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I need help accessing my documents on external hard drive

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Post #1 last edited
I'm not sure what to do. I did a system recovery on my computer and was told to discconnect all my devices (including my external hard drive) from my computer. I reconnected the devices after the recovery and afterwards everything seemed to be ok, but today when I tried to access my files on external hard (like some word documents) It gave me this error: 📎leader2_error_panel.jpg This drive changed drive letters from M to K when I reconnected. (It has changed drive letters before. Is that a bad sign?) I was able to access a notepad, but not the word documents. Also when I tried to access one fo the folders on the drive I got an I/O error. Then when I opened them they were empty even though they were full before. I don't know what is going! Can someone please help me figure this out? I'm desperate to access these files. This has never happened before. This is a Seagate 1.5 tb external drive. EDIT: Now whenever I try to save anything it says file not found! What is wrong with this drive? I'm not sure what is going on with it… Thanks for any help you can give.
Post #2
Hi Leader2,
sorry to hear about the problem with your external hard drive.
The fact that a USB drive letter seems to change is fairly common as Windows will allocate the next available drive letter each time the external drive (or flash drive/memory stick) is inserted…so if you already have some drives already inserted or a card reader for example with multiple slots inserted then this could be the reason for the drive letter changes.
HOWEVER
you should satill be able to access your stuff (assuming you haven't encrypted it in any way……
First step
Try your external hard drive in a different computer ( be sure it is virus free etc first!) see if it can be read Ok ,,,if it can it points towards a problem in your computer not in your external hard drive
Second step
Try a different external hard drive in your computer (or a Flash drive/memory stick) can your computer read and write data on these drives?
Report back with your findings and we will take it from there.
Regards
paws
Post #3
Thanks for your reply paws. I am finding out that the drive has a hardware corruption and needs to be replaced. :( Thankfully it's under warranty. I appreciate your help and next time I think I will avoid Seagate drives from now on. Thanks again, leader2
Post #4
Hi leader2, Glad you identified the problem….but sorry to hear that its a bad drive. All drives fail at some time, its just that some seem to go on for years whilst others seem to fail quite quickly. It's particularly annoying when the drive concerned is a main back up drive….. Seagate are not renowned for producing a bad type of product so I guess you may have just been unlucky… Regards paws
Post #5
Thanks for your reply paws. This is my 3rd bad drive in 3 years which is why I'm frustrated with seagate. Can you recommend which hard drive brands are best and which to avoid? Also can you tell me if getting a hard drive in an enclosure is a good alternative a external drive? My mother recommended this, and I don't blame her since she lost her data off that bad seagate drive. I have a 160 gb in an enclosure and it's never given me any trouble. Please also recommend an enclosure that will support 3tb drives. I appreciate your help on this. Thanks. :)
Post #6
Hi leader2,
I've never worried too much about the make of hard drive…..( paws now dons tin helmet and waits for the Flak!)

Here's some of my own thoughts that may help….. in no particular order…:

1 A back up strategy is not an effective one unless there are at least 3 copies of the important data…..with at least one copy kept safe offsite.
2 The back up strategy should include disc imaging and a bootable disc should be made that enables the external drive to be accessed in the event of a complete failure of Windows. ( Macrium, Ghost/Symantec, Acronis, Drive Image, Paragon etc.)
3 All backs ups should be verified for accuracy, reproducibility, and to check they are complete, up to date and comprehensive.

4 I find that the convenience of USB powered external hard drives is an attractive feature for a lot of folks…..
Some folks find plugging in a power supply unit with the extra bulk and weight to be less attractive for them..whilst others like the extra capacity of powered drives…..

5 Some folks like to use an ordinary hard drive and place it in an enclosure that they bought from ebay….others swear by brand named products…others swear at brand named products…!

6 In the workshop I tend to use what is available….. I have a practically inexhaustable supply of hard drives, some SATA some IDE , some desktop size some laptop size, that I have tested to be Ok but that have been removed from either defunct or redundant computers……. so I tend to use a universal drive mounter that I can stick practically any drive in….cost about £20 …

7 If you are talking about 3Tb drives then USB2 is going to seem quite slow…… so a faster protocol needs considering….. For large amounts of data like that, there is something to be said for just putting an extra SATA drive or two into your main computer (internally) as the speed will be consistently superior to that of USB2 by a considerable factor. The new USB 3 are quite good but make sure the computers that you use them on have USB 3 capability) If you do put an extra drive or two in your computer then make sure your powersupply is sufficient to drive them all!
Finally you consider setting up a RAID array as this can sometimes help with some issues, and has some advantages where you can mirror drives….
Hope this helps
Regards
paws
Post #7
Thanks for your quick reply paws. :thumbup: Actually I already have an extra drive in my computer. But I don't have 3rd bay in my computer and don't have the money for the raid device you mention so could you please recommend a good regular enclosure that will work for a 3tb drive? I was having a hard time finding one online. I could barely find them in the 2tb size. Do you know of any that are made for 3tb and about 20-25 dollars like the regular enclosures? That would help since I can't really find any. Thanks. ;)