lost data external hard drive

[cappaj1]

I have an external usb 2 drive that all of a sudden on one bootup gives the message 'do you want to format this hard drive'. I disconnected immediately when I got the message.

It has a good deal of data, especially of video and photos, that I'd love to recover.

Is there any free software that anyone can recommend that might work? I believe all it lost was the partition.

Thanks.

 

[Tarrant64]

Have you tried hooking it up to another PC? I've had this issue a lot when I moved to Vista. Just kept unplugging and plugging back in until it took. Only had this problem with Western Digital MyBook drives though. Freaking nightmare.

I wonder if a chkdsk would work? If I think of any software I'll let you know, kind of in the morning daze still.

 

[MustISO]

I would look at these if you want free: http://lifehacker.com/5237503/...ee-data-recovery-tools

I like GetDataBack from Runtime Software