External usb hard drive error: format?

[vidkid]

I have been using an external usb hard drive as a redundant back up for my internal hard drive. For no apparent reason, when I try to access it, it asks my to format it. I guess the Master Boot Record is corrupt and needs to be restored??
I have never done this, yet there are software companies like Active@ UNDELETE - Data Recovery 5.1,which will sell me recovery software to do so. Is this the way to go?
Regards,
vidkid

 

[G0AOZ]

It's possible there's a fault with either the interface in the external box or the hard drive itself. Sometimes these devices can appear to be flaky, although it is often down to users not following the correct connection and disconnection procedures.

Before embarking on recovery procedures, do you have a back up of your data anywhere else? If ALL your data is still currently residing on the computer's main hard disk, then it may be easier to wipe the partition on the external drive, reformat, run a complete surface scan to test the drive, and then if all ok, copy over your data onto it again.

If you're uncomfortable about not having any backup whilst doing this, then maybe you need to copy important files over to another medium, before you start deleting and reformatting this external drive.

You can can carry out partitioning and formatting from within Windows Disk Management of course.

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[wahnula]

I have been using an external usb hard drive as a redundant back up for my internal hard drive.

vidkid,

An external drive used for backup is not necessarily redundant. There are lots of changes to your system that occur between backups. And, there are the inherent problems with external drives, as they need to be properly stopped before powering down or removal.

For true redundancy, I recommend a RAID 1 array PLUS external backup. I will never build another personal PC without this feature. It has saved me more than once!

A word to the wise...

Tony

 

[vidkid]

Thanks for both of your repies. Yes, I do believe I have all the information on another external hard drive, but am not totally sure, or I would take your advice, format and reload the back up material.So, I am trying to think of a way of recovering those files, just to ck if I may have some "lost children". I needed to use a different word than redundant, as you are correct, as it is not set up in a raid order, where everything is backed up all the time. I just put the new info on my internal hd(by the way, these are photos), cull the ones I don't want, then pass them on to my 1st back up, eventually passing them on to my 2nd back up, and the problem is with my first back up drive. Not the greatest or efficient way to protect my photos.
Any thoughts about recovery or restoration?
Regards,
vidkid

 

[Roham]

Hi Vidkid,
I have had this problem multiple times at work with our users' external drives. We had been simply giving up on them after data recovery software could not find anything. Recently mine went bad this way. Of course that was more incentive to find an answer if there was one. I wrote a long post explaining the utility that I found that fixed two drives for me.

Look here and hopefully this will help: thread751-1382280

Mike