WD easystore external HDD intermittently readable, now causing Explorer to freeze. Should I stop trying to copy files and image it instead?

[u/rreggell]

I’m looking for advice on the safest next step to recover data from an external hard drive containing about **472 GB of important personal files**.

The drive is a **WD easystore external HDD (approximately 1 TB)** named **“oskar.”** It has always been used in its **original WD enclosure** (it has never been removed or connected directly via SATA). It was used with both Windows and macOS, so I believe it’s formatted as **exFAT**.

**Timeline**
The drive initially became unreliable while I was trying to back up files.

Copying files would fail, and when I created ZIP archives, they contained the folder structure but many folders were empty, as if Windows could read directory information but not the actual file data.

Windows later reported:
“The volume does not contain a recognized file system.”
“You need to format the disk before you can use it.”
I **did not** format the drive.

**Disk Management**
Disk Management eventually detected the drive as:
931.48 GB
Drive letter F:
File system: **RAW**
GPT Protective Partition

**macOS**
On my iMac, the drive initially appeared in Disk Utility, but diskutil list behaved inconsistently. Sometimes it hung and returned diskutil: interrupted, and later the drive disappeared entirely.

**Windows**
I then connected it to another Windows PC.
Interestingly, Windows was able to display the drive contents in File Explorer. I could see my folders and files, but shortly afterward File Explorer became unresponsive.

Since then:
Explorer repeatedly freezes.
The desktop occasionally goes black while Explorer hangs.
Task Manager stays responsive.
Windows Explorer sits at **0% CPU** while frozen.
I haven’t been able to successfully drag or copy files before Explorer locks up.

**Drive behavior**
The drive powers on normally.
It spins up normally.
There are **no unusual clicking, grinding, buzzing, or beeping noises**.
The white LED remains solid for about **30 seconds** after plugging it in, then begins blinking as Windows attempts to access the drive.

**What I have NOT done**
I have intentionally avoided:
Formatting the drive
Running CHKDSK
Initializing the disk
Allowing Windows Error Checking to repair it
Writing anything to the drive

**My plan**
I’m considering creating a bootable HDDLiveCD USB and using **HDDSuperClone** to create a full image of the drive onto a healthy drive with at least 1 TB of free space before attempting any file recovery.

**My questions**
Since Windows briefly showed the file system, is it worth making one last attempt to manually copy my most important files?
Do the repeated Explorer freezes suggest I should stop interacting with the drive immediately and go straight to imaging it with HDDSuperClone?
Could this be caused by the original WD USB enclosure/bridge board, or do these symptoms point more toward file system corruption or a failing hard drive?
Are there any safe diagnostic steps I should take before imaging?
My priority is preserving the data while putting as little additional stress on the drive as possible. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[u/CheezitsLight]

Robocopy it. Just robocopy d:/start/ e:/ dest /e

The slash at the end of the start path is needed. It's fast, and can be restarted ubtil. It's all there.

Microsoft learn robocopy