External Hard Drive Error Format Disk
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Gaming Smartphones Tablets Windows 8 PSUs Android Your question Get the answer Tom's Hardware>Forum>Storage>How can I fix my External Hard Drive that says it needs to be formatted?> Solved How can I fix my External Hard Drive that says it needs to be formatted? Tags: Data Recovery External Hard external hard drive need to format error Drive Storage Seagate Last response: 6 minutes ago in Storage Share Daniel543M 26 December 2013 13:34:57 external hard disk need to format problem Hey guys, So I have a Seagate 3TB External Hard Drive that all of a sudden tells me it needs to be formatted. All I
Disk Utility Repair Disk External Hard Drive
did prior to this happening was restart my PC, the same way I do every day. I have 2.8TB of files, pictures, videos and more on that drive with no backups of it anywhere and I really need everything back.
Disk Utility Can't Repair External Hard Drive
I have read many threads similar to this one but others don't seem to have exactly the same problem that I do, in that when connected, my EHD constantly appears and then disappears in My Computer with a pop-up message. This means that no matter which data/partition/HD recovery software I use, it doesn't allow me to select the EHD as it keeps disappearing from the list. So basically, when it is plugged in, every 10 seconds or so it disappears and then mac disk utility repair external hard drive reappears with this pop-up message: "You need to format the disk in drive G: before you can use it. Do you want to format it?" Obviously I don't want to format it as that means I lose all my data. Also, it uses USB 3.0 and is connected with a USB 3.0 cable into a USB 3.0 port. I have tried: - Changing the letter of the drive In terms of recovery software, I have tried a few and another thing that makes it difficult for me to use (besides my EHD disappearing all the tim) is that I don't really know which options to choose. For example, iCare Data Recovery has 4 sub-menus: 1. Lost Partition Recovery 2. Advanced file recovery 3. Deep Scan Recovery 4. Format Recovery To me, it would be between 1 and 2, but I don't really know. In the help PDF, it showed this: - http://prntscr.com/2e2754 These are the ones that seem like they are appropriate: - http://prntscr.com/2e27h8 Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, - Daniel More about : fix external hard drive formatted Reply to Daniel543M Ironsounds a b G Storage 26 December 2013 13:45:23 Hello... I would first try removing the HD from the enclosure... and trying a direct connection to a MB... to determine if it's a enclosure/USB3/Cable problem, before trying to force any type recovery on your DATA. What was the Drive ORIGINALLY formated at and # of partitions/sizes? Reply to
employ in the real world to deal with real problems. They might be wrong or dangerous. They might be inefficient. If you try them yourself,
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it might cause damage or irreparable loss. I take no responsibility for anything external hard drive says to format you do based on my examples or the information that I provide here. I recommend this device for how to fix external hard drive mac connecting a boot drive to another computer or if you need to remove an external drive from a broken enclosure. You can use the software that comes with it or use http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1947114/fix-external-hard-drive-formatted.html the free software linked in my guide below. ALWAYS CHECK THE DRIVE FOR PHYSICAL PROBLEMS FIRST as I describe below in the section "Accessing and Assessing a Hard Drive’s S.M.A.R.T. Data to Determine if There is Physical Damage" I hope this helps you, James It has been well over a year since last updating my post on ‘Recovering an external hard drive that http://html5.litten.com/updated-how-to-fix-external-disk-drive-suddenly-became-raw/ has suddenly become RAW' and there have been some significant changes. PartedMagic is no longer free Hard drives larger than 500GB have become commonplace TestDisk has become even better Many many many comments from people have been posted that show common problems that are not directly addressed by the original post. So with all of that in mind, here is a revised version that hopefully addresses some of the shortomings of the post that was originally released in January of 2013. A common and befuddling problem with computers is the sudden and seemingly inexplicable disappearance of an external hard drive that has been functioning properly. It can be a breathtaking experience to suddenly be told that your data, often irreplaceable pictures and documents, might be gone forever. As with many similar situations in life the appropriate response is "Don't panic". When approached sensibly and carefully, the situation can be resolved and the data saved more times than not. Here we will look at the causes, fixes and preventative measures for instances involving external drives being used with Windows XP and Windows Vista/7/8. Error Messages Common
External USB drive without using the Safely Remove option: “You need to format the disk in drive X before you can use it. Do you want to format it?”. As a result of that you cannot access your data using Windows http://www.wintips.org/fix-you-need-to-format-the-disk-before-you-can-use-it-problem-after-improper-usb-unplug/ or another OS. The above error happens because when you accidentally – force - unplug (disconnect) your external USB drive (USB HDD, USB drives, etc.) without using the Safely Remove Option (“Safe Remove Hardware”) option, then the USB drive Partition Table becomes corrupted. To avoid losing your data or corrupting the storage drive's partition table, always make sure that you have closed any open files and terminate any actions regarding your USB drive external hard (including Windows Explorer), and always use the Safely Remove option before unplugging your drive. In the case that you still receive a warning message when Ejecting USB Mass Storage Devices like ‘This device is currently in use. Close any programs or windows that might be using the device, and then try again’, then log off and log on your computer again or restart your computer. In this tutorial you can find clear instructions on external hard drive how to restore the corrupted partition table on your hard drive (HDD) after unplugging it improperly. I have used this procedure several times with successful results to resolve the described problem for my customers. Attention: Keep in mind that you follow this guide at your own risk and you have to be very careful with the steps on it, to avoid losing your data. In order to solve the USB HDD unrecognized problem I have use the TestDisk utility several times with great results. TestDisk is powerful FREE data recovery software! It was primarily designed to help recover lost partitions and/or make non-booting disks bootable again when these symptoms are caused by faulty software, certain types of viruses or human error (such as accidentally deleting a Partition Table). Partition table recovery using TestDisk is really easy. How to solve “You need to format this drive” problem & Restore lost HDD partition table using TestDisk. Step 1. Download Testdisk utility to your computer. 1. Navigate to http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk and download Testdisk utility. 2. Click to download the TestDisk version according your OS. (e.g. Windows). 3. When download operation is completed, navigate to your download location folder and right-click on “testdisk-7.0-WIP.win.zip” compressed file and select “Extract All” to decompress its contents. . Step 2. Use Testdisk utility to recover har