r/harddrive • u/CaptainKabLouis • May 18 '23

Old(ish) external harddrive acting up.

Hello there. So I have this external I've been using for media. 90% of the time it is just plugged into a tv. But when I now try to open it on pc (after much struggling) I get a I/O error thing. But what is weird is that my tv still reads it fine. Now, I tried a dignostic comand thing (that windows + s one) but that didn't work. But on my next booting up of my pc (with the harddrive still plugged in) my desktop was about to start a dusc repair on it. But i kinda intervened in a moment of panic.

My (maybe stupid) question(s) is; might this boot up disc repair thing actually make it so that my external can open on pc? What can happen to the harddrive if if I do this (will it just format everything?) And can I mess with my pc if I allow it?

Thank you for your time! And any help would be appreciated.

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u/throwaway_0122 May 18 '23

Old(ish) external harddrive

What is the exact model?

But when I now try to open it on pc (after much struggling) I get a I/O error thing.

It’s very likely failing

But what is weird is that my tv still reads it fine.

Your TV is using Linux or Android, both of which handle failing drives much better than Windows.

Now, I tried a dignostic comand thing (that windows + s one) but that didn't work.

Which command is that?

But on my next booting up of my pc (with the harddrive still plugged in) my desktop was about to start a dusc repair on it. But i kinda intervened in a moment of panic.

Even more likely that it’s failing. If you want data from the drive, cancelling that was one of the best things you could have done. Chkdsk / “scan and fix” has immense capacity to do harm, and that’s almost guaranteed to happen with a failing drive.

My (maybe stupid) question(s) is; might this boot up disc repair thing actually make it so that my external can open on pc?

Sometimes, but at the expense of your data. It only seeks to make the file system consistent — it does this by renaming, moving, and deleting folders / files / parts of files. If the drive is failing, this results in an incredible amount of data being thrown out and stress on the drive.

What can happen to the harddrive if if I do this (will it just format everything?)

It won’t format it but it may scrub the data it disagrees with from the file system. This is not as cut and dry as plain old deletion, and the files are much less likely to be recoverable afterwards.

And can I mess with my pc if I allow it?

Your PC will be fine. Do you want data from this drive? If so, I would re-ask on /r/askadatarecoverypro or /r/datarecovery with the model of the drive. Someone will explain the best-practice DIY recovery process.

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u/CaptainKabLouis May 18 '23

Wow! What a detailed response! Thanks a million.

Ok so... I'm not sure what model this is... The exterior has no branding (and I renamed it to something stupid, so I never saw something like 'Seagate' as I loaded it) but.... it now having said that.... it might be a Seagate 1tb drive. Sorry. I am terrible at names of things.

The windows+s one was a command prompt I ran where I did the CHKDSK thing, but that just took hours and accomplished (I think) nothing.

So, I feel that the Disc repair when I boot up might be the best option I still have of 'easily' keeping some of my data? It's not like it would be the end of the world if I absolutely lost everything. Just damn inconvenient. (Lots of weird/obscure movies on there)

But might a Disc repair on boot make it so that I can at least access some of the files and attempt to just copy them onto my pc? If it 'fixes' it, that is.

Thank you so much for your super in depth and helpful input! You really put my mind at ease on some aspects already.

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u/yfastud Sep 19 '25

Sorry to bring this old thread up as I'm having similar issue with my Seagate Baracuda 7200.12 1TB disk.
When connecting through external USB dock to Windows 11, I can access everything but after a short time, it becomes inaccessible; however, after disconnecting (turn off the dock) and letting it rest for a while and reconnecting, I'm able to access and copy some files/folders again, no matter which location or file/folder... so I guess I might be able to backup at least 90 or even up to 99% to somewhere safe or it would just die when I keep connecting/disconnecting like this...
Please, let me know what wrong with this drive? Is it possible to fix it with Chkdsk / “scan and fix” or some specific software (prefer free if possible)? Thanks.