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Cannot Reinstall Windows 7 and HD is RAW

Windows 7

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#1
Some Person

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I have a Dell XPS 15 L-502X with Windows 7 that had freezing issues for a while.  As far as I could tell, it was due to driver issues.  A week ago, it froze again and I did a hard reboot only for it to say Windows Explorer has stopped running.  In Safe Mode, I was able to backup most of my files and try a Clean Boot which failed.  However, my laptop got to the point it could no longer run in Safe Mode and would blue screen.

 

After trying several tests and attempting to reinstall Windows 7 with the CD only to be met with PXE-E61: Media Test Failure and a Startup Repair whenever I tried anything, I removed the hard drive and connected it to a PC that also runs Windows 7.  The PC is saying it is RAW, does not have a recognized file system, and wants to reformat it.

 

If possible, I want to save the data on the hard drive, then find what is causing this and repair it.  If anyone wants to know results from tests I've run, just ask and I can even provide photos for the results, errors and blue screens.

 

Thank you for your time and help!


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#2
RKinner

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If you get a PXE-E61 error when trying to read from a CD then you need to check your boot order.  PXE-E61 is a network boot where it thinks there is a server on the network that will supply the OS.  If your CD/DVD is shown in the boot order you want it before the hard drive and network boot options.  Then when it boots you will have 10-20 seconds to hit a key to boot from the CD.

 

I have had some good luck recovering data from a dead drive with the free testdisk:

 

http://www.pcworld.c...g-testdisk.html

 

If the drive is a Seagate you can run SeaTools for Windows

http://www.seagate.c...ols-win-master/

and have it do an extended test of the drive.  Sometimes if you are lucky the test will say at the end (20 hours later) that it found errors and offer to try to fix them and sometimes it actually works afterward.  


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#3
Some Person

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First of all, I want to say thank you for recommending Testdisk.  It took me a while, but I was able to restore the hard drive to NTFS.  However, a couple of new issues have arrived.

 

I want to make sure all of the files in my User folder are okay, but I get an alert saying I do not have ownership.  Confirming to obtain ownership will mostly load, but hang on the last bit.  Will this work eventually, or is there a better way?

 

The next issue is backing up the data to a Seagate external HD.  When trying to make a backup plan the dashboard will freeze when I deselect the Windows file on the hard drive.  I've left it alone for over an hour, but nothing has changed.  Should I not bother deselecting that folder?  Also, do I need ownership of the files to be able to back them up?

 

Thank you again for all of your help!


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#4
RKinner

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It's normal not to have ownership of the files on a disk from another PC.  Windows doesn't know you are the same person so it makes you change the permissions so that the current user has access.

 

I don't know anything about Seagate Dashboard but if you have space on the external drive let it copy everything and then delete what you don't want.  You probably need access to a file in order to back it up under windows.

 

You can also copy folders and files directly from testdrive to the external drive.  Testdrive doesn't care about permissions.


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#5
Some Person

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Something went wrong.  I thought I would try the drag and drop method of copying and I started with the Program Files and Program Files (x86) folders.  It looked like it would take all night, so I left the PC on and made sure it would not go into sleep mode.  This morning, the PC does not recognize the HD and I can only see it in Disk Management.  It says it is unallocated and needs to be initialized, but I'm afraid that will format it and I really will lose all of the data.  Not even Testdisk can see the HD in it's current state.  What should I do?

 

Edit: After disconnecting and reconnecting, Testdisk was finally able to see it, but said it has a Read Error.  I'm doing a Quick Search on it now.


Edited by Some Person, 08 April 2017 - 12:54 PM.

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#6
RKinner

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Drive might have failed completely.  

 

With the drive connected create a Speccy log:

 

Get the free version of Speccy:
 
http://www.filehippo...download_speccy (Look in the upper right for the Download
Latest Version button  - Do NOT press the large Start Download button on the upper left!)  
Download, Save and Install it.  Tell it you do not need CCLEANER.    Run Speccy.  When it finishes (the little icon in the bottom left will stop moving), 
File, Save as Text File,  (to your desktop) note the name it gives. OK.  Open the file in notepad and delete the line that gives the serial number of your Operating System.  
(It will be near the top,  10-20  lines down.) Save the file.  Attach the file to your next post.  Attaching the log is the best option as it is too big for the forum.  Attaching is a multi step process.
 
First click on More Reply Options
Then scroll down to where you see
Choose File and click on it.  Point it at the file and hit Open.
Now click on Attach this file.

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#7
Some Person

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Sorry this took so long.  As for the Quick Search I started, after 12 hours it only got through 8%, so I decided to end it.

 

Thank you for all of your help!

Attached Files


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#8
RKinner

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The bad disk almost looks better than the good disk tho you are getting some write errors with the bad disk.  Get SeaTools for Windows 

 

http://www.seagate.c...loads/seatools/

 

Run the Long Generic test.  May take all day.  The last time I ran it it got to the end and offered to try and repair the drive.  The drive came back to life long enough to get the data off.


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#9
Some Person

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The HD from my laptop that died is the Western Digital, and the Seagate Backup+ is the backup I'm trying to get everything to.  I think the first Seagate from the .txt is the hard drive for the PC I'm currently using.  When I run SeaTools, the only one I can choose is the Backup+.  I apologize, but I do not see how that will help the Western Digital.  Looking at the .txt, I see the information for it has nowhere near the detail of the Seagates.  Is there some way I can get the details for better analysis?


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#10
RKinner

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See if you can get WD's Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows to run an Extended Test.

 

https://support.wdc....nloads.aspx?p=3

 

The fact that it is not providing SMART info is a bad sign tho.


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#11
Some Person

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The Extended Test failed saying there were too many bad sectors.  Should I take this to mean it's dead for good?


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#12
RKinner

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If it were still under warranty, failing the extended test would be a good thing and they would replace it but I'm afraid since it no longer has SMART info and the extended test won't work there's not much hope for it.  One last thing you do is get it cold.  Put it in a plastic bag and stick it in the fridge for an hour.  Sometimes you will get lucky and it will come back to life for a while.  If it does then concentrate on getting your data like pictures and documents off.  (Under C:\Users\yourname\)  Not much point in saving Program Files.  


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#13
Some Person

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I tried getting it cold in the fridge like you said, but there's no change.  Luckily I was able to get most of the User data into backup when it would still run in Safe Mode with the exception of anything that gave errors about the destination name being too long or something that has to do with the USB port (can't remember the exact error, but it liked to show up a lot for music files).  I was hoping that while it was hooked to the PC all of the data would backup correctly.

 

Thank you for all of your help with this.  I do have one last question: what could have caused the HD to die while it was left alone copying the Program Files to the backup?  It did get dropped while in a casing at one point, but when hooked back in seemed to work fine.  Could it have been a delayed reaction to that?


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#14
RKinner

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Dropping it didn't help it but it was probably dying before that.  Probably the electronics were failing and getting hot and the longer it ran the hotter it got until something failed for good.


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#15
Some Person

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So not much I could do then.  Thank you for all of your time and help with this!


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