Posted by Brent Murphy on November 26, 2009 at 4:00 PM
So, I have a couple external hard drives for my photos. Both are 500GB Western Digitals. One is my main drive, and one is a poorly-maintained backup.
I tried to open Lightroom today, and it couldn't find my catalog, so I tried to open the drive. The drive appeared in Explorer, and contained all the folders in the root drive, but nothing else. It says every folder is empty. However, in Explorer, it says it is a 465GB drive, and there is 213GB full, so it knows there is something on the drive, but for some reason it just can't see it.
Any suggestions?
Posted by Brent Murphy on November 26, 2009 at 4:10 PM
The plot thickens. A few minutes later, I got this error. This is really annoying.
Sorry to here this. I just had a similar problem while moving files a few days ago. Vista 64 & LR 2.5 They showed in Explorer and then later were not there. Not on either drive.
Some suggestions:
Not an expert opinion here by any means, but here are some things that *might* be related to consider…
(1) Careful. This *may* be due to a corrupt master file table (MFT) on the drive. The files & directories may still exist if they aren’t overwritten. The key is to not use the drive until you can recover the data. Otherwise, the data may be overwritten and be unrecoverable – even by doing something seemingly innocuous like saving a file elsewhere in your drive tree – it may be stored physically in a place that the HDD views as being ‘empty’ or ‘available’ which could be the location of your “missing” data. Consider getting runtime software’s “GetDataBack” to try to recover the drive (www.runtime.org). We’re in the process of doing a recovery as well from a failed “moving” of files – it’s a time consuming process (depending on the size of your HDD) but given the reward of the data could be well worth the investment in the software ($89 for the NTFS version) & effort. BTW not associated with them but their software has been helpful and they do respond to support emails to help a user through the process.
(2) The error is likely due to the USB connection being disrupted. I sometimes see this on a file box we have that links to several USB drives. Nothing is wrong with the drives, just a glitch in the communication to/from them.
We are doing a drive image of the original drive so I can use it and then recovering from the imaged drive.
Hopefully things are as simple as checking your USB connection and snugging it up, but if you’re having trouble seeing the drive data even after reboot, you may want to invest in the software & get a drive to do the data recovery to.
Best of luck
Richard
Posted by Bob Falcone on November 26, 2009 at 4:59 PM
I had a similar problem where a drive would show up in Explorer, along with the folders, but no contents. It turned out to be a problem with the USB interfaces in the computer. Once I added a second USB card to the PC, the problem went away. Everything was on the drive and nothing was lost.
Before going too crazy, try the drive on another computer and see if it works.
Posted by Jack Garrett on November 26, 2009 at 5:08 PM
Unplug the drive from the PC, reboot and when Windows comes back up, try replugging the device.
Posted by Brent Murphy on November 26, 2009 at 5:57 PM
Wow! This Thanksgiving I am thankful for all the always-helpful RMNPers who apparently would rather be sitting in front of their computer instead of hanging out with their families.
I have my office laptop at home this weekend, so I'll try plugging it in there and seeing what happens. Thanks, and enjoy your turkey.
Posted by Paul DeCesare on November 26, 2009 at 5:59 PM
DON'T do anything else with the drive, so no 1's or 0's get touched. Your data is fine, the MFT is shot. Richard's post above is dead on. The MFT is the drive's index to know where on the disk your files are. When it corrupts, the OS has no clue where your files are, but they are all still there thankfully. The corruption may have happened via the USB cable, but the damage to your MFT is a done deal, so no amount of replugging will help at this point.
Download a copy of GetDataBack like he suggested. I've used it and it works great. It'll mount your drive, you'll see all your files, and you can copy them to a different drive. Then do a full format (not QUICK format) on that external drive and you'll be good to go.
And when you can, upgrade to Windows 7 ASAP. Microsoft has fixed a boatload of issues like that. I've been running 7 since June (I get releases early) and it's stable as can be. I know, more $$ to spend, but this one is worth it.
Posted by Jack Garrett on November 26, 2009 at 6:12 PM
Whoa...The MFT is not always shot!!!! Like I said before, in most cases it is a bad USB connection. Unplug, reboot and plug back in. In almost every case that's all you need to do. If you get the message several times, then you can try plugging in to a different PC. If you get it on a second PC, then and only then should you think the MFT is bad. I've seen this error many times before and it is almost always the connection.
Posted by Jeff Beard on November 26, 2009 at 8:52 PM
Yes, if you can hook it up to another PC try that. If you can still see the drive but not the files do this:
In Windows Explorer you can right-click on the drive and choose "Properties" then click on "Tools". There is a field called "Error Checking" with a button labeled "Check now...". Click that and run the utility. Don't let it fix anything the first time around, just review the report and search Microsoft's knowledge base for the error messages. Google might be helpful too. Or you can post the messages to this thread and I can tell you what I'd do. I might not be available again tonight but I will have some time first thing in the morning if you want my help.
Oh, and don't buy any new software just yet. Windows usually has the tools it needs for fixing things like this.
Posted by Brent Murphy on November 27, 2009 at 9:36 AM
I attempted to run the Windows Error Check on the drive, and immediately a message popped up: "Windows was unable to complete the disk check".
I unplugged, rebooted, and plugged it back in. No dice. I still get the same errors. This time, I actually can see some of the files, but not all of them. Unfortunately, one of folders that is still empty is my "Images" folder, which is really the important one.
Haven't plugged into a different computer yet, that will come later today. But I have plugged into this one with both USB and Firewire, with the same results.
Posted by Rick Dunn on November 27, 2009 at 11:42 AM
Can't help with the troubleshooting, but once you do get things recovered, you might consider online backup. I use Mozy. I have a RAID setup, and duplicate external hard drives, but I like the extra precaution of something not at all connected to my PC, or located in my house in the event of a fire.
Good luck.
Posted by bill meikle on November 27, 2009 at 2:42 PM
with most memory cards there is a small disc of recovery software, I'm not sure if it works on hard drives.
I would also try another computer with a different OS maybe. Different versions of windows...
Posted by Paul DeCesare on November 28, 2009 at 12:10 AM
Jack, I'm leaning towards the MFT being corrupt because Brent said "The drive appeared in Explorer, and contained all the folders in the root drive, but nothing else. It says every folder is empty." Typically that type of sporadic cataloging suggests an ill MFT.
I think the more dangerous thing is for Brent to keep monkeying with getting the drive to mount. Files could be damaged in the attempt. If he gets the utility Richard suggested, he will definitely get the drive mounted and the files all safely copied.
Posted by Jeff Beard on November 28, 2009 at 6:26 PM
I heartily second the off-site back up recommendation. Recently I've been recommending Jungle Disk (www.jungledisk.com) to clients. I've also used Carbonite (www.carbonite.com) in the past however it didn't allow you to backup disks other than the "C" drive. But unlimited capacity for $55 a year isn't a bad deal if it meets your requirements.
Posted by Brent Murphy on December 1, 2009 at 8:01 AM
Thanks for all the advice. After this, I'm definitely going to consider an off-site backup as well.
I moved the hard drive to my work laptop, and it worked for a while. Actually, for a couple minutes. It seems like the drive would connect for a few minutes until the computer got confused and started giving me errors again. Then I would shut off the computer, reboot, and do it again. This worked for a while, and during those few minutes, was able to get a bunch of data off the drive. Eventually, that stopped working.
Fortunately, I work for a company with a decent IT department, and they said they would take a look at it for me. So, hopefully everything is back to normal tomorrow.
Discussion
14 repliesI tried to open Lightroom today, and it couldn't find my catalog, so I tried to open the drive. The drive appeared in Explorer, and contained all the folders in the root drive, but nothing else. It says every folder is empty. However, in Explorer, it says it is a 465GB drive, and there is 213GB full, so it knows there is something on the drive, but for some reason it just can't see it.
Any suggestions?
Some suggestions:
Not an expert opinion here by any means, but here are some things that *might* be related to consider…
(1) Careful. This *may* be due to a corrupt master file table (MFT) on the drive. The files & directories may still exist if they aren’t overwritten. The key is to not use the drive until you can recover the data. Otherwise, the data may be overwritten and be unrecoverable – even by doing something seemingly innocuous like saving a file elsewhere in your drive tree – it may be stored physically in a place that the HDD views as being ‘empty’ or ‘available’ which could be the location of your “missing” data. Consider getting runtime software’s “GetDataBack” to try to recover the drive (www.runtime.org). We’re in the process of doing a recovery as well from a failed “moving” of files – it’s a time consuming process (depending on the size of your HDD) but given the reward of the data could be well worth the investment in the software ($89 for the NTFS version) & effort. BTW not associated with them but their software has been helpful and they do respond to support emails to help a user through the process.
(2) The error is likely due to the USB connection being disrupted. I sometimes see this on a file box we have that links to several USB drives. Nothing is wrong with the drives, just a glitch in the communication to/from them.
We are doing a drive image of the original drive so I can use it and then recovering from the imaged drive.
Hopefully things are as simple as checking your USB connection and snugging it up, but if you’re having trouble seeing the drive data even after reboot, you may want to invest in the software & get a drive to do the data recovery to.
Best of luck
Richard
Before going too crazy, try the drive on another computer and see if it works.
I have my office laptop at home this weekend, so I'll try plugging it in there and seeing what happens. Thanks, and enjoy your turkey.
Download a copy of GetDataBack like he suggested. I've used it and it works great. It'll mount your drive, you'll see all your files, and you can copy them to a different drive. Then do a full format (not QUICK format) on that external drive and you'll be good to go.
And when you can, upgrade to Windows 7 ASAP. Microsoft has fixed a boatload of issues like that. I've been running 7 since June (I get releases early) and it's stable as can be. I know, more $$ to spend, but this one is worth it.
In Windows Explorer you can right-click on the drive and choose "Properties" then click on "Tools". There is a field called "Error Checking" with a button labeled "Check now...". Click that and run the utility. Don't let it fix anything the first time around, just review the report and search Microsoft's knowledge base for the error messages. Google might be helpful too. Or you can post the messages to this thread and I can tell you what I'd do. I might not be available again tonight but I will have some time first thing in the morning if you want my help.
Oh, and don't buy any new software just yet. Windows usually has the tools it needs for fixing things like this.
I unplugged, rebooted, and plugged it back in. No dice. I still get the same errors. This time, I actually can see some of the files, but not all of them. Unfortunately, one of folders that is still empty is my "Images" folder, which is really the important one.
Haven't plugged into a different computer yet, that will come later today. But I have plugged into this one with both USB and Firewire, with the same results.
Good luck.
I would also try another computer with a different OS maybe. Different versions of windows...
I think the more dangerous thing is for Brent to keep monkeying with getting the drive to mount. Files could be damaged in the attempt. If he gets the utility Richard suggested, he will definitely get the drive mounted and the files all safely copied.
I moved the hard drive to my work laptop, and it worked for a while. Actually, for a couple minutes. It seems like the drive would connect for a few minutes until the computer got confused and started giving me errors again. Then I would shut off the computer, reboot, and do it again. This worked for a while, and during those few minutes, was able to get a bunch of data off the drive. Eventually, that stopped working.
Fortunately, I work for a company with a decent IT department, and they said they would take a look at it for me. So, hopefully everything is back to normal tomorrow.