Partition Recovery/ Incorrect Parameter For External Hard Drive

RockieOllie · 14 May 2023

I was told to make a thread so here goes nothing:

I was transferring video files between my PC and my iPad using an external drive (Which I've been doing for maybe 2yrs prior to this issue.) The drive is saying it's inaccessible/incorrect parameter and the volume does not contain a recognized file system

I tried doing chkdsk /f /r /x to repair but unfortunately the process aborted midway and gave me an error. I didn't have a drive letter initially until i did /sfc scannow. The drive in question is Disk 4.

Partition Recovery/ Incorrect Parameter For External Hard Drive-image_2023-05-14_052626541.png

After doing so the letter returned and the volume is stated to be healthy despite explorer still not giving me access

Partition Recovery/ Incorrect Parameter For External Hard Drive-image_2023-05-14_052814060.png

I was hoping to see if there was any chance for me to save any on the external drive before i just re-format the drive.

Paul Black · 14 May 2023

Hello @RockieOllie,

RockieOllie said:

I tried doing chkdsk /f /r /x to repair but unfortunately the process aborted midway and gave me an error. I didn't have a drive letter initially until i did /sfc scannow. The drive in question is Disk 4.

It is a shame you didn't post here before performing the chkdsk, but it might still be OK.

RockieOllie said:

I was hoping to see if there was any chance for me to save any on the external drive before i just re-format the drive.

As an option, the below is an excellent way to do this as it does NOT put any load [ well, minimal ] on the existing HDD/SSD.

Linux Live USB / DVD:

A Linux Live USB/DVD is a good emergency method of retrieving data from an otherwise UN-bootable drive or if you are having other drive difficulties.

Basically . . .

[1] Download the Linux ISO - I always use Linux Mint although there are others available.
[2] Create a Bootable USB/DVD [ media ] using Rufus for example => Rufus.
[3] Boot the media.
[4] Copy the files, folders, videos, music, and pictures etc from the OS to an external HDD/SSD or USB.

> Download Linux Mint 20 Ulyana

Although is normally for internal disks, this has been known to work for external disks as well.

@jumanji is excellent at these sort of disk problems. He will see this post as I have mentioned him. He may be able to help.

I hope this helps.

RockieOllie · 14 May 2023

Paul Black said:

Hello @RockieOllie,

As an option, the below is an excellent way to do this as it does NOT put any load [ well, minimal ] on the existing HDD/SSD.

Linux Live USB / DVD:

A Linux Live USB/DVD is a good emergency method of retrieving data from an otherwise UN-bootable drive or if you are having other drive difficulties.

Basically . . .

[1] Download the Linux ISO - I always use Linux Mint although there are others available.
[2] Create a Bootable USB/DVD [ media ] using Rufus for example => Rufus.
[3] Boot the media.
[4] Copy the files, folders, videos, music, and pictures etc from the OS to an external HDD/SSD or USB.

> Download Linux Mint 20 Ulyana

I hope this helps.

Hi! I remember you suggesting this in the other thread. I did make a bootable mint cinnamon drive but unfortunately it was not able to read the external drive

Paul Black said:

It is a shame you didn't post here before performing the chkdsk, but it might still be OK.

I hope i didn't hurt my chances on possibly recovering my drive.

I attempted to do chkdsk twice and both times it gave me an error and aborted after running for about 1-2 days of running.

Samuria · 14 May 2023

Raw means it's lost the partition you need free specific partition recover software

SIW2 · 14 May 2023

You could try both data recovery and partition recovery programs that run read only and see what thay say before taking any further steps.

There are a couple that were giveaways by minitool a few years ago which still work well.

One of the drawbacks of giant partitions is the amount of time taken to scan if there are problems like this.

Marie SWE · 14 May 2023

RockieOllie said:

Hi! I remember you suggesting this in the other thread. I did make a bootable mint cinnamon drive but unfortunately it was not able to read the external drive

I hope i didn't hurt my chances on possibly recovering my drive.

I attempted to do chkdsk twice and both times it gave me an error and aborted after running for about 1-2 days of running.

As the disk as listed as Raw at the moment, windows wont screw it up anymore then it already is...
Usually my first word is.. STOP using the disk and disconnect it

Windows has a tendency to write/clean disks in the background so recovery becomes even harder.
Recovery is a 50/50 chance lottery.. either it works or it don't

I suggest you have a bit patience and don't try to rush things.. Disconnect the drive and let it be until you get good instructions.. It will not become worse if you just have it disconnected and solve it in 1day from now...or one year for now. It will not get worse.

I call on @jumanji
to see if he is back online again. He is the Guru on this subject in here.

Good luck

zbook · 14 May 2023

This was the old thread where there was another OP:
chkdsk /f /r aborted | unspecified error (6e74667363686b2e 1713)

When available post results for:

https://www.tenforums.com/attachment...p_plus_log.bat

https://www.tenforums.com/attachment...iskparinfo.bat

Post share links into this thread using one drive, drop box, or google drive.

If Ubuntu could not read the files (it was the second operating system) then consider partition recovery software or professional recovery.

Create a bootable USB stick with Rufus on Windows | Ubuntu

These steps if available offer repeat confirmation:
a) Insert the problematic disk drive into the empty bay of another computer
b) Insert the problematic disk drive into a HD enclosure > attach to another computer > attempt to read files

RockieOllie · 15 May 2023

Marie SWE said:

As the disk as listed as Raw at the moment, windows wont screw it up anymore then it already is...
Usually my first word is.. STOP using the disk and disconnect it

Windows has a tendency to write/clean disks in the background so recovery becomes even harder.
Recovery is a 50/50 chance lottery.. either it works or it don't

I suggest you have a bit patience and don't try to rush things.. Disconnect the drive and let it be until you get good instructions.. It will not become worse if you just have it disconnected and solve it in 1day from now...or one year for now. It will not get worse.

I call on @jumanji
to see if he is back online again. He is the Guru on this subject in here.

Good luck

Understood! Quite a few users have mentioned this person so I will unplug my drive and wait for further instructions.

Marie SWE · 15 May 2023

RockieOllie said:

Understood! Quite a few users have mentioned this person so I will unplug my drive and wait for further instructions.

it sounds as a good choice.

SIW2 · 15 May 2023

It will be a long wait. He is away travelling back on 22nd and I think arriving 23rd, and then probably wants a few days to recover from the journey.

I have already posted what you can try.

You certainly should not write anything to the disk. Recovery programs read from it, they dont write.

Ideally one should make a bit by bit image/clone of the disk and try recovering from that.

But you need a large disk to clone to, and unfortunately a massive partition means it takes a long while. Not only to do the clone but any scans take a long time as well. That is one reason why I always recommend partitioning a disk into manageable sized partitions. You cant change that now, but worth remembering for the future.