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External HDD - Laptop Asks To Format When Plugged In - Computers - Nairaland

Nairaland ForumScience/TechnologyComputersExternal HDD - Laptop Asks To Format When Plugged In (1224 Views)

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External HDD - Laptop Asks To Format When Plugged In by Trillyonaire(op): 11:24pm On Nov 02, 2014
I have an iMation external HDD I've been using for a couple of years. I gave it out to someone and when they returned it, whenever I plug it in my computer it asks me to format it.

There is so much information on it thhat I don't want to loose. Is there a way I can at least get mmy data back?
Thank you.
Re: External HDD - Laptop Asks To Format When Plugged In by Nobody: 11:35pm On Nov 02, 2014
What is the size of the hard disk. Also have you tried chkdsk ?
Re: External HDD - Laptop Asks To Format When Plugged In by Trillyonaire(op): 12:06am On Nov 03, 2014
Ichiato:
What is the size of the hard disk. Also have you tried chkdsk ?
250GB

Where do I get the chkdsk menu and does it take time? So I know if to do it now or when I'm plugged in
Re: External HDD - Laptop Asks To Format When Plugged In by Nobody: 12:24am On Nov 03, 2014
Trillyonaire:
250GB

Where do I get the chkdsk menu and does it take time? So I know if to do it now or when I'm plugged in
Sorry I assumed you are using a windows os which is where chkdsk works. If I'm correct then the time it takes depends on the size and and number of errors the hard disk has, so I can't give an exact time frame but from experience I never seen it run for more than 20mins tops. Anyway the chkdsk is a windows command that scans and attempts to fix errors on the hard disk. The link below describes how to run it on windows 8,7 and xp

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/184611en
Re: External HDD - Laptop Asks To Format When Plugged In by Trillyonaire(op): 5:31am On Nov 03, 2014
Ichiato:
Sorry I assumed you are using a windows os which is where chkdsk works. If I'm correct then the time it takes depends on the size and and number of errors the hard disk has, so I can't give an exact time frame but from experience I never seen it run for more than 20mins tops. Anyway the chkdsk is a windows command that scans and attempts to fix errors on the hard disk. The link below describes how to run it on windows 8,7 and xp

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/184611en
It says "This disk check could not be performed because windows can't access the disk"
Re: External HDD - Laptop Asks To Format When Plugged In by Nobody: 6:56am On Nov 03, 2014
Trillyonaire:
It says "This disk check could not be performed because windows can't access the disk"
Oops, sorry
The only other solution I know of is to format the hard disk and use a file recovery software to retrieve important files but there are no guaranties the files you need will be recovered.
Re: External HDD - Laptop Asks To Format When Plugged In by Vstuffs(m): 8:54am On Nov 03, 2014
Wait guy before you format....use a "recovery software to recover your files...then format..because you will have a 99% change of recovering most files..b/4 formatting than after formatting
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