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Thread ID: 129942 2013-03-21 02:44:00 Backing up failing HDD? Vicx (11114) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1333582 2013-03-21 05:40:00 how do I do a disk check? is it capable of fixing a drive that freezes constantly when copying/reading random files?
Right click on your drive>Properties>Tools>Disk Check

or

Go to Command Prompt

and type: chkdsk

This may not help the drive
as wainui said...take your chances.
ChazTheGeek (16619)
1333583 2013-03-21 06:56:00 ok I have no idea what's going on now. Soon after my last post I thought I'd give it one more shot with roadkill and I've been able to copy about 20gb since, including all the files that kept causing the crashes this afternoon! I couldn't even copy a 48mb file and now I've got 20gb! I thought, is it roadkill that's somehow got things working or is it the HDD? so I just tried to copy the same files again by copy/pasting and sure enough they copy within seconds as opposed to 5 mins before (if at all). It's as if my HDD was just having a temporary mood swing today and now it's settled down, it's more unpredictable than my ex :waughh: Vicx (11114)
1333584 2013-03-21 20:32:00 Copy & paste is the worst way to do a data recovery.
Better to use some sort of file manger like Total Commander or a util like terracopy or (unstopable copier?): at least they will give the option to retry on unreadable files
Data recovery programs may not be the best option here (not yet) as they often add a big delay in the process, you may be successful if youre just persistent & fast.

You dont want to muck about when its actually partially working, get the data off ASAP, you may only get 1 shot at it, so plan what you want , prioritize & think about what program/util you will use BEFORE the next attempt.

Sounds like the HD is dying, just see it as good luck your are getting anything off it.
HD's can do this sort of thing , work for a while then stop for a while, then work for a while. More often they just die.Full stop.

usual postcript: blah blah do backups blah blah have data on at least 2 devices
Im sure youre now fully aware of this :)
1101 (13337)
1333585 2013-03-22 00:40:00 yea I used roadkill unstoppable copier which worked sometimes but still caused a lot of freezes, either files would copy perfectly with 0 read errors or it would freeze, nothing in between. After trying all day it suddenly fixed itself and it's still working fine today, I don't know how a HDD can suddenly fix itself especially after crashing 30 times in a day, but it seems to be fine now for some reason. Vicx (11114)
1333586 2013-03-22 04:25:00 Make the most of it. ChazTheGeek (16619)
1333587 2013-03-26 00:13:00 I ran a chkdsk on the NTFS partition of the drive, doesn't work on the FAT32 partition, here's the result:

G:\>chkdsk
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is 1TB NTFS.

WARNING! F parameter not specified.
Running CHKDSK in read-only mode.

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
Deleting corrupt attribute record (128, "")
from file record segment 32535.
File verification completed.

Errors found. CHKDSK cannot continue in read-only mode.



The good news is it doesn't crash anymore but instead it's now excruciatingly slow copying files over at 300-450kb/s and I've got about 30gb to go. Is there anything I can do to fix this? I've been at it for days, I almost want to just throw it out.
Vicx (11114)
1333588 2013-03-26 00:28:00 Won't let me edit the last message. On WD's diagnostic program I tried an extended test but got "too many bad sectors detected" after 4 mins. Vicx (11114)
1333589 2013-03-26 00:36:00 Testing the drive is the last thing you want to be doing!!!...get the data off period, you already know the HDD is shot! SolMiester (139)
1333590 2013-03-26 00:57:00 If its copying the data across, dont be in such a hurry, as next time it may spit the dummy completely. The drive appears to be shot, so anything you can get is a bonus.

I remember one data recovery I did a few years back, took 4 days to recover around 15GB, ( thats running overnight as well, just set it going and left it) slow but I got most of the data.
wainuitech (129)
1333591 2013-03-26 04:19:00 I was hoping there was some other solution. I'm still copying data off it now but it's painfully slow, 360kb/s max, I wish I finished it when it fixed itself a few days ago. Vicx (11114)
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