foxilady's blog post - I need help please........

Tuesday, October 11, 2011, 8:52:47 PM

I have posted this on the 'Computers/IT' section of the forum but thought I would copy it here aswell....

I wonder if anyone can help me here please. I have a Seagate exernal hard drive (250gb), (USB connection) which has all my pictures/videos/documents etc stored on it. I cannot access anything. My laptop 'recognises' the drive but when I double click on it it eventually gives the message "Disk in Drive E is not formatted - do you want to format it now?" I know if I clicked 'yes' it would wipe everything off the drive. I have tried a different USB lead and also tried connecting it to another laptop and another PC.

Does anyone know if there is any data receovery software (free of charge if possible) I could try? Obviously, because of the content of some of the files ....ie naked pics of me...lol, I cannot take it to PC World or similar stores or even have my 'tech guy' at work look at it!

Any help would be much appreciated otherwise I have lost everything, including all my photos and videos!

foxi
xxx

Comments

Others Have Said:

iluvpussi on 11-Oct-11 20:58:27

poor u sorry can't help i'm sure somebody on here can help you good luck

rightkindabad! on 11-Oct-11 21:29:38

you should be able to format it without wiping anything out.If you are running windows the setup wizard should walk you through it.Lemmie know.

amancalledpony on 11-Oct-11 21:48:17

I had the same thing happen on a 1TB drive. Got the same f'ing message. Turns out I had "something" messed up on my computer (most likely some virus that wasn't picked up). I don't know what windows you are using but I went back as far as I could and restored my computer. Yea, I had software to reload, etc. but it seemed to get rid of whatever gremlin was messing with my external. I know other people who have had to reload the OS on their computer then the problem cleared. And you could check the external drive by connecting to another computer (I wouldn't advise taking it to a computer shop to do this - lol). If it reads on another computer you know its something in your computer.
There are likely easier ways to do this but I always seem to like the ham handed/hard way to do shit approach.

foxilady on 11-Oct-11 21:55:32

rightkindabad!...pm sent!
amancalledpony...Thanks for your note but I have tried it on another laptop and another PC..does not work on them either :(

happyhumper69 on 11-Oct-11 23:09:59

foxi, ask Woder or Species...bet they'll know how to fix it ;)

Northern Star on 12-Oct-11 3:05:25

I have no idea hun..Id ask wods..lol I just had to take my netbook in lol I know how ya feel..lol

Dylanlennon on 12-Oct-11 13:37:20

...try this http://www.piriform.com/recuva it's free and very easy to use!

nickey69 on 12-Oct-11 18:52:36

i have not a clue foxi let me know how it goes

foxilady on 12-Oct-11 19:32:38

Thanks for all your help/suggestions...I am trying some of them now...I will let you know how I get on xxx

sexyhels on 12-Oct-11 20:08:49

OMG thats not good,hope you sort it hun xxx

whistler21 on 12-Oct-11 21:18:55

Don't let any program attempt to format it. That's just asking for trouble. Does the disk spin up (can you hear it whirring away)?

Onionheart on 13-Oct-11 12:50:48

dylanlennon mentioned recuva from piriform already. that is the one i would try first. but i know very very little. i use the other services of piriform all the time.

Eyes Wide Shut on 13-Oct-11 17:03:39

Could be a power supply problem foxi i have had this you may have to get another power unit.. Or does it just run on the usb connection.. It could be the dribver setting on your lap top but i think you said you tried it on another one. If the hard drive is not running then it could be the hard dive..

Eyes Wide Shut on 13-Oct-11 17:07:16

Message me with he model of the unit hun i expect it could be the pcb which the usb plugs into if i was closer i could have a look i can fix it but distance is a problem.. Message me in prv i will give you my landline and i may be able to sort something while you run it up.. x

gozap on 14-Oct-11 19:32:27

Foxi, I specialise in data recovery as I'm an IT security consultant so if you want to drop me a PM I can try and help. It looks as though you will have to take the drive out of the casing and pop it into an alternative casing/interface and only then can you take a look at the hard disk. As a previous poster said, it may be the PCB on the drive that has gone tits up (so to speak!). If this is the case than I could still retrieve it but would obviously need access to the drive. As I say, however I can help even if only with instructions you are welcome to ask.

gozap on 14-Oct-11 19:33:17

Oh, and don't under ANY circumstances allow any other program to write to the drive!!

foundnotlost on 14-Nov-11 3:12:08

you could try linux...boot from a live cd and then try to access the drive from there, ubuntu is a pretty simple linux....pm me if you wanna try

dog catcher on 16-Nov-11 20:48:32

i had one aswell foxy,it started downloading thousands of files,why ? i soon got rid of it and put it in the drawer,luckily had no pics on it.i now have a simular hard drive with password,its great.no probs.i still get the bloody seagate thing come up tho,i cant get rid of the registration!! x dc.

jonjo1 on 18-Dec-11 22:53:46

hope you worked it out mine did it to, i went on there web site and rebooted from there without loosing my pictures or dater

gavrillac2000 on 18-Jul-12 22:32:44

Hi Lynn This program may help you get back some or all your files so here it is http://www.scanwith.com/download/DataRecovery.htm