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

On boot up I get the following error screen -



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



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 -



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

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

https://dmde.com

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

No, it won't let me



Thanks

Can you access your data from a Ubuntu Live CD?

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

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

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

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).

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

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

Why not ?

Great idea

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