Seagate USB HDD not accessible in Windows 7

[ModQuad]

Hey guys,

I have an issue with my Seagate BlackArmour (PS110) external 500GB USB HDD.

Here are some of the symptoms:

• The drive typically does not show up in 'My Computer', but if it eventually does, it shows up as 'Local Disk'

• Disk Management won't load whenever the drive is connected, Virtual Disk Service perpetually loads. Once I unplug the drive, Disk management loads instantly and I get a prompt stating the drive is unformatted, asking if I'd like to format. Of course I 'cancel'.

• The disk does show up in Device Manager under 'disk drives'. Any changes I make through here will freeze my PC unless I force close or unplug the drive.

• The light on the drive is perpetually shining on/off gradually - there are NO clicking noises currently.

Here are some of the things I've tried:

• Running "chkdsk" - command window freezes. Upon unplugging drive I get a prompt saying something like chkdsk cannot run on a drive in RAW format

• I've tried 2 different machines, multiple USB ports, and 2 different known working usb cables. Same result.

• I loaded Ubuntu alongside Windows 7 and the drive was recognized, I could actually see my directories/files again! I tried transferring items over to another drive and it would time out. Attempted to force mount/unmount and run an ntfs fix while in Ubuntu, it basically says the drive is corrupt and to run chkdsk.

Any ideas where to go next? Thanks in advance!

 

[jolancer]

i would...
first try and figure out if its just an issue with your external encloser/usb/pc or if the hdd is actually dieing.

I honestly dont know if tests can be run on the drive threw usb or if you have to remove it from external and plug it directly into your computer through SATA or whatever.

Id first check SMART info, apartently theres tones of apps to do it. i use the bellow CMD in linux: just for example
$ smartctl -a /dev/sda

If googling some of the perameters(idk smart perameters off top of my head) concludes drive is outa wak/on its way out. Id just go directly into rescuing data if you still want any of tha data: http://www.sysresccd.org is live linux distro that comes with buncha usefull apps like TestDisk and DDrescue, i personaly havn't needed to use those apps yet but im sure hteres tones of tutorials on google... just note if you dont want the entire disk, just backup the Folders/files specific locations it should be quicker since your copying less data

if the disk is Not dieing, id scan it with MHDD which also comes in sysresccd, it has options to just scan the disk(safe) or relocate bad sectors(destructive), when i used it was on an internal Sata and aslong as the BIOS is set that controler to IDE instead of AHCI it will detect the drive... then its just a matter of selecting the drive #, F2, then F4. i think it tells you what buttons do wat.