{"id":1697,"date":"2019-01-21T07:00:46","date_gmt":"2019-01-21T12:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=1697"},"modified":"2019-01-17T11:33:15","modified_gmt":"2019-01-17T16:33:15","slug":"a-reader-asks-i-thought-an-old-external-drive-was-full-but-it-shows-up-as-empty-and-needing-format-when-i-plug-it-in-is-it-really-unused-or-broken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/21\/a-reader-asks-i-thought-an-old-external-drive-was-full-but-it-shows-up-as-empty-and-needing-format-when-i-plug-it-in-is-it-really-unused-or-broken\/","title":{"rendered":"A reader asks: “I thought an old external drive was full, but it shows up as empty and needing format when I plug it in. Is it really unused, or broken?”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Badly scrambled, is my guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An error during shutdown, or storage, or reboot, may have damaged the disk’s MBR<\/a> or Boot Sector<\/a> or GUID table<\/a> (depending on how the disk was set up). If there were files on the disk, they’re still there, but the OS can’t see or access them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hard drives in long-term, unused storage may suffer damage if knocked, dropped, placed beneath heavy objects, or subject to temperature extremes or strong external magnetic fields. Long-unused drives may suffer stiction<\/a>, sluggish or restricted movement of mechanical parts, or other physical issues, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you need the files on the old drive, don’t do anything else with it — don’t keep trying to write files to it. Instead, use a partition recovery tool<\/a> to see if you can repair the damage, and restore access to the missing files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you don’t need the old files on the drive, just go ahead and repartition\/reformat it to return it to service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But note: The drive already has suffered one serious failure, so don’t trust it with anything essential or irreplaceable! Entropy is a one-way street, and once a mechanical drive starts to go bad, it never, ever truly gets better; even if you can reformat it and return it to service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a drive has suffered a serious failure once, it will surely fail again, and probably sooner rather than later. Don’t trust it with vital files!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Permalink: https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=1697<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Want to ask Fred a question? Have a comment? Click here!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want free notification of new content like this? Click here<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Badly scrambled, is my guess. An error during shutdown, or storage, or reboot, may have damaged the disk’s MBR or Boot Sector or GUID table (depending on how the disk was set up). If there were files on the disk, they’re still there, but the OS can’t see or access them. Hard drives in long-term,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"A reader asks: \"I thought an old external drive was full, but it shows up as empty and needing reformat. Is it really unused, or broken?\"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-science-and-tech"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-rn","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1329,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/13\/a-reader-asks-my-pc-has-an-ssd-and-hdd-installed-will-adding-an-old-slow-hdd-make-my-whole-pc-slow\/","url_meta":{"origin":1697,"position":0},"title":"A reader asks: My PC has an SSD; will adding an old, slow HDD make my whole PC slow?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-12-13","format":false,"excerpt":"Nope --- not if you're smart about how you set it up! Older, slower drives are great for medium-to-long-term data storage --- files that you want to have handy and accessible, but that are not in constant use. Think of things like music, photo, or video collections; backup copies; system\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1969,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/11\/a-reader-asks-does-it-still-make-sense-to-buy-external-hard-drives-in-the-cloud-era\/","url_meta":{"origin":1697,"position":1},"title":"A reader asks: “Does it still make sense to buy external hard drives in the cloud era?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-02-11","format":false,"excerpt":"Reader Simone Paciaroni*\u00a0asks: \"Does it still make sense to buy external hard drives in the cloud era?\" I think so, yes. But not instead of cloud storage --- with cloud storage. Local storage gives you immediate access to everything, regardless of the size or number of files you're accessing. When\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1204,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/30\/a-reader-asks-how-do-i-recover-data-from-an-undetectable-external-hard-drive\/","url_meta":{"origin":1697,"position":2},"title":"A reader asks: How do I recover data from an undetectable external hard drive?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-11-30","format":false,"excerpt":"Q: \"How do I recover data from an undetectable Seagate external hard drive? Is it possible through some software, or is it advisable to get it done through professionals?\" (via Quora) A: It depends on what you mean by \"undetectable.\" For example, there's physical\/electrical undetectability; and undetectability due to logical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2579,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/12\/a-reader-asks-why-is-there-a-need-for-separate-ram-and-hard-drives\/","url_meta":{"origin":1697,"position":3},"title":"A reader asks: “Why is there a need for separate RAM and hard drives?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-04-12","format":false,"excerpt":"Speaking very generally: RAM is very fast, temporary data storage used only while the device is powered on. The data in RAM goes away when you turn off the device. 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