External HDD Problems

I am having problems with a friends external HDD that I am trying to get files off of. It is a 160G External, and there is 9GB free, yet when I open the drive, I can only see roughly 50GB of data. I tried copying files TO it, and it copies over, the size recalculates correctly, but I cant see that either. Anyone ever see this? I truly hope the drive is not damaged as it is not mine. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I am running XP, and I am not entirely sure what kind of drive it is, all I do know is its in a COMPUsa enclosure.

 

Their might be something wrong with it did you install it correctly? sometimes they dont install correctly. check the status of the hdd. if it says working properly then its probably a hardware problem like part of the hd is damaged.

 

Might have nothing to do with much but what file format are you running with XP and what file format is the External HDD?

 

jestah
Try doing a search for software to identify the hard drive (so you don't have to open the case up) I found this Hard Drive Identify 1.0. I don't know if it works as I am at work and can't look at the site. Knowing what HDD is in the enclosure would help. Just an after thought the enclosure hasn't been bounced, dropped or left in temperature extremes has it? If it has one of the heads could have been damaged.

 

thanks all.

the hard drive has been well kept in my possession, the first time i plugged it in, it read everything, then when i plugged it in a week later, to transfer the files to MY external, it only reads 29 out of a 100+ GB....the data reads right, i just cant see the files.

"show hidden files" is checked....im at a loss....

 

Have you ran any recovery software like Ontrack's Easy Recovery Professional? These types of programs can read from drives with all types of corruption issues. If these programs can detect the missing data, you may want to recover it to a separate hard drive, backup any other data, and reformat the drive. If recovery software doesn't detect it, there maybe physical damage. If this is the case, you may want to try a few freezing techniques as a last resort, yep freezing the drive literally. Google variations of "freeze damaged drive" for more info.

 

well, I took the External to a friends PC, and same thing....reads 9GB free, yet we can only see/access 50GB of stuff. So its not my PC.

@raysuave, have you used that Ontrack program in instances like this and had it work?

Im jus trippin, as it worked fine once, then all of a suddden, 60GB of missing stuff......

anyone else have any ideas?

 

Oh yeah, that program has saved me many times when my drive gets corrupt as result of viruses/spyware or me trying to get rid of them. Stuff like that. These programs usually cost money but the trial versions will let you run the program to see what data it can retrieve but not let you actually recover any data. Just google data recovery and a lot of these programs will pop up.