Storage Solutions 1TB Toshiba external drive suddenly crashed

[Emil]

My Toshiba 1 TB drive suddenly crashed yesterday while I was saving files. It was perfectly fine until then.
The data is very important to me because I had backed up all my important data from my internal drives and deleted the originals because I am retiring that Windows machine and moving to my Mac mini.
Windows disk management shows that the disc has no data and all the space is free.
Chkdsk shows
C:\Users\User>chkdsk l: /f

The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is TOSHIBA EXT.

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
120832 file records processed.
File verification completed.
Phase duration (File record verification): 4.22 seconds.
7 large file records processed.
Phase duration (Orphan file record recovery): 0.00 milliseconds.
0 bad file records processed.
Phase duration (Bad file record checking): 1.02 milliseconds.

Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
Correcting error in index $O for file 19.
Correcting error in index $O for file 19.
Correcting error in index $O for file 19.
Correcting error in index $O for file 19.
Correcting error in index $O for file 19.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the bitmap for index $O for file 19.
Insufficient disk space to correct errors
in index $O of file 19.
Inserting an index entry into index $O of file 19.

That last line keeps repeats many times (hundreds perhaps) and then ends with

Insufficient disk space to insert the index entry.

Recuva shows only 692 files and most of those show as overwritten. The few that are recoverable are small files which I have not stored. Probably auto-created by the system or applications.

What are my options? Should I try to open the enclosure and clean the contacts first? Or remove the drive and directly connect it in the computer?

 

[vishalrao]

Can you try recovering from the original windows copy using a tool like PhotoRec or wait for other recommendations here.

External drive may be totally gone, so undelete from original windows disk might be an option.

 

[n1r0]

The data is very important to me because I had backed up all my important data from my internal drives and deleted the originals because I am retiring that Windows machine and moving to my Mac mini.

It's not a backup if it doesn't exist on more than one device. This was your only copy

Windows disk management shows that the disc has no data and all the space is free.

Try various "partition/disk recovery" software, one of them might work. But like the above post says you'll have better luck recovering from the working original disk.

Usually a failing HDD gives you lots of warning sounds - clicking, buzzing, etc

 

[gourav]

It's not a backup if it doesn't exist on more than one device. This was your only copy

Was going to say this. If the data is important, you can't have just one copy of it like hard drives are some infallible pieces of hardware.
Lot of people have learnt this lesson the hard way, this is just one more example.

If the data is important enough to spend money on, then as a last resort, you can take it to a professional data recovery service provider.

 

[6pack]

Do you have a Linux machine or can Mac read NTFS formatted drives? Stop using windows to recover anything. Linux can mount a hdd as read only but windows will by default try to write shit like volume information on the drive and mess it up even more. If you don't have a Linux OS, download Linux Mint or MX Linux and flash the iso to a pendrive and run that OS in live mode. You should be able to copy stuff off the drive.

 

[Emil]

I use the company laptop the whole day. I don't get much time to use my personal computer. The 'one copy' was meant to be temporary. I was copying data from the primary data source to the external drive is stages over a period of a month. I deleted after copying because I wouldn't be able to remember how much I had done and what was left to be copied. Anyway that is the past now.
I do have some backup which I had done earlier on another secondary internal drive. I also had recovered files from the primary drive and saved on the secondary drive so I realize that all is not lost. Only some data I was collecting for filing my returns will probably have to be downloaded again but I would prefer to salvage the data from the external drive if I possibly can. I had spent too much time and effort backing up. It would help me to migrate to my Mac mini quicker.
I also found that the Toshiba Canvio drive cannot be disassembled from the case and connected as an internal drive so any salvage will have to be done while connected to the USB port..

 

[n1r0]

I also found that the Toshiba Canvio drive cannot be disassembled from the case and connected as an internal drive so any salvage will have to be done while connected to the USB port..

True for WD and Seagate too. I think the case encrypts the data or something. If I take the drive out and connect to mobo, it wants to be formatted before use.

 

[Emil]

In the case of the Toshiba Canvio, the external connector is directly on the drive and there is no SATA connector
A bit off topic but can anyone recommend me the cheapest cloud storage of 1TB annual or lifetime plans? This is mainly for archival rather than sync backup.

 

[ibose]

True for WD and Seagate too. I think the case encrypts the data or something. If I take the drive out and connect to mobo, it wants to be formatted before use.

Yes WD and Toshiba are notorious that ways. I am yet to come across a Seagate one though.

 

[Emil]

My Symantec Endpoint protection is blocking the Autorun file when I plug in the Toshiba drive. The Symantec software was installed by my company systems guys while I was using it for company work earlier when I started WFH before they issued me a laptop. Our company policy is to prevent writing to external drives. I wonder if that has suddenly started causing this problem with the usb drive. I will get our guy to uninstall the software tomorrow. It is password protected. I am not able to uninstall even in safe mode. It says, "The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance"

 

[nRiTeCh]

My best bet is always Get Data back and Easeus partition master. These never failed me.
Also, if there are .CHK files try to extract/explore them using 7zip.
I once found 95% of my partitions lost data hidden in these files.

 

[n1r0]

My Symantec Endpoint protection is blocking the Autorun file when I plug in the Toshiba drive. The Symantec software was installed by my company systems guys while I was using it for company work earlier when I started WFH before they issued me a laptop. Our company policy is to prevent writing to external drives. I wonder if that has suddenly started causing this problem with the usb drive. I will get our guy to uninstall the software tomorrow. It is password protected. I am not able to uninstall even in safe mode. It says, "The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance"

Wait what autorun file is this? You don't need to install any software to be able to access the drive. I'm thinking you got infected with ransomware - that would explain why all your files disappeared suddenly without signs of hardware failure.

 

[enthusiast29]

I deleted after copying because I wouldn't be able to remember how much I had done and what was left to be copied.

Sorry to sound rude but that's the dumbest thing I've heard in a long time.
You could just move the files under a folder named "Done Moving" or something similar in the same drive which won't even take any time to move since data will be on same drive.

Check the drive for bad sectors using crystal disk info. If they have a lot of pending sector reallocation counts it's bad. Otherwise it could just be some mechanical issue with the drive.

 

[n1r0]

Sorry to sound rude but that's the dumbest thing I've heard in a long time.
You could just move the files under a folder named "Done Moving" or something similar in the same drive which won't even take any time to move since data will be on same drive.

Copy-Paste works fine from source to external drive. After the first run, just skip copied files to avoid overwriting already copied files. Windows will delete partial transfers anyway.

 

[Emil]

My best bet is always Get Data back and Easeus partition master. These never failed me.

I'll try them. Are they free?

Also, if there are .CHK files try to extract/explore them using 7zip.
I once found 95% of my partitions lost data hidden in these files.

I tried running chkdsk but it failed to complete. Did not even reach the stage of giving .chk files.

Sorry to sound rude but that's the dumbest thing I've heard in a long time.
You could just move the files under a folder named "Done Moving" or something similar in the same drive which won't even take any time to move since data will be on same drive.

I agree. In hindsight, I should have done that but the drive is fairly new as opposed to the internal drives so that probably made me over-confident about the Toshiba.

Check the drive for bad sectors using crystal disk info. If they have a lot of pending sector reallocation counts it's bad. Otherwise it could just be some mechanical issue with the drive.

OK

Wait what autorun file is this? You don't need to install any software to be able to access the drive. I'm thinking you got infected with ransomware - that would explain why all your files disappeared suddenly without signs of hardware failure.

I have no idea what it is because I cannot open Symantec Endpoint protection without a password. I have seen many external drives have an autorun.inf files. I believe that is normal. But I can't say if ths one was suddenly infected. If it is ransomware, wouldn't I get some notification from the guys who have a demand?

 

[n1r0]

I have no idea what it is because I cannot open Symantec Endpoint protection without a password. I have seen many external drives have an autorun.inf files. I believe that is normal. But I can't say if ths one was suddenly infected.

Usually autorun.inf is used to show a custom icon for the drive. But it can be used to automatically run a program. Game discs would run setup.exe for example. Some viruses would use this feature to spread as well.

So if like you said Symantec is actually blocking that file, something may be happening. OR it is not blocking, and your entire disk is just inaccessible.

 

[Emil]

Sorry to sound rude but that's the dumbest thing I've heard in a long time.
You could just move the files under a folder named "Done Moving" or something similar in the same drive which won't even take any time to move since data will be on same drive.

Check the drive for bad sectors using crystal disk info. If they have a lot of pending sector reallocation counts it's bad. Otherwise it could just be some mechanical issue with the drive.

How do I insert an image here?

 

[nRiTeCh]

How do I insert an image here?

There's always a cellphone...

 

[guest_999]

How do I insert an image here?

Upload image on imgur & post the link here or simply open the image in any photo software like paint or snip tool & click on file/edit--copy & paste it here.

 

[Emil]

Sorry to sound rude but that's the dumbest thing I've heard in a long time.
You could just move the files under a folder named "Done Moving" or something similar in the same drive which won't even take any time to move since data will be on same drive.

Check the drive for bad sectors using crystal disk info. If they have a lot of pending sector reallocation counts it's bad. Otherwise it could just be some mechanical issue with the drive.

How does it look?
I am also running Easus Partition Master