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Olav Digre

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20 years ago

OD

Olav Digre

3 Posts

0

1438

February 27th, 2007 11:00

External HD Problem

I've been running a WD 500GB external hard drive with Vista.  The other day during a break in saving data to it the drive could no longer be accessed.  The message I'm getting tells me that the drive needs to be formatted.  Have I lost the data I had saved to the drive (about 250GB) or is there a way I can regain use of the drive?  I've asked WD for some information, but am still waiting for an answer.
 
Everything else tells me the drive is working properly and I'm not sure why the data has just vanished.
 
Any help would be appreciated.
  • K

    kjharris

    428 Posts

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    Posted February 27th, 2007 20:00

    Since it's an external drive, why not plug it into another computer and see if it can be read and if your data is still there? Ken
  • OD

    Olav Digre

    3 Posts

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    Posted February 28th, 2007 02:00

    Thanks.
     
    I tried it on another computer and while the drive registers it still shows that it needs to be formatted.  Fortunately the data I put on the drive was just a copy of data from other sources so it's more a lost time problem that a lost data issue.  However, before I do anything I would like to know what the heck happened.  If the drive is defective I would rather get a replacement than format this one and risk another loss.
     
    I'll post the resolution once I get a definitive answer from WD.

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