System Restore is not functioning

I hope you haven't left me as I have more that I'd like your advice on.

As I said, I have given up on the Iomega external, except to see if someone can get my data off.

I ran the command line chkdsk c: today and it found lots of errors. It said to run chkdsk /scan next, so I did that. When I came back it had finished and closed out, so I ran chkdsk c: again. This time it only showed about 4 errors. So then I ran chkdsk /f /r /x and it asked if I wanted to run this at the next restart, I answered Y.

Thing is, that has been running now for well over an hour, probably closer to 2 hours and it's still on 11%. I'm sure it's not working but will give it awhile longer. I was wondering if you know why it isn't progressing.

If anyone out there knows why chkdsk isn't showing progress please advise.

thanks!

chkdisk can take literally hours. As long as the light is flashing (if you have one) or it seems to be doing something then leave it.

I found an odd rather dated note from the Microsoft XP documentation...

If you use chkdsk /f on a very large disk (for example, 70 gigabytes) or a disk with a very large number of files (for example, millions of files), chkdsk might take a long time (for example, over several days) to complete.

I don't think you should imagine it will take several days but several hours wouldn't be unusual.

"Thing is, that has been running now for well over an hour, probably closer to 2 hours and it's still on 11%."
Although it was only a one-time incident, I saw one that took about 22 hours. on an XP computer.

I've already ordered a new Seagate drive. But how can I copy anything if the computer won't recognize the old external and therefore won't allow any access to it? I've been Googling, went into Safe Mode and tried several things and nothing worked.

When I tried to use a command prompt chkdsk /f on the external it took forever and then finally stated it could not perform this on a RAW drive. So I'm being given two errors on this drive; one that it is RAW and the other that the parameter is incorrect. Another mixed message is that when I go into Device Manager and click on it/properties, it says this device is working properly. When I have it hooked to my computer, I can't even get a restart to work. I have to force a shutdown and then boot back up.

P.S. I just talked with a computer tech and he said he would look at it for nothing, but if he starts putting time into trying to get the data the cost would be anywhere from $60 up to $150 and then he wouldn't guarantee being able to retrieve the data. He also said the unplug it right away because the more it's run the less the chances are. And, of course, I have run it and monkeyed with it quite a bit. Is there any free program that I might try on it? Please give me your thoughts.

I can't tell whether or not this could apply to you but if you run into a last resort it probably won't hurt to try
How to Convert/Change RAW File System to NTFS without Data Loss
http://www.easeus.com/resource/raw-f...em-to-ntfs.htm
The RAW drive can be caused by a number of reasons such as virus infection, format failure, accidentally shut down operating system, power outages, etc.
When you access the RAW drive, you will get an error message like "The disk in drive is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?"
If you click "No", the drive cannot be accessed.
If you click "Yes", we will lose all of the files stored on this drive.

MeAndMyComputer said:

I do system image backups with MRF. In addition I also save my data personally from my computer onto my external hard drive, onto another computer I have as well as onto a USB flash drive.
That way if a system image recovery fails or my computer should crash, I still have my data available.

On Macrium Reflect, I’m sure we can help you get back on track with it.
Let us know when you get a new external hard drive.

To make a long story very short, I gave up on trying to get anything off my old drive. I have my new Seagate drive now. On Macrium, under Default Definition Rules Settings, should I select the option Purge before backup?

I do not have Purge before backup selected; however, I keep that in mind in case I want to do so someday.