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Data recovery and disk repair questions and discussions related to old-fashioned SATA, SAS, SCSI, IDE, MFM hard drives - any type of storage device that has moving parts
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Seagate HDD SMART error advice needed

May 9th, 2016, 21:52

I need to replace a hdd and would appreciate some advice.

On boot up I get the following error screen -

Image

I was able to boot up and run Hard Disk Sentinel -

Image

As you can see from the screenshot, the C drive is ok but the E drive isn’t reporting any data. The H drive is bad… but I think that is a secondary issue and not the reason for the error screen, I will be replacing that drive also though.

Using Windows Explorer I am able to see the E drive and the root folders, but any attempt to access a folder or file gives the error msg -
Location is not available
E:\ is not accessible
Access Denied

Using Disk Management the drive appears healthy -

Image

Why is the drive inaccessible in Windows Explorer and not reporting in Hard Disk Sentinel?

The drive in question is a data drive which stores My Documents amongst other things.

OS is Windows 7 Pro.

How can I backup and replace the drive when it is inaccessible?

I would appreciate any guidance, I am trying to avoid doing anything which could increase the risk of data loss.

Thank you for your time

Jon

Re: Seagate HDD SMART error advice needed

May 10th, 2016, 0:31

Can you show us the Partitions window in DMDE (freeware disc editor)?

https://dmde.com

Re: Seagate HDD SMART error advice needed

May 10th, 2016, 1:10

No, it won't let me

Image

Thanks

Re: Seagate HDD SMART error advice needed

May 10th, 2016, 10:49

Can you access your data from a Ubuntu Live CD?

Re: Seagate HDD SMART error advice needed

May 10th, 2016, 20:45

Yes! I am delighted to say that I am able to access data from Ubuntu Live.

This is my first time using Ubuntu. How do you recommend I proceed?

Thanks

Re: Seagate HDD SMART error advice needed

May 10th, 2016, 21:01

I would say ddrescue and don't buy Seagate anymore (I see you have 3 of them :( )

Re: Seagate HDD SMART error advice needed

May 10th, 2016, 22:58

ISTM that there may be a logical issue (permissions ?) rather than a physical one, at least for drive E:.

Can you use DD or ddrescue to save the first 2100 sectors to a file? These sectors will tell us if there is any structural problem with the partition table (sector 0) or boot sector (sector 2048).

You could retrieve the drive's SMART report with smartctl (smartmontools).

Re: Seagate HDD SMART error advice needed

May 13th, 2016, 10:25

Definitely with you on avoiding seagate! I have 2 WD drives waiting.

Can I use ddrescue with Ubuntu Live CD?

If so, I think it makes most sense to clone the drive to the new one first and think about testing the drive once the data is saved. Even if it turned out to be a logical issue, I don't think I would feel safe trusting this drive in it's current role again.

I hope to have time to get this done over the weekend.

Thanks for all the support

Re: Seagate HDD SMART error advice needed

May 13th, 2016, 11:49

Medialink wrote:Can I use ddrescue with Ubuntu Live CD?

Why not ?
Medialink wrote: If so, I think it makes most sense to clone the drive to the new one first and think about testing the drive once the data is saved. Even if it turned out to be a logical issue

Great idea

Re: Seagate HDD SMART error advice needed

May 13th, 2016, 13:56

jermy wrote:
Medialink wrote:Can I use ddrescue with Ubuntu Live CD?

Why not ?


Ubuntu and ddrescue are completely new to me... I am just trying to familiarise myself with new territory
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