Restarted computer now data hard drive is RAW format???

AndroidVageta

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Mar 22, 2008
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Well, restarted my PC (had to, updates) and it would appear that my new game controller (Novint Falcon) cause my mess to BSOD on Windows boot...so I removed it, system starts up fine...except now my hard drive with all my data on it (games, music, movies) is in RAW format and I cant get any information off of it! WTF!!! I have some recovery software that Ill have to use (ran it last night...took 10 hours to finish...selected the wrong option just a minute ago and the program closed! GRRRR!!!).

Does anyone know WTF caused this shit??? Ive never in my life had a hard drive go fuck crazy like this...I dont understand what would or COULD cause my hard drive to mess up like this. Its a new Seagate 1.5TB drive...sigh...

Anyone have any info on this kinda stuff? Whats the best and FASTEST recovery software? Thanks all!
 

sub.mesa

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Feb 16, 2010
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You may have a bad sector, did you read the SMART information from the affected drive? Download HDTune and click the Health tab, now look for Current Pending Sector, it should be zero. If its not, you have problems you need to address first.

If its zero, check the UDMA_CRC_ERROR_COUNT variable. This should also be zero, or you have cabling problems. Note that you should look for the last "data" tab; not the other numbers.

Since your filesystem is corrupted, you would need to use some intelligent recovery program. I suggest you try Active@ File Recovery, google on it. It can recover lost partitions and files from damaged filesystems.

Please invest in a backup solution so you can protect your files. With current prices of large drives there is no real reason not to have a backup. Maintaining a backup could be as easy as configuring a scheduled backup, for example at night if you leave your computer on.

Good luck!
 

Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
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The filesystem might not even really be corrupted, Windows is very touchy with regards to filesystems. I wouldn't be surprised one bit if a Linux Live CD or USB could mount and read the volume just fine.
 

RebateMonger

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Dec 24, 2005
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While I've used GetDataBack many times, it's not terribly fast. I've had it take more than a day to scan a disk. Be sure you have a dedicated PC to do the scanning.

And a friend of mine, while recovering a company's data array, discovered that there's a LIMIT to the number of files that can be scanned. It just stops working when that limit is reached.

This was about two years ago, and GetDataBack's Customer Support told my friend this was a known issue. I don't remember what the file limit was. There's been a new edition of GetDataBack since then, so maybe it's not a problem anymore, but it was a major problem to my friend.
 
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AndroidVageta

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Mar 22, 2008
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While I've used GetDataBack many times, it's not terribly fast. I've had it take more than a day to scan a disk. Be sure you have a dedicated PC to do the scanning.

And a friend of mine, while recovering a company's data array, discovered that there's a LIMIT to the number of files that can be scanned. It just stops working when that limit is reached.

This was about two years ago, and GetDataBack's Customer Support told my friend this was a known issue. I don't remember what the file limit was. There's been a new edition of GetDataBack since then, so maybe it's not a problem anymore, but it was a major problem to my friend.

Yeah, Ive used Getdata and a couple others and they get about 2 hours away from finishing and just quit responding...Ill try booting into Linux and see what can be done...this is real aggravating...I just dont understand what could cause such a mess up like this with no apparent rhyme or reason...
 

COPOHawk

Senior member
Mar 3, 2008
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The partition got corrupted...but your data should be there.

I have run into this exact scenario 3 times in 5 months for customers...the last one was 3 days ago.

I had purchased a full license of Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery...and it is 3 out of 3 for recovering all critical data.

As for the why: 2 times, the drive itself fritzed out...and this last time the best guess is that the HD controller on the mainboard malfunctioned as it wouldn't recognize ANY replacement hard drives in BIOS.

I would get your data off of the drive and never use it again. Some would say to reformat it and keep it going...not me as hard drives are cheap ;)

HTH
 

RebateMonger

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Dec 24, 2005
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The partition got corrupted...but your data should be there.

I have run into this exact scenario 3 times in 5 months for customers...the last one was 3 days ago.
I have a 1 TB Hitachi disk holding a Windows Home Server virtual machine. Last summer, the entire server fell a couple feet onto a carpeted floor while the disks were spinning. After the accident, all the disks passed a "chkdsk /r" without errors and the Windows Home Server seemed to be running fine.

A month later, I shut down the entire server for several months. When I turned it back on, the Windows Home Server virtual machine immediately misbehaved. After some error messges and two reboots, it reported a RAW data partition.

I ran GetDataBack on the physical disk and the virtual disk and could see all the files. I didn't bother doing the data recovery because I had a full copy of the virtual machine on a backup disk and I copied that virtual disk to a new Hitachi 1 TB disk and went on my way.

I can't find anything wrong with the dropped Hitachi and it passed a couple of disk diagnostics tests. At this point, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it.
 
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corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
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Mar 4, 2000
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When a partition is shown as RAW, that means it has no defined file syste, eg., FAT or NTFS. Convert the RAW partition to NTFS.
 

AndroidVageta

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Mar 22, 2008
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Ok...tried the Knoppix linux or whatever...too confusing...used Ubuntu...files still there...working fine...copied them over to another hard drive with no problems what so ever...

So...is the hard drive busted? I mean, I know theyre cheap, but I dont exactly have ~$100 to spend on a new drive. Also, my 2TB drive is full and need my 1.5TB drive to transfer some data real bad.

Anyone have any advice?
 

AndroidVageta

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Mar 22, 2008
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OK...used Convert.exe and it says that my partition on the 1.5TB hard drive is already NTFS??? WTF! Why does Disk Management see it as RAW when Convert.exe already sees it as NTFS?
 

tcsenter

Lifer
Sep 7, 2001
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If you have copied all your data, then just use the manufacturer's utility to zero write the entire drive, create a new partition and format it.
 

RebateMonger

Elite Member
Dec 24, 2005
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So...is the hard drive busted?
That's the problem. You don't know -- for sure -- why the drive lost its partitioning information. Could've been a software problem...or maybe a hardware problem.

I'd run every hard disk test I could think of and examine the results. It'll take you a couple of days to run all the diagnostics.

Some suggestions:

Chkdsk /r
SMART
HDDScan
Seagate's SeaTools disk diagnostics

You didn't mention what version of Seagate 1.5 TB disk you have. The 7100.11 disks have a horrible reputations (and, yes, I do own one, but only use it for making secondary backups). I don't know what sort of reputation the 7200.12 disks have.

If you decide to keep using the disk, then, as always, be sure you keep backups of anything you can't afford to lose.
 
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AndroidVageta

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Mar 22, 2008
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Yeah, its the 7100.11 :\

Ive got two in my HTPC that have been doing well for a while...hmm...Ill be sure to run some diagnostic tests on the drive just to be sure...

I think honestly that it was a driver I installed for my Novint Falcon...cause the OS to crash upon restart...did it like twice...unplugged the Falcon and then the OS started up normally, only this time causing the Seagate what its doing now...hmm...Ill keep the thread updated for sure.
 

AndroidVageta

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Mar 22, 2008
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Well, ran a barrage of tests yesterday and some overnight...hard drive seems to check out...no errors with anything, just as I expected...hmm...either case hard drive should be fine. Plan on using it to store all my software on, so it should do well in that respect as I can just unplug it/power it off when not in use.