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External Harddrive trouble

(24 posts)
  • Started 5 years ago by philtrigg
  • Latest reply from Aleeve
  • Topic Viewed 1323 times

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philtrigg
Posts: 9

Hi, My 320gb external hadrdrive keeps giving me an error message. I plug it in and try to access it the message says "Hadrdrive structure is incomplete or corrupt". I am wondering is there a way to get my data off of the harddrive even though I cant access it? I dont want to reformat. Reformating is a last option. Please help me.

Posted 5 years ago #
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jack7h3r1pp3r
jack7h3r1pp3r
Posts: 2815

you can try to update the drivers and you can see if it is in "device manager"

also if you need help on how to do any of this just ask

edit: looked at your profile and it seems as if you would know how to do this am i right?

Posted 5 years ago #
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philtrigg
Posts: 9

Hi, My 320gb external hadrdrive keeps giving me an error message. I plug it in and try to access it the message says "Hadrdrive structure is incomplete or corrupt". I am wondering is there a way to get my data off of the harddrive even though I cant access it? I dont want to reformat. Reformating is a last option. Please help me.

Posted 5 years ago #
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philtrigg
Posts: 9

How do I do that?

Posted 5 years ago #
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jack7h3r1pp3r
jack7h3r1pp3r
Posts: 2815

forgot to ask are you in vista or xp?

Posted 5 years ago #
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philtrigg
Posts: 9

XP

Posted 5 years ago #
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jack7h3r1pp3r
jack7h3r1pp3r
Posts: 2815

if in xp goto control panel> system>hardware tab>device manager> in there there should be one that says something like unknown devices or something like that.

Posted 5 years ago #
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philtrigg
Posts: 9

Thanks

Posted 5 years ago #
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philtrigg
Posts: 9

What if that does not work?

Posted 5 years ago #
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jack7h3r1pp3r
jack7h3r1pp3r
Posts: 2815

so see if it shows up in there and if you see it you can just right click on it then do update drivers. if this doesn't work post back and i will try to find more on the subject and also if it doesn't work if you could post up your your external hard drive model # and i will see what i can find.

Posted 5 years ago #
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philtrigg
Posts: 9

Cool, can you email me what you find? philtrigg@yahoo.com

Posted 5 years ago #
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Lighthouse
Lighthouse
Posts: 13598

Can you do a scan of your hard disk? (for errors)

Posted 5 years ago #
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jack7h3r1pp3r
jack7h3r1pp3r
Posts: 2815

ya i can do that but it might be later today is that ok? and i will need your model # too just to see if it is a known problem with just that one or what.

Posted 5 years ago #
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jack7h3r1pp3r
jack7h3r1pp3r
Posts: 2815

you can also try out lighthouse's idea and see if that helps

Posted 5 years ago #
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philtrigg
Posts: 9

I have tried everything. I am wondering If I can get all my stuff off the harddrive and then reformat it then put the stuff back on the external harddrive.

Posted 5 years ago #
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jack7h3r1pp3r
jack7h3r1pp3r
Posts: 2815

i know there is a way to do this but i will post back later with some answers

Posted 5 years ago #
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Lighthouse
Lighthouse
Posts: 13598

Is it a 3.5 external disk.
And do you have laptop or desktop?

Posted 5 years ago #
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philtrigg
Posts: 9

Yes Laptop and Desktop

Posted 5 years ago #
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Lighthouse
Lighthouse
Posts: 13598

Take the disk out of the enclosure, and plug it in as a 2nd drive in the desktop. See what happens.

Posted 5 years ago #
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ScottW
ScottW
Posts: 6609

How does the external drive connect? USB, firewire, eSATA?
Who makes the drive inside the external enclosure?

Like Lighthouse, I think that you should scan for errors. Use scandisk/checkdisk in Windows to look for file system errors. Then use the manufacturer's diagnostic disk to check for drive errors. SeaTools for a Seagate, Lifeguard for a Western Digital, Drive Fitness Test (DFT) for a Hitachi.

Posted 5 years ago #
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