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I have a WD6400BEVT hard drive which I use in an enclosure to store some older files etc.

I haven't accessed the drive in probably about 2 years, but recently purchased an external SSD and was hoping to copy the data over.

Now that I plug it in, it connects and I can see it under "This PC" but can't open it and it disconnects within a few seconds with an error below:

When I connect it, it spins and I can see the enclosure led stay on but can't access an of the files. Is there any I can do to recover the files on the drive? Based on my own searching it doesn't seem likely but wondering if there is any thing else I should try.

I read through the suggestions here and was going to try the freezer but not sure if that applies since the drive spins?

Edit: would trying to use ddrescue be a worthwhile attempt since the drive will not stay connected?

Edit 2: was able to set up a linux usb following this guide so I can try HDDSuperClone. HDDSuperClone can see the drive but is not able to connect to it as the source.

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I also tried DMDE on the linux boot and I did a partial quick scan where I could see some of the folders on the hdd. I was hoping to either image or clone the files which are accessible but am not sure the best way to proceed from here, which option would have highest chance of success?

Edit 3: managed to get the two drives connected in SuperClone and run the analyze option with the below log and errors, does this mean the drive is all bad, no chance of restoring?

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user2573690
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1 Answers1

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Most common explanation for this disconnecting is read problems.

Simplified:

  • Windows (the OS) tries accessing a drive.
  • The drive tries to read bad sectors and engages in it's error recovery procedures.
  • In doing so it exceeds some Windows time-out threshold or even worse the drive itself runs into a software issue (at firmware level) and stops responding in time.
  • Windows decides the drive is no longer available and 'removes' it.

In the end, these are often read problems caused by head or surface problems, that in turn cause some firmware issue where the drive's internal software runs into a problem.

From this we can sort of distil the direction we need to go in:

  • Use an OS with different parameters and bad drive handling routines, use Linux rather than Windows for example.
  • Use some software that takes the drive handling from Windows and that's more accepting (allows the drive more time to return either data or an error). Some of the more advanced file recovery tools for example will try using the drive's native command protocols rather than relying on Windows Disk IO.
  • Or, but that's outside the reach of most users, use some hardware that handles drive IO. These are hardware solutions data recovery labs utilize.

Entry level data recovery hardware tools

Whatever approach we pick, if a drive is this unstable we should try to minimize IO and skip bad patches as much as we can.

Some already mentioned ddrescue, and the advantage is that this tool is designed to work with bad drives and an additional advantage is that the tool requires Linux as OS. These are already two factors that could influence how the drive behaves.

Less known but actually more advanced than ddrescue is HDDSuperClone or it's open source variant OpenSuperClone. Advantages over ddrescue are for example it's ability to 'speak to a drive' using it's native protocol and to control hardware, a power-relay, to handle drives that goes completely unresponsive.

In general, tools like ddrescue, OpenSuperClone and some of the more advanced file recovery tools will allow you to image or clone a drive in several passes where the first pass or passes are least aggressive and try to avoid problem areas, later passes try to read data from bad sectors and such. Often the first pass recovers typically 98% or 99% of the data. Even if the drive dies during the more aggressive passes, we already have that amount of data recovered.

Bits and bobs:

  • It's also worth noting that a drive is best connected using it's native interface. So a SATA drive inside a USB enclosure is best connected via SATA ports rather than go via USB: Every layer we add requires it's own error handling, and every layer adds complexity and room for error.

  • Freezing should never be considered on when dealing with modern drives.

  • Windows tools that can be configured to talk to the drive in it's native language are for example DMDE and UFS Explorer.