[JoyfulNoise]

Hello everyone,

I have two external hard drives. Not sure how this happened, but both of them are not accessible or readable. Possible corruption. When I try to access both external hard drives it gives me an access is denied. One of them gives me an additional message that states: The parameter is incorrect. I also got a message before that it was corrupted and unreadable. I don't remember where that message popped up though. One external HDD I can see my original drive name, but the other external HDD was turned into a raw drive.

I used a program called EaseUS Data Recovery to recover my data. Not sure if it recovered all, but I think most of it.

 

Is there anyway or procedure I can try that could make both external hard drives accessible again? Any other information you guys need please ask and I will do my best to answer.

Thank you very much for all your help. Crossing all my fingers that i can get this resolved.

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

[Advertisements]

   JoyfulNoise,

 

Strange that both drives encountered problems at the same time, only two things that would explain this happening are both drives being low on free storage space and malware infection.

 

First suggestion that I would make is that you check to see if you have managed to recover all of your data.

 

Important, under no circumstances should you connect either drive to any other computer just in case there is malware infection present that you would need the help of the malware staff to help you with.

[phillpower2]

   JoyfulNoise,

 

Strange that both drives encountered problems at the same time, only two things that would explain this happening are both drives being low on free storage space and malware infection.

 

First suggestion that I would make is that you check to see if you have managed to recover all of your data.

 

Important, under no circumstances should you connect either drive to any other computer just in case there is malware infection present that you would need the help of the malware staff to help you with.

[JoyfulNoise]

   JoyfulNoise,

 

Strange that both drives encountered problems at the same time, only two things that would explain this happening are both drives being low on free storage space and malware infection.

 

First suggestion that I would make is that you check to see if you have managed to recover all of your data.

 

Important, under no circumstances should you connect either drive to any other computer just in case there is malware infection present that you would need the help of the malware staff to help you with.

 

 

Thank you so much phillpower2. I appreciate your time and assistance.

 

Not low on storage. I am using close to 1tb of space of 2tb. I can agree that it could be some kind of virus or malware that caused them to not be accessible or cause my drive to go raw. Won't do!

 

I did learn about chkdsk and tried both chkdsk /r /f  and chkdsk /r, with no results. Still not accessible. Any other methods etc that you can think of please let me know. Thank you so much again for your help.

 

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Sorry added bymistake

Edited by JoyfulNoise, 16 November 2016 - 07:48 AM.

[JoyfulNoise]

chkdsk results

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

[phillpower2]

Hello JoyfulNoise,

 

First suggestion that I would make is that you check to see if you have managed to recover all of your data.

 

 

Can you also answer this for us, particularly important for the drive that has converted to RAW as that will need to be formatted to NTFS before you can use it again, unfortunately this may also be the case with the other drive.

 

You are welcome btw 

[JoyfulNoise]

Hello JoyfulNoise,

 

First suggestion that I would make is that you check to see if you have managed to recover all of your data.

 

 

Can you also answer this for us, particularly important for the drive that has converted to RAW as that will need to be formatted to NTFS before you can use it again, unfortunately this may also be the case with the other drive.

 

You are welcome btw 

 

Thank you so much again phillpower2. I actually did answer that question in my starting post, but I will mention it again. No problem!

 

I did recover my data using a program called EaseUS Data Recovery. I don't think it recovered all my files. I didn't go through every nook and cranny of things, so maybe some of the files I couldn't find could be in there. I noticed that this program put files in some other folders and maybe some could be in there that I thought were lost. So time will tell.

 

As you suggested, I guess the next step is to reformat the drives again. I am going to research a new backup method because my current one is not as safe as I thought. Any suggestions please let me know.

 

Thank you again!

Edited by JoyfulNoise, 18 November 2016 - 09:53 AM.

[JoyfulNoise]

One of your drive file system is corrupted run the Chkdsk X: /r command again to see NTFS file system corruption is repaired.

Also reset BIOS settings to its factory default settings.

Thank you so much FreeBooter for your time and assistance.

 

I have a few questions before I consider doing this. What does the X: do compared to the other ones? How long would this process take? Any potential of further data loss if I did this one?
Also, what would resetting the bios do? I am kind of nervous doing so because I am not sure if this could start problems with windows and then I would have to do a clean install and reinstall all my programs again.

 

Thank you again!

Edited by JoyfulNoise, 18 November 2016 - 09:57 AM.

[phillpower2]

You are welcome JoyfulNoise 

 

Reason I asked the question was because in your OP you said  "I don't think it recovered all my files."

 

For backing up, take a look at Macrium Reflect (free)

 

Apart from formatting the external HDDs I would recommend that you check your computer for malware, if only for peace of mind, see GTG malware redirection info below;

 

I suspect that you have some malware on your computer causing issues that we are not able to solve through means we can use here in the Tech Forums. I suggest you read the 'Start Here' topic found here. With these self-help tools you have a high chance of fixing the problems on your own. If you are still having problems after following Step 3 of the guide, continue with Step 4 and 5 and post in the Malware Forum. If you are unable to run any programs, Please create a topic stating what you have tried so far and that you are unable to run any programs. Also, Please do NOT post the logs in this thread.

If you are still having issues after the malware expert gives you a clean bill of health, Please return to THIS thread and we will pursue other options to help you solve your current problem(s).

 

[phillpower2]

Not heard back from you JoyfulNoise, do you still require assistance or is the issue now resolved, an update would be appreciated.

[JoyfulNoise]

Hello phillpower2 & FreeBooter,

I do apologize for the late reply. Thank you both very much for your time, help and assistance. I am grateful. It has been a tough of a few days for me with a lot of things so I wasn't able to respond. I am not done with this thread and will take time for me to get things done. So, please give me time if possible. Thank you!

 

 

 

@FreeBooter

 

Your are very welcome!

Chkdsk command-line utility will repair file system (FAT or NTFS) corruptions this utility also marks the bad sectors so those bad sectors will not be use again to store data, Chkdsk utility also will try to recover data that is store in bad sectors. Data lose will happen not because of Chkdsk utility but because of bad sectors that data store within which has nothing to do with Chkdsk utility.

Resetting BIOS will set its settings to factory default settings sometimes BIOS setting can get corrupted this could be in your case so resetting BIOS will help restore default factory settings.

The X: is a place holder you need to replace X: drive letter with the file system corrupted storage drive letter.

 

Thank you very much FreeBooter for this explanation. I did both chkdsk commands of  Chkdsk X: /r  and Chkdsk X: /f /r on one of my external hard drive and it didn't fix the issue of it not being accessible. I could try resetting the bios, but I am not sure yet if I will just reformat them instead. Also, does it matter what order the chkdsk command is for example, can you type it in like this: chkdsk /r X: or chkdsk /f /r X:?

 

Thank you again FreeBooter.

 

 

 

 

 

@phillpower2

 

You are welcome JoyfulNoise 

 Reason I asked the question was because in your OP you said  "I don't think it recovered all my files."

For backing up, take a look at Macrium Reflect (free)


Apart from formatting the external HDDs I would recommend that you check your computer for malware, if only for peace of mind, see GTG malware redirection info below


 

No problem phillpower2. I appreciate you asking though! I will look into Macrium. Do you think that is better than Acronis True Image? Thank you for the malware advice. It is something I will think about trying once I get a few things sorted out as I will explain below.

 

 

@phillpower2

 

Not heard back from you JoyfulNoise, do you still require assistance or is the issue now resolved, an update would be appreciated.

Here is an update phillpower2 of what I have decided to do the rest of the way. I really don't want to touch my Hard drives with further testing until I get my brand new hard drives on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. So, I probably won't get the new drives until sometime next week. Once I get that, I am going to attempt another data recovery just to make sure I recover any files my first attempt didn't gather. After that, I will make a decision on whether I will try to reset the bios or do the malware check or not or just reformat them and start afresh. So, it will take me time to respond or finish up this thread and plus the thousands of other things going on. So, not sure how long, but it will be sometime. I hope that is ok.

Other than that, I am very appreciative of your help, time and assistance. Thank you so much again! I hope you are having a great week.
 

Edited by JoyfulNoise, 23 November 2016 - 06:52 AM.

[phillpower2]

Hello JoyfulNoise,

 

No matter how long it takes with this, we get so many abandoned threads that I like to check back with folk if they have not replied for 3 days or more just in case they missed an update from us etc.

 

A word of caution, something caused your data on the HDDs to go wonky and one possibility is malware, I strongly suggest that you follow the malware guidance now and most definitely before swapping any data between the computer and any/all storage devices, if malware is present you will infect all of your drives, if not done already that is.

 

You are welcome btw   

[JoyfulNoise]

Hello JoyfulNoise,

 

No matter how long it takes with this, we get so many abandoned threads that I like to check back with folk if they have not replied for 3 days or more just in case they missed an update from us etc.

 

A word of caution, something caused your data on the HDDs to go wonky and one possibility is malware, I strongly suggest that you follow the malware guidance now and most definitely before swapping any data between the computer and any/all storage devices, if malware is present you will infect all of your drives, if not done already that is.

 

You are welcome btw   

 

Hey phillpower2,

 

I actually appreciate that. Thank you for your excellent service. I never had someone at a forum do that before, so it kind of got me off guard when I read it. Thank you!

 

By doing what you suggest in the malware section or scanning with this tool FRST64.exe, will this cause any data loss? Should I have any concerns about doing so before getting my new drives etc? Sorry, if it sounds stupid, but I like to make sure. I am kind of nervous about it.

 

Thank you for taking interest in my thread and helping me. Looking forward to getting this done!

[JoyfulNoise]

The /R parameter implies /F so you only need to execute /R parameter with chkdsk command. Please follow phillpower2 advice when you have more time to do so.

Thank you so much FreeBooter for your time, assistance and advice. I appreciate it.

Edited by JoyfulNoise, 23 November 2016 - 04:52 PM.

[JoyfulNoise]

Hey Everyone,

 

Would love to get your input on these items I will be considering on purchasing. Thank you for any input you can give. I will be appreciative.

 

PCIE-E CARDS

https://www.amazon.c...=I1K4258492W2W6

or

https://www.amazon.c...=I196Q6L6XK89QI

EXTERNAL DRIVES

https://www.amazon.c...=I10FTTR5KHC0RS

or

https://www.amazon.c...=dp_ob_title_ce

DOCKING STATION

https://www.amazon.c...inateck docking

and

https://www.amazon.c...inateck docking

INTERNAL DRIVES
Something in the list here

https://www.amazon.c...rnal hdd drives

or

I will pick another brand that's price is cheap because for backups I heard you don't need the best drive. So I might by one that is in the $40 range.