External hard drive problem

[lakojeff]

Hi all,

I have a 250GB external hard drive in a USB 2.0 enclosure. It is NTFS format and is used for Windows 2000 and XP files.

In the HD there are all different folders and each folder stores one of our customers' computer image files (in Acronis 6 and 9 .tib format) and each folder sizes from 1 to 3GB.

Here is the problem: some folders are able to be copied to my computer's internal HD or burned into DVDs and, however, some other folders and image files do not allow to be copied or burned.

When I copy the files to my internal hard drive, it shows error: Cannot copy Image 119062: Data error (cyclic redundancy check).

I ran a disk fragmentation to that external hard drive and it completed successfully. Then I ran a check disk on it and it locked up in 65% completed screen.

What is wrong to my hard drive? How can I recover it? I do not have any other backup so I must recover this one before I make another backup. Please help.

Jeff

 

[wahnula]

Have you tried imaging the drive to another? If you are worried about data security that is the first thing to do before anything else. This way you will always have your starting point intact.

CRC errors are generic errors, either something wrong with the drive or the data. Imaging the drive would eliminate one variable.

Tony

 

[lakojeff]

Tony,

I believe the problem is the hard drive instead of the data. I actually could see all .tib files and even plugged into my computer and see its inside data. Anyway, I will try copying and imaging to another hard drive later. Thanks.

 

[wahnula]

Hmmm...after reviewing my answer I realized that if the hard drive was bad it probably won't image correctly, but it's worth a shot. There are several recovery programs, i.e RecoverMyFiles:

http://www.recovermyfiles.com/

GetDataBack:

http://www.runtime.org/

ZeroAssumptionRecovery:

http://www.z-a-recovery.com/

All are good, but I would still image if possible before trying to use any. That's just me.

Tony

 

[wolluf]

Might be worth running drive manufacturer's diagnostic (usually available on their website). These can usually perform some repairs as well as reporting on failing drives - but data recovery may be your best bet.

btw - for the future - if you're having problems with had drive, the last thing to do is defragment - because that is going to reorganise all the data on the disk, causing additional stress, and if there are underlying problems, the defrag utility may not put everything back in the right place. Always run chkdsk first.

 

[wahnula]

btw - for the future - if you're having problems with a hard drive, the last thing to do is defragment

I just thought this needed to be repeated as it is a GREAT tip for all.

Tony