Indeed most of the sw has the quick scan (which is usually enough for a single partition drive) or the long scan which is better suited when multiple partitions were present on the drive. The SW has to guess where the partition(s) were located analyzing the filesystem which is supposed to be intact or almost intact. Perhaps if you tried one SW only and it failed don't give up, try at least with paragon HD manager, and with easeus Partition master. Even better you can get "strelec" ISO It's a bootable windows with most of the useful SW already installed (a sort of modern version of the great Hiren's boot CD)
Yes, was going to let MiniTool run its course and see the results, then try each of the others. Also getting Strelec. Like I said, i don't know if I can run more than one of the software at the same time. --- DS UPDATE: At 60%
<sigh> Just my lunk ... 83% complete and I get hit with a power outage. :-( I also tried every other program I can find - EaseUS find an unformatted Partition, AOMEI crashes, UFS Explorer Professional Recovery 5.20 (as expensive as it is, doesn't see crap!), and programs like Hetman, East Imperial, and a couple others are nothing but clones of AOMEI under different names. I ran EaseUS from the Boot CD and it scanned pretty damn fast (within 2 hrs). Tried to get Strelec on a bootable USB Thumb Drive (and yes, set that as 1st BIOS boot - didn't boot to it Not ahppy about burning an DVD9 for it. Would like to know what FULL tools are on it. I had a couple other WD264 16TB drives, so I disconnected them to isolate this one. Letting MiniTool run again, this time on Deep Scan for the hell of it. I can't believe all that data could just be "gone". Totally illogical. literally nothing happened to the drive. I have a DOZEN other easyStores and NEVER had an issue. :-( No idea how long this "Deep Scan" will take. One of the programs DID seem to have an issue with the very beginning of the scan as supposed "corrupt sectors" (and that is where AOPMEI always crashed, right at the start of the scan) It would be nice if Strelec fit on a DVD5 ..... Also something ODD I never noticed before - diff programs report the DISK # differently. I KNOW which one it is by the Model, but it usually ends up being listed a s a different # in each program. --- DS
Indeed seem pretty strange that nothing worked so far. Could be a way greater damage than expected/hoped, Could be one of those recent mechanical drives that store metadata in a small SSD rather than in the platter, and that SSD got screwed for whatever reason... As for strelec, it can be easily explored using 7zip to see which programs are included, and also (IIRC) it can be "installed" permanently as a multiple boot option using a batch, there are the instructions in the FAQ section of its website. Another option would be to use the ISO to boot a vmware/virtualbox VM while connecting the external drive as a physical drive or as a USB device.
If it's the usb cable or usb controller on external case that has flaked out, no software you try will fix it or get your data back, try taking the drive out of external case and connect it directly through HDD/Sata port on motherboard.
Well, I may be well & truly f'd up! When I try to even INITIALIZE the disk as GPT, with the intent to do a File Recovery, I get a DEVICE NOT READY error. :-( I can't seem to win. And have no idea HOW I can ever get this data back or re-gathered ..... --- DS
It is not a cable issue - ruled out 100%. I also cannot access the drive using CMD DISKPART - list disk does NOT include the drive in question. AND, oddly now, when viewing it with WinHEX, it now indicates it is READ ONLY. It did NOT display that previously. WenHex message is: Cannot read from Sector 0...63 of WD easystore 264D. The device is not ready. Screenshots below --- DS
Everything is correct on the right-hand screenshot, EXCEPT the TOTAL CAPACITY Anyone have any other tricks up their sleeves at this point? I've made accommodations to copy any recovered data, so that's no longer an issue. --- DS And when I run EaseUS Data Recovery on it, it starts out with the message "Program is trying to skip bad sectors to find data" ..... just f'n wonderful ....... If I could get the freaking drive JUST to be mounted/recognized by Windows, I have FULL confidence in Roadkil's Unstoppable Copier to recover any data. It's getting THERE that's the bloody issue :-(
Yes at this point connecting the drive directly to a SATA cable is a test that should be done. BUT Recently many external drives (especially the ones from well known makers like WD or Toshiba) aren't SATA drives + adaprers, they are native USB3 disks, in that case...
Is common that USB drives switch to read only mode, when relevant problems are detected. Usually using diskpart to remove the WO attribute is enough, obviously if diskpart doesn't see the drive at all there must be a bigger problem.
Wait, no I DO see it in DISKPART - must have missed it the 1st time. There some strange reason it shows as a 16TB drive when it is really an 18TB drive. But I'll worry about that when I can actually recover the files! (Pretty sure I had a couple TB free on the drive) --- DS Turns out, WD also provides a 5yr license for ACRONIS TruImage (as well as their own tools), so I'm giving that a try. EaseUS Data Recovery never went anywhere. Well ACRONIS didn't do crap :-( Trying to get things to work with DISKPART & CHKDSK - there is supposed to be a way to mount a drive WITHOUT a VOLUME/PARTITION and run CHKDSK, but I've only found statements to that effect, not the actual sequence of commands. ============== So now I'm running Testdisk with INTEL selected. I seem to be getting NOTHING but READ ERRORS.
Like I said just use fdisk of linux to create a partition (W/O doing anything else) then reboot in windows and try chkdsk the raw partition. Obviously you need to remove the WO attribute first using diskpart. Don't use windows tools to do that, don't use either linux graphical tools (like gparted), don't use cfdisk or other linux command line utilities, don't use any linux ntfs. Just the plain, good old fdisk. It writes the partition table and nothing else.
Oddly, that WO IS gone! I also tried AOMEI again, even in Admin mode is does nothing, just sits there (Quick or Deep Scan). I literally know ZERO about Linux, so I would need a Step-By-Step guide on exactly what to do Also,I would need to know what the appropriate distro would be. I am willing to try anything before I really have to do the file recovery. HOWEVER, I would ask, what difference would using Linux fdisk vs Diskpart clean make? OR just trying to run the full deep scan recovery with MiniTool. Ummm, wow, just extracted Strelec to see what was in it, and COMODO went freaking nutz, quarantined half a dozen files! :-D Yeah, I'm sure they were false positives, but funny (and annoying). If there is also more than one vote for Strelec for success in this case (since I have no clue on exactly what programs ARE available on it), I will spare a DVD9 on it, since, for some irritating reason, it would not copy to a bootable Flash drive (I've NO idea why, though that is something I haven't one for years). Thanks again for ALL the continued help and suggestions! I VALUE each & every one!!! (My freaking anxiety & stress-levels are going through the bleeding roof right now - this is over 3 days without the drive and therefore without full/proper use of my system, and I'm seriously hitting withdrawn! :-D ) My system is probably THE single thing I get more stressed out about than anything else in my life :-D (Damn, that really sounds pathetic, doesn't it?! :-D ) But I've got to try and stay light-hearted and self-deprecating about it. What the F else am I going to do? But PLEASE explain what the diff between Linux fdisk & Diskpart/Clean is, since it would seem that either option is going to result 100% in having to run a complete FILE level recovery - which is what I wanted to avoid by trying to "restore" the partition. You would think by now, someone would have found a way around this, or to avoid it. <sigh> I just seems like it should be such a "simple" issue (but then THAT is why I am NOT a programmer! :-D ) --- DS Also, fwiw, I DID notice that for some unknown reason, ALL the WD 18TB drive show up as 18TB / 16TB - including the internal HDDs I have, which are fine. Just kind of odd, that all Ok, for kicks I started running the free version of DiskDrill (the latest version) - it is indicating NOTHING but BAD BLOCKS, literally 100%! Is this actually even possible? I just can't see how a NEW, perfectly good drive, could suddenly go 100% bad overnight without something catastrophic happening to it. This is just freaking weird. NEVER had anything like this occur EVER before. Is is at all possible that this IS all caused by a faulty USB controller in the unit? They ARE proprietary connections (for some STUPID reason). If so, I'm going to specifically ask WD if I can shuck the drive and try it by itself, just to recover the data, then send the things back for an RMA. I've got others that have has zero problems. Errrr, I just looked how long DD is saying the scan will take - 1445+HOURS!!!!!! Gee, that ONLY 2 freaking MONTHS! So I guess THAT is out of the question. <sigh> *I do still have to try Paragon though, just got that, so will run that tomorrow when MiniTool Data Recovery completes (says ~10hrs) - which is a LOT less than scanning for the "Lost Partition"! ***UPDATE: At 55% running MiniTool and NO results yet :-( (~4hrs remaining)
If your drive is still under warranty RMA it for a new drive if it's not you are wasting your time continuing the same fix, at 18TB it's most likely a standard mechanical spinning hard drive, not an SSD. It's time to see what kind of drive you have in that external case and see if the drive will work properly directly connected to pc or use another external usb case that supports a 18TB drive. I know it's frustrating when you did nothing to drive and it worked just fine the day before and then this happens it really sucks!
Well, MiniTool was unable to find anything. I don't understand how EVERY sector of a drive could suddenly go "BAD" without anything happening to the drive. Still looking for those specific instructions for the LINUX option! --- DS
The value of a drive is usually marginal/irrelevant if compared with the value of data stored in them. RMAing a drive is the best option to say goodbye for good to them. Not only WD/Toshiba/Seagate don't try to recover data, they wipe your data purposely even if the drive had a minor defect and could be returned after (say) refitting a misplaced connector, because the privacy laws.
Who said that rewriting the partition using the linux fdisk wold lead to a file level recovery? The purpose is to avoid it. The purpose is to have a new partition scheme (hopefully close enough/identical to the original, in a single partition drive) so that you can assign a drive letter and do ckdisk. Almost anything else other than linux fdisk, does more work than just telling where a partition starts, where it ends, and what kind of partition it is. The only windows utility that I'm aware of is ptedit.exe from the good old Partition magic. But while it still works after 15 years or so from it's release, is not user frienfly as linux fdisk and can do more damage than anything else in the hand of a user who has never used it. Perhaps booting live linux and typing fdisk is matter of minutes, the partition infos can be written and removed at will, if necessary.
Yes, but as I said, I know ZERO about Linux, which is why I asked for a simple Ste-By-Step guide to it and identification of the appropriate Linux distro. I'm sorry i'm a n00b with Linux, but I have never had to use it. As you indicate that it seems to be my best (maybe last) option at getting the drive recognized by Windows, I really want to give it a try! Thank you greatly for any step-by-step "idiot-proof" instructions --- DS