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Thread ID: 130038	2013-03-24 11:05:00	Apparently dead HDD	Robin S_ (86)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1333898	2013-03-24 11:05:00	I have an 80GB Seagate IDE drive (bought new several years ago) which I have been using in an enclosure to back up 2 home computers. One is a trusty Vaio, running XP, which my wife uses for basic things like email and web searches - it surprisingly has only USB 1.1 but I use a 1.1-to-2 PCMCIA adapter in it. The backup setup has stopped working - Windows sees the drive and partitions but they cannot be accessed. A computer repairman has said, without any testing, that the TOC is corrupt. Is there any software (eg Seagates Seatools) that could restore the TOC or is the drive now NWR? The drive has only ever been used for monthly backups for about the last 3 years so it has done relatively little work. AFAIK the enclosure is still working, but one solution is to buy another enclosure and drive. I am guessing that a USB package (ie not externally powered) may not work for the Vaio because the USB adapter may not supply sufficient power to run a 2.5" drive (even using a Y cable). Questions: 1. Is a DIY fix of the TOC possible (seems unlikely)? 2. Is it likely that a standard external USB-powered drive would work from the USB adapter on the Vaio? 3. Is it still possible to get a powered enclosure that would work on XP machines and do a backup of an old 98SE machine as well? Retrieval of the data from the existing drive is not essential as everything is still on the computers, but I run 2 sets of backups in the present setup so it would be nice to get them both back, and if the drive could be "repaired" I could continue to use the current system. TIA.	Robin S_ (86)
1333899	2013-03-24 20:43:00	Have you tried chkdsk? it's a bit basic but it often works. Also the repairman can diagnose without testing he's just taking an educated guess like any of us on here will do. Seagates seatools might be worth a try but if they work it might blank the disk and lose your backups. If possible it might be worth removing the drive from the enclosure and connecting it internally to a PC to eliminate the enclosure from the picture. Also it's possible the drive has been locked somehow, partitioning software sometimes does that. Personally 80Gb IDE drives are throw away items to me now, if they work I might use them and if they play up they get binned. Just too old, small, and slow to be worth anything. My backup device is a 4 bay external enclosure with 2 x 2TB drives in it soon to be expanded to 3 or 4.	dugimodo (138)
1333900	2013-03-24 23:03:00	Sorry, but why would you want to keep using a dodgy Hard drive, for backups ?? Backups need to be as reliable as possible, you want a drive that works. Not some dodgy old IDE drive with a few issues Spend $100, get a new USB HD. If unsure if the Viao can power a USB HD, get a 3.5" USB HD, they come with there own power pack. Personally, I would get a Brand name USB HD, not a separate HD & USB enclosure. Some of the separate USB HD enclosures can be unreliable.	1101 (13337)
1333901	2013-03-25 00:24:00	Thanks for the replies. Dugimodo - will chkdsk work if the drive can be seen by Windows but not accessed? Re drive locking - the drive was not accessed again by partitioning software (Easus) after initial setup years ago - can it spring a lockup out of the blue? Can a locked drive be unlocked - if so, how? 1101 - WRT repairing and keeping the existing drive, I had meant to ask if a loss of TOC is likely to be a one-off event or recur. In "get a 3.5" USB HD" and "a Brand name USB HD" - I presume you mean an external HDD as opposed to a drive + enclosure. I also presume that you also mean that one can get self-powered externals - I thought they were all USB and that that was the main difference between an 'external' and an enclosure. I would definitely get brand name stuff.	Robin S_ (86)
1333902	2013-03-25 00:43:00	Tried to edit my last post but the time limit had expired. Here is what I tried to add - "I thought they were all USB (may that only applies to 2.5") and that that was the main difference between an 'external' and an enclosure. I guess that a 3.5" external would require gruntier power. I would definitely get brand name stuff.	Robin S_ (86)
1333903	2013-03-25 00:44:00	Just right click the drive from windows and under properties - Tools -check for errors. Tick all the options. It'll work or not but easy to try. As to whether its a one time error or symptoms of a drive failure it's hard to say. If it is recoverable and no bad sectors show up in a scan then it's probably ok but who knows. Also I've used cheapo vantec and similar enclosures for years without issue with mainly WD drives in them. If the enclosure failures you can always remove the drive and install it in a new one unlike some name brand drives that encrypt the data and are unreadable once removed from the enclosure.	dugimodo (138)
1333904	2013-03-25 05:36:00	Forget about using a modern drive on the Win98 machine. W98 can't handle partitions any bigger than 2GB, and might get freaky with any drive over 80GB or 120GB total capacity. It will also require a partition to be FAT32 formatted, not NTFS... really time to ditch the old W98 if you can. If you can't, then I'd get a used 40GB IDE drive (about $20) and install it as an internal, or in a removable IDE bay, with partitions of 2GB or less, and use that for your W98 backups.	Paul.Cov (425)
1333905	2013-03-25 05:42:00	W98 can't handle partitions any bigger than 2GB, and might get freaky with any drive over 80GB or 120GB total capacity. You might be getting confused with Windows 95 there ;) Windows 98, however, doesn't have 48-bit LBA support so will only use the first 137GB of a drive then it'll overwrite data from the start of the disk.	pcuser42 (130)
1333906	2013-03-25 10:48:00	Don't blindly run CHKDSK. It may well make matters worse. Make a backup image first before you do any playing around is my advice.	Agent_24 (57)
1333907	2013-03-25 23:38:00	Thanks for the additional replies. Does the 137GB limit mentioned by Pcuser42 apply to the total drive capacity or to individual partitions?	Robin S_ (86)
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