Problem accessing files on external HD

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  1. Posts : 6
    Windows 10
       #1

    Problem accessing files on external HD


    Hi,

    I recently bought a new PC with Windows 10 and I am having some issues with an external USB hard drive that I was wondering if I could get some feedback on. Here's the problem: when trying to access certain files on the drive (no rhyme or reason apparent - it just happens with the occasional file, but frequently enough to be a serious hindrance when backing up and restoring data), whatever part of Windows 10 that's trying to access the problem file will freeze up. If I try to copy the file, the copy dialog will do nothing and I will be unable to even abort the transfer. If I try to open the file, file explorer will stop responding. The weird part is that I can manipulate these files okay on my old Windows 7 machine. The files don't seem to be corrupted in any way (based on md5 hash), although copying or opening small problem files on the win7 machine can sometimes take a couple of minutes. Once they have been copied over, they behave normally. Does anybody know what's going on here? Is there a problem with my USB drive? This would not be good as I depend heavily on this drive for file backup.

    Thanks,
    Sam

    Oh, one last thing - I have encountered "problem files" that have been copied to the drive by both the Windows 10 and Windows 7 machines, so it's not the case that one machine or the other is failing to copy to the drive correctly.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 8,059
    windows 10
       #2

    Welcome to the forum. First thing is to check the drive for errors is formated ntfs?
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 6
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Yes, it's NTFS. What's the best way to check it for errors? It doesn't say there are errors with it when I plug it in if that's what you mean.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 4,752
    Windows 11 Pro 64 Bit 22H2
       #4

    I believe Samuria wants you to do Error Checking with Check Disk.
    With the drive plugged in, go to Start/Search and type CMD, Right click the CMD results and Run As Administrator. In the Elevated Command Prompt type the drive letter of the the external drive (ie) G: and press enter (eg) G:\> at this prompt type chkdsk /R and press enter. Now type the letter Y for Yes to Unmount the drive. Check Disk will go through 5 stages and will take a while.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 6
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Okay, Check Disk appears to be stuck 141 files into "Stage 4: Looking for bad clusters in user file data." What should I do now? Is it safe to close the command prompt window?

    edit: Stuck as in it's been here for like an hour and a half and nothing has happened
    Last edited by Sylnox; 18 Dec 2016 at 12:48.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 6
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Okay, after a few hours I gave up and closed the window. I'm going to assume Check Disk getting stuck is probably not a good sign for my drive's health.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 1,811
    W7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit), LM 19.2 MATE (64 bit), W10 Home 1703 (64 bit), W10 Pro 1703 (64 bit) VM
       #7

    Sylnox said:
    Okay, after a few hours I gave up and closed the window. I'm going to assume Check Disk getting stuck is probably not a good sign for my drive's health.
    Depending on the size of the drive, it may take many hours to finish "chkdsk /R".

    I would consider getting another HDD.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 4,752
    Windows 11 Pro 64 Bit 22H2
       #8

    Check Disk can run a long time, overnight. However, the more bad sectors you have the longer Check Disk will run.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 6
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Okay, maybe I'll try again overnight. If it had been moving at all I would have let it keep going, but it was stuck on Stage 4 file 141 for hours.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 4,752
    Windows 11 Pro 64 Bit 22H2
       #10

    That is a bad sector in a bad cluster. Check Disk is trying to move the files on that sector to a good one nearby. If there are too many bad sectors, Check Disk will stall or fail and the drive should be replaced.
      My Computer


 

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