alot for your help, I may not been able to get the drive working but atleast I got my data back

[noahdfear]

Happy to help

[rshaffer61]

Great job Noah
Glad to see the data was saved and I agree that the drive seems to be failing.
Not sure how old it is but you might check the manufacturers site to see if it is still under warranty.

[GeekForgotten]

I called WD they said since its a OEM part they do not support warranty on it
and then I called Dell and they told me it would be 59.99 to see whats wrong and further charges after that to replace it
I said leave it man, a new one costs $40

[rshaffer61]

The opinion of 3 Techs is that the drive is failing. All of us agree that the best course of action is replacement of the drive and a fresh install.
Cloning the drive in the condition it's in will only result in more issues since you will not get a complete clone due to the problem with the original drive.

[happyrock]

if you can boot into windows normally and see / access your data you can clone the drive and after cloning just unplug computer from the wall...swap the data cables from the old to the new drive...disconnect the old drive then power up and boot up...a good free cloning tool is HDClone...its here...i've had great luck using it...it does take a looong time but the up side is all your programs and settings are retained

[GeekForgotten]

Ok I did a fresh install on a new drive
@happyrock
I can't boot into windows, to backup my files i used xPud as suggested by another noahdfer

The drives 10GB paritition is still visible and working
Do you think I could format and use it as a drive for my files?
or should i just discard the drive since it might fail again??

[rshaffer61]

The drives 10GB paritition is still visible and working
Do you think I could format and use it as a drive for my files?
or should i just discard the drive since it might fail again??

You could use it for data but then again with it showing signs of failing do you really want to trust your data on it?
With the prices of HD's falling so much you can probably invest in a second drive for less then 50USD and then be confident the drive will keep your data safe.