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Thread ID: 137192	2014-06-04 01:50:00	WD Elements HDD corrupt?	Vicx (11114)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1376435	2014-06-04 01:50:00	I lent my portable WD elements HDD to a friend for 2 months. Now I find 90% of the folders are inaccessible giving me an error saying it's corrupt and unreadable. Properties on each of the corrupt folders says it's empty and marked as read only. The used and free space on the HDD is exactly the same as I left it so nothing has been added or removed. Is there a way to recover my files? I haven't attempted anything yet other than a 5 min smart scan on WD lifeguard diagnostics which passed. The extended test still has 23 hours to go so might skip that.	Vicx (11114)
1376436	2014-06-04 01:55:00	You could try running a data recovery program through it. One thats not to bad is http://7datarecovery.com/ The free version only recovers 1GB, so depending on how much data there is will depend on if it gets it all or you may need to use some other free software (Some of them are not very good).	wainuitech (129)
1376437	2014-06-04 02:37:00	Is that the best one you recommend? I don't mind paying for something that will actually work, as long as it's reasonable . It's a 2tb HDD and 90% is gone so I've got a lot of data to recover . I just tried roadkill unstoppable copied which worked for my last HDD which was slowly deteriorating but this time it hasn't done anything . I'm posting using my mobile data, waiting for my broadband to get connected as I just arrived back in nz so I'll try that program in a few days . For now I'm just looking for ideas and suggestions .	Vicx (11114)
1376438	2014-06-04 03:18:00	Look online for paid programs if you want one	Speedy Gonzales (78)
1376439	2014-06-04 03:51:00	Is that the best one you recommend? I don't mind paying for something that will actually work, as long as it's reasonable. It's a 2tb HDD and 90% is gone so I've got a lot of data to recover. Some programs work better than others. Another I used in the past has been getdataback. ( its paid software) That 7-Data was a giveaway on giveawayoftheday a while back, tried it and it recovered deleted/ formatted drives. Give it a go, thats why its free to try and the 1st 1GB recoverable, it will show you what it can recover, and if it does what you want then up to you in you buy it or not. If it doesn't recover what you want - nothing lost cost wise.	wainuitech (129)
1376440	2014-06-04 06:59:00	I lent my portable WD elements HDD to a friend for 2 months. .... Presumably not a friend any longer ?	decibel (11645)
1376441	2014-06-04 23:08:00	** dont play around with the Drive ** * dont run any further tests on it * . Put it aside & come up with a plan of attack. * DO NOT run a surface scan or chksdk * , that can make things worse. Many of the data recovery programs work pretty much all the same way. Some are slightly better than others with unreadable drives , some just arnt 100% stable with bad drives. Getdataback was the best Ive found (so far) . You could also try a linux based tool , sometimes linux will simply read drives & directories that Win cant (Win is a bit fussy with corrupt drives) I have found, that in cases like yours when data needs to be rebuilt out of a mess, much of the 'recovered' data will be corrupt & unusable anyway. Perhaps look for something that has a free demo available, at least they may give an option to recover some data in the demo, you can look at what it recovers & see if its readable & go from there. If the data is REALLY important, consider sending it to Data Forensics or Datalab, expect to pay $500- $1000 +++	1101 (13337)
1376442	2014-06-05 08:16:00	Some programs work better than others . Another I used in the past has been getdataback . ( its paid software) That 7-Data was a giveaway on giveawayoftheday a while back, tried it and it recovered deleted/ formatted drives . Give it a go, thats why its free to try and the 1st 1GB recoverable, it will show you what it can recover, and if it does what you want then up to you in you buy it or not . If it doesn't recover what you want - nothing lost cost wise . Thanks I'll give that a go . I saw on giveawayoftheday that it had a thumbs-down rating of 73%, why so low if it works? Does the 1 year subscription have something to do with the rating considering people are getting it for free on that website and don't want to pay for it later? Presumably not a friend any longer ? everything I give him breaks, including my tools and my car . I should have known better before handing over my HDD . . so gutted to lose so much old data :groan: ** dont play around with the Drive ** * dont run any further tests on it * . Put it aside & come up with a plan of attack . * DO NOT run a surface scan or chksdk * , that can make things worse . Many of the data recovery programs work pretty much all the same way . Some are slightly better than others with unreadable drives , some just arnt 100% stable with bad drives . Getdataback was the best Ive found (so far) . You could also try a linux based tool , sometimes linux will simply read drives & directories that Win cant (Win is a bit fussy with corrupt drives) I have found, that in cases like yours when data needs to be rebuilt out of a mess, much of the 'recovered' data will be corrupt & unusable anyway . Perhaps look for something that has a free demo available, at least they may give an option to recover some data in the demo, you can look at what it recovers & see if its readable & go from there . If the data is REALLY important, consider sending it to Data Forensics or Datalab, expect to pay $500- $1000 +++ I haven't touched it since I stopped the last test I mentioned, I figured I could make it worse . I might try Getdataback instead, that seems a bit more reliable . Are you saying large files from 1-10gb will be unusable if any part of them are corrupt? Lastly, I've never had this specific problem with any HDDs before, the ones that do just deteriorate slowly so I have time to back up before it dies . I have no idea what my friend did, how could something like this have happened? Most likely from being dropped a few times? If so, wouldn't that damage the entire HDD? Some folders are still accessible and the files work fine, it's just the other 80% that won't open or show any files .	Vicx (11114)
1376443	2014-06-05 08:27:00	Thanks I'll give that a go. I saw on giveawayoftheday that it had a thumbs-down rating of 73%, why so low if it works? You'll find a VERY high percentage of the rating are from tossers. It happens all the time, a new program for the day comes out, and a LOT of the posters simply put a negative rating, because they dont like the look of the interface or the company that made it, or even its colour. Take todays one, its been out for less than 20 minutes - 10 Positive, 16 Negative and only 1 actual comment. As several people have asked in the past how can people put negative when its not even had a chance to be installed and tested. You usually find the people who post negative wont put why. There was one some software a while back, had a negative comment and had only been out for 1 minute, it was a program designed to test HDD's ( from memory) The comment was it was useless, tested on a 1TB HDD almost full. I challenge anyone to download, install, register and test a full 1TB HDD in under one minute. BS !!! cant be done. As mentioned before - I also use getdataback ( have done for years) www.runtime.org Again it lets you see the data before buying, and I think it now allows some recovery.	wainuitech (129)
1376444	2014-06-08 04:32:00	You'll find a VERY high percentage of the rating are from tossers. It happens all the time, a new program for the day comes out, and a LOT of the posters simply put a negative rating, because they dont like the look of the interface or the company that made it, or even its colour. Take todays one, its been out for less than 20 minutes - 10 Positive, 16 Negative and only 1 actual comment. As several people have asked in the past how can people put negative when its not even had a chance to be installed and tested. You usually find the people who post negative wont put why. There was one some software a while back, had a negative comment and had only been out for 1 minute, it was a program designed to test HDD's ( from memory) The comment was it was useless, tested on a 1TB HDD almost full. I challenge anyone to download, install, register and test a full 1TB HDD in under one minute. BS !!! cant be done. As mentioned before - I also use getdataback ( have done for years) www.runtime.org Again it lets you see the data before buying, and I think it now allows some recovery. but why would they go out of their way to disprove good working software, especially when it's free? why bother downvoting for reasons such as that, there must be something else going on.. anyway to update the situation, I did some research on my exact error and found a few people had used CHKDSK to solve this problem, so despite 1101's warning I decided to give it a go. My reasoning is the SMART check passed and all the data was still there under properties so I figured it might have been an index or file system problem and not that the HDD itself was faulty or corrupt, so I took the risk and used CHKDSK with both 'fix' and 'recovery' boxes ticked. Started at 5pm yesterday, took 1 minute to get to Phase 4 then hanged at 1% for about 8 hours so left it on overnight and it was halfway through by morning, it slowly progressed through the final half by 3. Phase 5 took about 10 mins and then got the message that everything was ok. I checked myself and I can't believe it's true, everything is back and it's all working fine! After watching it hang at 1% last night I was sure it was gone, so this was a real surprise. This is where I read about CHKDSK working for my problem: community.wd.com and this is where I read about it getting stuck at Phase 4 for ages but eventually coming unstuck and finishing successfully: answers.microsoft.com Lastly, are there any other tests I should do just to make sure my HDD is actually fine? I'm still thinking about whether to buy a replacement HDD or take the risk and carry on with this one..	Vicx (11114)
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