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Diskpart wrong disk/volume size on usb hard-disk

Anonymous
2014-10-20T08:56:04+00:00

Hi all,

I've some trouble trying to recover data from an external 3TB drive after system failure... (btw the HD is ok, no hardware fault)

When I connect to computer it show it's only around 750GB and ask to format! I started diskpart and found that the partition size is correct but not disk size! (see DISKPART output below)

How can I change disk size recognized by the system in order to see full size and try recover the entire partition?

Thanks a lot in advance...

DISKPART> list disk

  N. disco  Stato          Dimensioni     Disponibile    Din  GPT

  --------  -------------  -------------  -------------  ---  ---

  Disco 0    Online            465 Gbytes         0 byte

* Disco 1    Online            746 Gbytes 0 byte        *

DISKPART> list part

  Partizione ###   Tipo              Dim.     Offset

  ---------------  ----------------  -------  -------

  Partizione 1    Sconosciuto        487 Mb  1024 Kb

* Partizione 2    Primario          2794 Gb 488 Mb

DISKPART> list vol

  Volume ###  Let. Etichetta    Fs     Tipo        Dim.     Stato      Info

  ---------   ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------

  Volume 0     F                       DVD-ROM         0 b  Nessun su

  Volume 1         SYSTEM       NTFS   Partizione   199 Mb  Integro    Sistema

  Volume 2     C                NTFS   Partizione   450 Gb  Integro    Avvio

  Volume 3     D   RECOVERY     NTFS   Partizione    14 Gb  Integro

  Volume 4     E   HP_TOOLS     FAT32  Partizione   103 Mb  Integro

* Volume 5                      RAW    Partizione  2794 Gb  Integro

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-06-04T07:18:55+00:00

    Hi Vinz,

    - External HDD is Western Digital RED series (WD30EFRX)

    • HDD was attached to NAS, I've managed to connect to my notebook via USB-SATA case adapter. I have no easy way to find desktop computer.
    • HDD was ext4 format, so didn't go the chkdsk way in order not to corrupt even more the existing filesystem.

    BTW also Linux (Ubuntu LiveCD) recognize the same disk geometry and size as Windows does, so I'm not sure about what can be wrong in the HDD first sectors (?)

    I've tried both with Linux and Windows software, and I finally found a Windows recovery software that

    managed to check entire physical space and not only the first 720GB. Tonight (~30hrs scan) it has actually found all my files (6000+ family pictures vs. 1200 of other sw).

    After I'm done recovering the contents, I'll try chkdsk see if it fixes the disk size issue.

    Thanks for taking time to answer!

    Hi Nicola.

    I have the same problem after commectin the same disk to my routers USB port. Did you solve this problem and if, can you please telle what softwre did you use?

    Thanks in advance

    CLaes Gröndahl

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-10-22T07:33:37+00:00

    Hi Vinz,

    - External HDD is Western Digital RED series (WD30EFRX)

    • HDD was attached to NAS, I've managed to connect to my notebook via USB-SATA case adapter. I have no easy way to find desktop computer.
    • HDD was ext4 format, so didn't go the chkdsk way in order not to corrupt even more the existing filesystem.

    BTW also Linux (Ubuntu LiveCD) recognize the same disk geometry and size as Windows does, so I'm not sure about what can be wrong in the HDD first sectors (?)

    I've tried both with Linux and Windows software, and I finally found a Windows recovery software that

    managed to check entire physical space and not only the first 720GB. Tonight (~30hrs scan) it has actually found all my files (6000+ family pictures vs. 1200 of other sw).

    After I'm done recovering the contents, I'll try chkdsk see if it fixes the disk size issue.

    Thanks for taking time to answer!

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-10-21T07:53:16+00:00

    Hi Nicola,

    Thanking for visiting Microsoft Communities.

    As I understand that your 3TB external USB HDD is recognized as 720GB.

    1. Please help us with the following questions in order to get a better understanding.
    2. External HDD manufacturer name?
    3. What happens when you connect the External HDD to your computer, are you able to browse it? (Are you able to see your files on it?)
    4. You mentioned that your system failed what exactly happened is it a hardware or a software crash?

    Please note: the external HDD that you have is in RAW format as per the screen short attached. So the hard disc has to be formatted using windows formats (Fat 32, NTFS).

    Method 1: try to insert the external HDD (3TB) on a different computer and check if you are able to access it, if you are able to access the information save a copy on the other computer and format the HDD using NTFS format.

    Method 2: Check disc

    Manually run the Chkdsk command prompt utility to check a drive. To do this, follow these steps

    This will check for disc errors and try to rectify it

    Windows 8

    1. Start an elevated command prompt.
    2. Type the following command, and then press Enter:

    chkdsk /scan

    <Drive Letter> (Example C or D or E)

    :

    If errors are found, run the following command to resolve the errors:

    chkdsk /spotfix

    <Drive letter>

    :

    The chkdsk utility may require you to restart the computer or to force an unmount. In this case, make sure that you save your work to avoid data loss.

    Hope this helps you to resolve the issue, if any question you can write to us and we will be glad to assist you further.

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