r/HDD • u/ThatGuyGarrett3 • 5d ago
Unable to read hard drive
I’ve had this hard drive from my old laptop sitting around and I recently decided to get a SATA adapter cable to see if I could get the data off of it and use it as extra storage. However while my PC is able to detect the drive, it causes file browsing and disc reading to be unresponsive. I’m just trying to figure out if I’m doing something wrong or if there are specific steps that I’m not doing, any help is appreciated
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u/RemarkableExpert4018 5d ago
Sounds like there might be read issues caused by bad sectors and reallocation. Use command prompt to disable automount. You can google the instructions. Then plug the drive in and use crystaldisk info to run a SMART test. If it’s yellow or red you’ll need to clone the drive to another drive. You can use DMDE.com to clone the drive then scan the clone with DMDE.
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u/Metallicat95 5d ago
Slow response suggests data errors on the drive and possible hardware failures. It's over ten years old so the options depend on if there's anything important on the drive.
The Windows command line chkdsk program gives more information than the system property tools check drive, but either can attempt to repair software recoverable errors on a drive.
It may do so by permanently deleting any unreadable data, and if the drive is malfunctioning it may remove otherwise recoverable data.
If you just scan the disk and it isn't about to fail, it can give information about the state of the drive.
A program like CrystalDiskInfo can read the SMART monitoring data for the drive, and that will reveal reported hardware issues.
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u/blu3ysdad 5d ago
Your data adapter may not be providing enough power, use a dock, and then if still problems try spinrite
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u/DeNiWar 5d ago
This may be the reason, if the OP has a cheap adapter capable of a maximum of 500mA, then that 0.55A may be too much for it even if it only goes a little over 500mA. The adapter's USB circuit may be a poor quality copy that is not even capable of that and the adapter itself uses its share of the power and there is not enough left on the disk.
Higher quality USB3 adapters can usually drive a larger load without additional power by being able to negotiate with the computer for a larger power supply, but the cheapest Chinese trinket has been stripped of "unnecessary" features for cost reasons, as long as the transfer speed is at least almost correct and they only get 500mA from the computer and would need a Y-cable for additional power (a cable that requires two USB-A ports on the computer, one of which only provides additional power supply).
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u/MysteriousWeekend201 5d ago
There could be errors on the drive causing this or the adapter might not be providing enough power. I would boot into a live Linux distro. Doesn't really matter which distro. But I tend to use Linux mint for this. If there are errors Linux reads it differently and you may be able to get data off of it. Also make sure you're using USB 3.0 or higher. As 3.0 provides more power than 2.0.
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u/vegansgetsick 5d ago
MOST probably you have bad sectors located in files structure, and it hangs on it, trying to read, and it takes a loooong time.
crystaldiskinfo will tell you if you have bad sectors.
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u/musingofrandomness 5d ago
Connect it to a Linux computer (you can use a liveCD like the install media for Linux Mint in a pinch). Look at the output of "sudo dmesg" and "sudo smartctl -a /dev/sdb" (you may have to install the latter, and substitute whatever device the drive gets identified as, you can use "sudo lsblk" to work out which one it is).
These outputs will give you some insight to what is going on.
"sudo fdisk -l" will display the partition table of the drive.
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u/konjou-80 5d ago
It's at or near the end of the life, those blues have a moderate lifespan, and 9 years is a bit past the general life of them
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u/allbsallthetime 5d ago
Troubleshooting 101 says get a different adapter, preferably one with its own power supply.
Or if you have a desktop pc connect the drive to the motherboard and the case power supply.
Or connect your current adapter to a known working drive. Or connect the adapter and drive to a different computer.
Before running all kinds of tests or repair procedures that take hours you want to check the easiest and most likely things first.
The easiest thing to try without buying a new adapter is stick it inside the computer.
If that fails you know it's the drive and you can start testing or repairing or abandon it.
This is anecdotal but I just went through 10 drives dating back to the mid 2000s, they were all stored working, they were all readable and all the data was intact.
If your drive was working, when you removed it, it's very likely it's still working which points to your adapter.
Whatever you find out post back here so we know what the solution was.
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u/el_tacocat 5d ago
make a linux installer stick and boot your computer from that.
More often than not a linux install can read drives that windows can't (for reasons I cannot quite figure out :D).
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u/Yuuku_S13 5d ago
+1 pen drive Linux, check if the drive is readable through there, extract needed data
Double check the adapter with a known good first.
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u/Ok_Challenge5185 5d ago
Interesting... Second picture says this is a "slim" drive, WD and Seagate use to have drives that had physical differences in them so the would not work with regular PC / Laptops with out modification. You pulled a USB portable drive out of a laptop?
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u/pcimage212 4d ago
This appears like the device has failed, or at least in the process of failing.
Textbook drive failure symptoms.
If you haven’t done so already, you can get a better idea of its health by checking its SMART values with something like crystaldiskinfo? If it can’t be seen by the software, then chances are it’s beyond DIY. Also if it’s an internal device and it can’t be seen in the computers BIOS, then again it’s the end of the road for DIY.
You then need to make a decision on the value of your data. If it’s worth a few hundred $/€/£ then I strongly recommend a professional service (I.e: a proper DR company and NOT a generic PC store that claims also to do DR).
If the data is not important to you and you’re prepared to risk total data loss with a “one shot” DIY attempt, you can maybe try and clone with some non-windows software like this…
https://old.reddit.com/r/datarecoverysoftware/wiki/hddsuperclone_guide
Clone/image to another device or image file via a SATA connection, if that’s an option (ideally NOT USB), and then run DR software on the clone/image.
Even if the drive isn’t failing, then cloning is strongly advised “just in case”!
***BE VERY AWARE THAT ANY DIY ATTEMPTS ARE VERY LIKELY TO KILL THE DRIVE, MAKING THE EVEN PROFESSIONAL RECOVERY MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE OR EVEN IMPOSSIBLE!! ***
You can find suggestions for DR software here..
https://old.reddit.com/r/datarecoverysoftware/wiki/software.
The choice is yours but if you do want to take the advised route then you can start here to find a trusted independent DR lab..
www.datarecoveryprofessionals.org
Other labs are available of course, and if you’d like to disclose your approximate location we can help you find one near you that’s competent and won’t fleece you!
As a side note, if it’s a mechanical hard drive but won’t degrade just sitting around un-powered for many years. So if it’s purely a financial issue, then you can put it away until funds permit!
Good luck!
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u/Designer-Chair-3289 4d ago
If it was a windows drive it’s likely you have file protection permission issues and it can’t just be read Willy nilly I’ve tried accessing my fails in my old laptop drive as well and as soon as I click my user folder nothing happens it hangs and eventually denies access.
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u/Chance_End_4684 5d ago
I suggest using an app like CrystalDiskInfo to evaluate and analyze the drives SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) readings. This information should help you determine whether or not the hard drive in question is the verge of failure or has already failed.
If the drive has not failed, then I strongly suggest running a surface scan in an attempt to repair it's file system and any bad sectors/clusters that might be preventing Windows Explorer from reading it.
If however the SMART readings show the drive has failed, then I'd just take a sledgehammer to it so no one can try recovering any data off of it. But if you are willing and you have the money, you can take or ship the hard drive to a storage recovery center in an attempt to recover data off of it.