data error cyclic redundancy check

[KillerK144]

Hey everyone, a friend of mine had her HD go bad I say. She told me her computer would only boot up about half way. I told her to get me the HD out of it and I would check to see if I could recover some files for her. I went to office depot and got an IDE to usb cable and hooked everything up but windows 7 was not showing the drive. I went into computer management to see if it was showing up there and it shows Disk 1 - Unknown - Not Initialized. I tried to initialize it but it gave me a data error cyclic redundancy check. Her hard drive is a Western Digital and Im running Windows 7, which I think is what she was running. She had a fairly Dell PC so I think it was 7 she was running. Does anyone have any ideas what im doing wrong or could she have a bad HD? Sorry if I dont have enough info in this post but Ill give anything else thats needed.

Thanks!

[Knightshade]

In simple terms, a CRC (cyclic redundancy check) is bit of mathematics used to ensure that your data is OK when being transfered. It's a checking procedure that quickly identifies when data has been damaged. If you get this message, it means that the file being read by your PC or software is corrupted. However, it does not mean all the data is lost forever. When data is transfered, it is usually in small blocks and each block is given a CRC value. If something goes wrong with the data between the time it leaves the source and arrives at its destination, the CRC sent at the source will no longer match the one that is calculated when the data arrives - this is when the cyclic redundancy check error will appear.
The most common time you will see the cyclic redundancy check error message is when trying to read data from a damaged CD or DVD. Just before it appears, your CD/DVD drive will probably grind and whirl away - your PC may also become a little slugglish.

Less frequent causes are the result of system crashes, and buggy software (hello Microsoft), incomplete downloads (often identified by the misleading message 'This is not a valid Windows file', 'This is not a valid win32 application' or 'Corrupt Zip file'). If this problem happens frequently with downloads, try using a download manager.

You can run checkdisk to clean up the problem, but you will lose all corrupt data.

[KillerK144]

Can I run chkdsk on a drive my computer cant see?

[Knightshade]

hmm that is an interesting problem you could try to run chkdsk in the cmd window but what drive letter would it need ? hold on I will do some more research and get back to you.

ok here's what I found

Spoiler warning:

Have you "lost" a hard drive, partition or files in your computer?
Have you "lost" a hard drive or partition in your computer?



If there is a (hidden) recovery partition on the drive you should start a thread asking for advice before trying TestDisk.

The situation with a "lost" hard drive typically arises after Windows has been reinstalled or when a slave/external drive is moved to another computer.
If the drive/partition shows up in Device Manager and Disk management, but NOT in "My Computer", chances are that it is "only" the partition table that is missing or corrupt.

You can use a freeware program called TestDisk to repair the partition table and get access to your data again.
TestDisk will not change or delete any of your data if you follow the instructions below.

This guide is written for Windows, but you can use TestDisk with Linux and Mac as well.


Try this to repair the partition table:

The newest version of Test-Disk, 6.11 is available here http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download
Download the Windows version of TestDisk.
Unzip the downloaded file to your C: drive.
Open C:\testdisk-6.10\win > double click the "testdisk_win" icon.


The program runs in a command window and doesn't have to be installed.

Each of the steps (A, B, C etc) below corresponds to a new TestDisk window.
Use the keyboard's arrow keys to navigate.




A. At the first window, select “No Log” and press the <Enter> key.




B. Select which drive to analyse, choose “Proceed” and <Enter>.




C. Select partition type – Intel if it’s a PC then <Enter>.




D. Select “Analyse” then <Enter>. The drive will be analysed.



E. Select “Quick Search” at the next screen, then <Enter>.




F. Press “Y” if the partitions were created under Vista – “N” if not.




G. TestDisk should say “Structure OK”. If so, press <Enter>.




H. Select “Write” and press <Enter>.




I. Press “Y” to confirm.




J. Press <Enter>.





Close TestDisk and RESTART the computer.
The drive/partition should now be fixed and your data available again.




================================================== =========================


If you want to run TestDisk from a bootable C
Please download and burn the ISO image of Parted Magic.
Boot the computer with the CD. When Parted Magic has loaded click the arrow next to the Utilities icon and choose TestDisk.

partedmagic2.jpg

[KillerK144]

Lol, ive been doing alot of research and every time I get to where they are answering the problem to my question its like "If your computer does this or shows this then you can do step 2,3,4,5 and 6." But it never says if that doesn't work then do this...

[Inferno.]

I find it hard to believe a computer with an IDE hard drive would ship with Windows 7 on it. Sounds more like it would've been an XP computer?

[KillerK144]

That might be right. I just asked her and she said she bought it in either 06 or 07. So that would put it in the range of XP or Vista. Maybe im using the wrong cable to connect her HD to my laptop? Im not really sure. If I need something else please advise so I can get on the right track to help her. My girlfriend has a dell laptop that is running xp so if I need to connect to another OS I can use hers also.

[Knightshade]

did you ever get this figured out just wondering man.

[KillerK144]

I have not. I don't know really know what else to try besides to tell her to buy a new HD

[Knightshade]

sorry to hear man. I'm out of ideas as well maybe someone else will read this and know what to do.

[KillerK144]

I didn't that you updated one of your earlier posts. Ill have to try TestDisk when I get home and I will update you with what I found.

Thanks

[Knightshade]

no problem man hope it works.