CRC Error or Disk needs Formatting

Question

I have a problem with my HDD (2TB). On my HP (Windows 7), it says when I plug in the HDD that the disk needs to be formatted and the HDD does not appear as an active drive on my laptop (drive I). I tried doing the "start>cmd>chkdsk i:/f but it doesn't do anything, just says "Cannot open volume for direct access" in the pop up screen. I also tried it on my friend's Asus (Windows 8) and it gives me the CRC Error prompt but at least it picks up the HDD as Drive E. When I try the same procedure as above, I get to "cmd", click on it and then it tells me that "This app can't run on your PC". I am at my wits end and have no idea how to recover the data. I have work files backed up on it that is very important and I can't access them. Is there anything else I can try that might work? Please be precise when you explain about repair/recovery, I am not 100% tech savvy so any tips/solutions might have to be spelled out to me. I would really appreciate any input, thanks.

Answer 1

I have tried all four ports and no luck, no idea why the other PC picks it up and not mine.

Thank you again for your help, will let you know if it worked.

Answer 2

That would be a good test - if it is working on the other PC, then it could by your USB port, do you have more than one? have you tried the others?

Good luck...

Answer 3

Hi Richard,

Thank you for the advise, tried it but the drive does not show up in the Disc Management directory. It is a USB connected device. It does show up on my friend's "My Computer" directory so maybe i should go over there tomorrow and try the same method to see if it works. We have had a few unscheduled power cuts lately and I think that maybe that affected the HDD drive. If that doesn't work, I will find another cable to see if maybe the current one is faulty.

I will post screen shots tomorrow after I've tried the device on my friend's PC. Thank you for the clear steps to try and rectify this problem, really appreciate it.

Answer 4

Hi Marisa,

Is this a USB connected HDD? if so, have you tried a different cable in case this one is damaged?

Portable HDD's can fail after a time, especially if they get a knock, dropped, or even moved whilst the disk is spinning, so it may be possible it's not recoverable.

When you plug it into your machine, does it appear under "My Computer"?

If not, right click on "My Computer" and select "Manage"

This will bring up the Computer Management screen - choose the "Disk Management" option on the left hand side (Under "Storage").

You should now be able to see all the disks connected to your computer. Your C: drive is usually on the first one on the list, titled Disk 0 this may show several partitions on the same disk but one of them will be "Windows (C:)"

Below this you should see your USB HDD - if there is no drive letter assigned you can select the disk, right-click, and choose "C hange Drive Letter and Paths..." - click "Add..." then select one of the available drive letter options. If the disk is healthy it will now appear under My Computer.

If for some reason your drive does not appear here, then it is unlikely you will be able to do much to recover it as Windows can not see it to run any repairs.

Please post screen shots to further explain, you can run a useful tool called "Problem Steps Recorder" to capture this automatically. Search for PSR.exe, it is built in to Windows for free.

Answer 5

I also tried it on my friend's Asus (Windows 8) and it gives me the CRC Error.

-> A CRC error is bad news. In most cases it means that the disk is defective.

I am at my wits end and have no idea how to recover the data. I have work files backed up on it that is very important and I can't access them.

-> Glad to hear that this is a backup disk. You now need to go back to your work place and get the originals.

Is there anything else I can try that might work? Please be precise when you explain about repair/recovery.

-> You can go to the disk manufacturer's home page and download & run the disk diagnostic tool to get an authoritative opinion. Simply follow the instructions.