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Author Topic: usb hard drive problems  (Read 4974 times)

techidave

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usb hard drive problems
« on: April 11, 2010, 05:26 PM »
I have a Maxtor One Touch External hard drive and now Windows says I should run chkdsk on it to fix errors.  The problem with Windows XP's chkdsk utility is it takes so long that I wonder if it has locked up or something.

Is there a freeware utility out there other than the manufacturer's software that will do this???

Dave

sajman99

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Re: usb hard drive problems
« Reply #1 on: April 11, 2010, 06:27 PM »
HD Tune has "Error Scan" among its features.

I have a portable version of Piriform's Defraggler which has a "Check Drive for Errors" option.

Also, there's one called Windows Surface Scanner, but if I understand correctly it doesn't actually fix errors. If you still have to run chkdsk to fix errors, then I fail to see the point of using it. :huh:

techidave

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Re: usb hard drive problems
« Reply #2 on: April 11, 2010, 06:38 PM »
thanks for the suggestions.  do your suggestions also fix the errors?

techidave

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Re: usb hard drive problems
« Reply #3 on: April 11, 2010, 07:53 PM »
I guess maybe I wasn't patient enough with chkdsk.  It went from barely started phase 4 to45 minutes later being almost done with phase 5.

I looked at defraggler but i believe it only checks for errors.

yksyks

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Re: usb hard drive problems
« Reply #4 on: April 12, 2010, 10:21 AM »
If your disk has really physically damaged sectors, I managed to recover several USB disks using the DRevitalize utility. Not freeware, but the demo did the job. You have to be patient, though...

sajman99

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Re: usb hard drive problems
« Reply #5 on: April 12, 2010, 02:52 PM »
thanks for the suggestions.  do your suggestions also fix the errors?

Ah, I guess those free tools only check for errors. Sorry if I led you astray. :-[

Seems like a tall order for a free tool. I would be very interested in a free disk checker and fixer as well.

techidave

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Re: usb hard drive problems
« Reply #6 on: April 12, 2010, 06:50 PM »
I suppose the manufacturer of the hard drive's software would be the best one to use.  I am familiar with Western Digital and Seagate but not the rest so not sure how those might work.

MilesAhead

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Re: usb hard drive problems
« Reply #7 on: April 12, 2010, 07:55 PM »
I would take a look on the Seagate site.  I believe they own Maxtor now.  When I was looking for software for my Seagate Free Agent drives I though I saw some Maxtor stuff on there.

edit: that was a few years back.  They could have sold Maxtor by now afaik.  But it's worth a look.


techidave

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Re: usb hard drive problems
« Reply #8 on: April 12, 2010, 08:14 PM »
Your are correct, Seagate owns them and I have used their software before.