Category: Hard Drive Troubleshooting

Hard drives are prone to errors due to various reasons such as bad sectors, corruption or virus attacks. If Windows detects such issues, it will automatically try to fix them upon boot.

However, if the problem is severe or if Windows is unable to fix the issue, it may get stuck at processing screen for a long time. You may be displayed an error ‘Repairing disk errors. This might take over an hour to complete’.

This error may keep you from booting into your system normally. No matter how many times you restart, you will be displayed the same message and it may seem like it’s a never-ending process.

This article covers some solutions to resolve the error and help you boot Windows 10 normally.

Solution 1: Automatic Repair using Installation media

You will need a Windows 10 installation media to perform this troubleshooting step. Once you have it ready, follow the steps below.

1. Boot using the installation disk and note down the key to be used to start boot menu. It is usually F12.
2. Restart the computer and keep pressing F12 (or a key according to your system) to start boot menu and change the boot to installation CD/DVD.
3. When you boot your computer again, follow the on-screen instructions to enter the main screen
4. Select Repair your computer > Troubleshooting
5. Click on Advanced Options > Automatic Repair

This will repair any issues and your system should be up and running again. However, if it doesn’t resolve, you can try using System Restore, which is explained in detail in the next solution.

Solution 2: System Restore

System Restore is used to undo the last change you made to the system. Since you are unable to boot into your system, you will need an installation media in this case as well. To move your PC back in time, please follow the steps below.

1. Use the installation disk to boot and note the key to enter boot menu which is usually F12.
2. Restart your system and press F12 till you enter boot menu. Then change to boot from installation CD/DVD
3. Once you are on the main screen, choose to Repair your computer
4. Then select Troubleshoot > Advanced Options
5. From the advanced options menu, select System Restore

Then, you will choose from a list of restore points depending on your situation. This will undo any changes made to your system after the selected point. Doing this should help resolve the issue for you.

If these methods don’t help you resolve the issue, the problem could be more serious. It is recommended that you recover data as soon as possible. Since the drive is inaccessible and you are unable to boot into your system, you may not be able to recover data the usual way.

Data recovery tools are needed in this case. Hi5 Software provides one of the best tools to recover data and partitions from your drives. The tool can also be used with other storage devices such as external hard drives, USB’s as well.

At times there may be problems with storage devices; they may not be recognized or become inaccessible. In that case, refer Windows 10 is not recognizing external hard drive for more details.

If you’re using Windows 10, you may be aware of file history. It is an automatic backup feature to backup files on an external hard drive or USB. Although it is a reliable backup application, you may encounter problems at times.

One of the common errors you may encounter is ‘Reconnect your drive. File History drive was disconnected for too long’. This article describes some solutions to help you resolve the error. But before you begin with other troubleshooting steps, try reconnecting the hard drive first.

Disconnect the hard drive and switch off your system. Then, turn on the system and connect your external hard drive. If the issue still persists, move on to the troubleshooting steps.

Solution 1: Enable file history and start the backup manually

As a first step, reconnect the external hard drive and enable file history. Here, you will have an option to backup manually. To do so,

1. Click on the Start menu and select Settings
2. Go to Update & Security > Backup
3. Click on Add a drive in ‘Backup using File History section’ and select your external hard drive
4. To manually backup, click on More Options and select Backup Now

If this doesn’t help solve your problem, try troubleshooting hardware as explained in the next step.

Solution 2: Troubleshoot hardware

1. Click on Start and type Troubleshooting in the Search bar
2. Click Troubleshooting > Hardware & Sound > Hardware & Devices
3. Follow the instructions in the troubleshooting wizard to complete the process.

This should fix any hardware issues with your external hard drive and help you resolve the issue. If it doesn’t help, run CHKDSK to repair any possible corruption issues explained in the next step.

Solution 3: Run CHKDSK

CHKDSK is a wonderful tool to check file system integrity and resolve corruption issues if any. To run CHKDSK, follow the instructions below.

1. Press Windows key + X and select Command Prompt (Admin)
2. In the command prompt, type ‘CHKDSK <your drive>: /R’

This command will fix file system errors and also mark bad sectors on the drive. Please note that CHKDSK may take long to run depending on the size of the drive. If CHKDSK completes successfully, all your errors will be fixed and this should resolve the issue for you. Proceed to the next step if the issue persists.

Solution 4: Delete File History Configuration Files

This process may delete files on your hard drive, so be sure to backup before you proceed. To delete file history configuration files, follow the instructions.

1. Press Windows + R to open Run
2. Type ‘%LOCALAPPDATA%’ and hit Enter
3. Go to Microsoft\Windows\FileHistory\Configuration

Delete the contents of the Configuration folder and you should be able to use File History again.

Solution 5: Format external hard drive

If none of these methods work, you have no option but to format your hard drive and use File History. Please note that formatting erases all data on the drive, so be sure to back up the drive. Follow these steps to format your drive.

1. Go to My PC and identify your external hard drive
2. Right click on the drive and select Format
3. Check the default options to format and click Start to begin formatting

Once the process is complete, try using File History again and you should be able to create a backup without any issues.

Conclusion: It’s great that you are exploring file history and backup options. You are one step ahead and be prepared for data loss situations. But what if you have lost/accidentally deleted data and you don’t have a backup in place. In these cases, use Hi5 Software to recover permanently deleted files in Windows 10.

Computers have become part of our everyday lives. We rely on it for various reasons. One thing that no one wants to see on their computer screen is an error. An error of any kind. It seldom happens that a system is functioning seamlessly without any errors.

Some users have encountered an error when their computer boots. It is the S.M.A.R.T. error.

S.M.A.R.T.(Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) is an inbuilt algorithm in hard drives or Solid State Drives (SSDs) to discover any bad sectors on the drive and foresee any impending errors.

This is the error message that you see on your screen:

Steps to overcome S.M.A.R.T. Error

1. Stop using your Hard Drive or SSD

Yes. Once you see the S.M.A.R.T Error message on your screen, it implies your drive is on the brink of failure. It can fail at any time and it is imperative for you to backup the data as soon as possible.

Use an external hard drive or a storage device that has more storage space than the drive showing S.M.A.R.T error.

2. Reduce the Disk Temperature

If the disk exceeds certain temperature threshold, SMART error occurs. You have to ensure that the computer has enough ventilation and coolers if any are functional.

3. Use Hard Disk Defragmentation

• Click on This PC.
• Now, right-click on the hard drive having the SMART error.
• Select Properties -> Tools -> Optimize. Now click Optimize and defragment drive.

4. Scan for bad sectors

• Right-click on your hard drive.
• Click Properties.
• Select Tools -> Check Now.
• Make sure check box next to Automatically Fix File System Errors is checked.
• Now check the checkbox next to Scan for and Attempt Recovery of Bad Sectors.
• Click OK.

Now reboot your system.

Recover Data using Hi5 Partition Recovery Software

You can safely recover all the hard drive or SSD data before it fails completely, using Hi5 Partition Recovery software.

• Connect your hard drive that shows SMART Error to your system.
• Download and install the latest version of Hi5 Partition Recovery software.
• On the home screen, click on Partition Recovery.
• Select the drive that is showing the SMART Error and click Next.
• The software now scans the entire drive thoroughly and retrieves your data.
• You can view all the recovered data through Preview
• Now, click on Save to save all the recovered data to a destination folder of your choice.

The software has an extremely simple user interface and can easily recover data from formatted ssd drive as well.

NOTE: Always have a backup of your data. Never let your hard drive fail completely leading to complete loss of data.

Your SSD’s may be more durable and faster than traditional HDD’s. But that does not mean they are exempt from corruption and data loss. All storage devices at some point or another face such issues.

Read through this article to learn about troubleshooting steps when faced with corrupt drives on your Mac. The first method to repair is through Disk Utility. But before we dive into such system-level procedures, it is always a good idea to have a backup of your drive.

Solution 1: Through Disk Utility

Disk Utility offers a First Aid feature to repair directory structure issues in Mac HFS or HFS+ volumes. It is a straightforward process that involves a few steps described below.

1. Power on your Mac and when you hear the start-up chime, press Command + R
2. In the utility menu, select Disk Utility
3. Select the drive to repair
4. Click on First Aid to repair the disk

If Disk Utility reports that the disk is Ok, you’re finished here. If it reports any error messages, you’ll need to examine the message further.

If you get a message ‘The disk cannot be repaired’ or ‘The disk is about to fail’, Disk Utility cannot repair your disk. Proceed to the next troubleshooting step.

Solution 2: Run fsck

Fsck is short for file system consistency check. It is a tool to check the consistency of file systems. This command has to be run in a command line interface, so it may be a little intimidating at first. But it’s not as hard as it may seem, just entering some commands will do the work.

1. Power on Mac and hold down Command + S to enter single user mode
2. Here, you will see a black background with white text.
3. Type fsck –fy
4. Once fsck completes, you will be shown a status report. Run it multiple times until you see a message ‘The volume () appears to be Ok’.

If fsck is successful, reboot your Mac and go to Disk Utility to see the drive’s health. If things are fine, great! If fsck fails continuously and Disk Utility also does not work, it is recommended you backup and format your drive.

How to access data from corrupt drives?

In order to access and backup data from corrupt HFS drives, you will need to make use of specialized and reliable third-party tools. One such tool is the partition recovery tool by Hi 5 Software.

It uses advanced recovery algorithms to scan and recover data from corrupt drives. It can also be used to recover data from formatted and RAW hard drives.

All Mac OS versions starting from OS 10.5 are supported. The software has the capability to work with all file systems such as HFS, HFS+, FATt32, FAT16 etc.

In addition to recovering files from your system, it also has a unique feature to recover files from other storage devices such as USBs and external hard drives. Not just SSD’s, it also supports SATA, SCSI etc.

It supports all Mac devices such as Mac Book Pro, Mac Book Air, Mac Pro, etc. Refer recover data from MacBook Pro hard drive for complete detail on the process.

Simple Steps to recover data from corrupt drives

Perform a few simple steps to recover data from corrupt HFS volumes. Just download the software, run the tool and follow the steps below.

1. In the first screen, select Recover volumes/drives
2. Then click on Volume Recovery
3. Select the drive to recovery volumes and then select volumes to recover. If you don’t find the required volumes, use ‘Scan for volumes’ to show all volumes
4. Choose a scanning method and allow the software to complete scanning process
5. Recovered files are displayed
6. You can select the ones you need and save them

Sometimes, when you try to open a file, you may receive an error ‘Windows cannot access the specified device, path or file’. This issue occurs due to one of the following reasons.

• When you do not have appropriate permissions
• The file or shortcut is corrupt
• The file may be blocked
• The file is not accessible; it could be present on an external hard drive not connected to PC or a network location
• Antivirus is blocking the file

How to resolve the issue?

In order to resolve the issue, try the troubleshooting steps below:

1. Verify the permissions of the file/folder

To check the permissions of the file,

• Right-click on the file/folder and select Properties
• Select Security
• Click on your name under Group/User names to see the permissions you have.
• Click on Edit and check the boxes for permissions you need and then click ok.

Now try opening the file/folder. If it is still inaccessible, proceed to the next step.

2. Check the location of the file

The file may reside on a network server or on an external hard drive that is not connected to the system. Check the path of the file and make sure that the location is accessible. To do so, right click on the file and select the Shortcut tab. Now, in the Target section, check the location.

3. Check if the shortcut is corrupted

You may receive this error if the shortcut to the file is corrupt. You can recreate the shortcut to resolve the issue.

4. Unblock the file

Your file may be blocked by Windows. To verify, you can check the Properties of the file. Windows may have blocked the file if it came from another computer. To unblock the file,

• Right-click on the file and select Properties
• In the General tab, select Unblock if available

5. Check if antivirus is blocking your file

You can disable your antivirus and try opening the file. As soon as you are done, re-enable the antivirus immediately. It can be dangerous if you’re connected to the internet without antivirus enabled.

6. Check if the file has not been moved or deleted

You can receive this error if the file has been moved or deleted. Go to the location of the file to verify that the file is in the same location.

If it has been deleted, check the Recycle bin folder. Just restore it back if you find it here. If you don’t find it in the recycle bin, it may be permanently deleted.

About Hi5 Software

If the file is important to you and you wish to recover it, there are data recovery tools available for this purpose.  Hi5 software provides a file recovery solution to recover deleted files and folders from your system. It works in case of accidental deletion or even Shift-Delete operation. It can also recover large files that bypass recycle bin after deletion.

The tool scans your drive sector by sector to identify and recover files based on unique signatures. Your original data is not altered during recovery process as the software works on read-only mechanism.

In addition to recovering files from your system, it can also recover files from external hard drives, USB’s and memory cards etc. How to recover deleted folder from external hard drive provides a complete idea of the recovery process.

Steps to recover deleted files and folders using Hi5 Software

It is a simple to use tool with user-friendly interface. Your deleted files and folders can be recovered in a few simple steps.

Step 1: Download Hi5 Software on your system and run the application

Step 2: Select Recover Files from the main screen

Step 3: Then select Deleted File Recovery in the next step

Step 4: The software displays a list of all drives. Select the drive from which you’d like to recover files

Step 5: Once you click Scan, the software scans the drive and displays a list of recovered files

Step 6: You can preview them and save to the desired location.

Consider a situation where your Mac is running slow and you’re trying to troubleshoot. Then, you figure there may be a problem with your hard drive and run Disk Repair. Upon running Disk Repair, you get an error ‘Invalid Catalog Record Type’. This article helps you recover data from the drive and fix this error.

About Error: Invalid Catalog Record Type

This is a less common error that indicates corruption in your Mac hard drive. To explain further, Mac OS is divided into different volumes, similar to other OS’s. Each volume contains 4 items: files, file threads, directories and directory threads. The Mac OS keeps a record to define these items and these records are called catalog files. Any corruption in these files leads to the error ‘Invalid Catalog Record Type’. To fix this error, you will need to backup data first and then reformat your drive.

How to recover data from Mac?

In order to backup data, professional data recovery tools are required to recover inaccessible data. Hi5 Mac Data Recovery software is specifically designed for this purpose. It uses robust scanning algorithms and scans your drive sector by sector to retrieve data. The software uses a read-only mechanism, so your original files are not altered during the recovery process.

The software can also be used to recover data from formatted Mac volumes. It can also be used to recover data from corrupt, inaccessible and RAW drives. It can also be used to recover files deleted from boot camp. The article how to restore boot camp partition explains the process in detail.

Compatibility of Hi5 Software for Mac

• The software supports all file systems such as HFS, HFS+ file systems.
• Supports all versions of Mac OS including the latest High Sierra
• Supports all Mac devices such as MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac Mini etc.
• In addition to recovering data from your internal drives, the software also supports external hard drives, USB’s, etc.

Steps to recover data from Mac

Hi5 software is easy to use and efficient software for data recovery. Data can be recovered in a few simple steps.

1. Connect the drive which shows ‘Invalid catalog record type’ to a healthy Mac
2. Then download Hi5 Data recovery software on to the healthy Mac machine and install the software
3. Run the software and select Recover Volumes/Drives
4. Then click on Volumes Recovery
5. Select the corrupt the hard drive from the list of available drives
6. Choose a scanning option. The standard scan is a quick scan and used for most data loss scenarios. The advanced option can be used if the Standard scan does not recover your data.
7. A list of recovered files are displayed once scanning is complete
8. You can preview the files and save them to the desired location

Now that you have recovered files from the hard drive, you can reformat it for further use. However, it can be hard to trust a hard drive completely after you receive such error messages. Hence, it is always a good idea to have a backup of all data if you decide to use the hard drive further.

It really is annoying when your external hard drive doesn’t get recognized after unplugging. Abruptly ejecting the drive without following proper steps can result in such problems. Sometimes, even if the external hard drive gets detected by the system, it would still ask you to format the drive before using it. So you need to fix the problem to make the external disk recognizable and also access its contents.

Let’s see how to fix this issue:

Method 1: Change USB Port:

Try connecting the external hard drive to another USB port, and see if it works fine. Or else, connect the external disk to another computer to see if the issue is with the computer. If the problem persists, then move on to the next method.

Method 2: Change the drive letter:

The first thing to do is to check if the drive is listed in Disk Management or Device Manager.

• To check if the external hard drive is listed in Disk Management, go to Start – Run – type msc¸and hit  Enter
• To check if the drive is listed in Device Manager: go to Start – Run – type msc and hit Enter

So if the drive is present, then you just need to make it detectable on your computer. Follow this guide to make the drive recognizable on the system.

Step 1: In Disk Management, right-click on the external hard drive (displayed as “unallocated” state), and select “Change Drive Letter and Paths” option

Step 2: Now change the drive letter for this external hard drive, and click OK to save the change

Method 3: Update drivers

• In This PC, click on Manage. In the Computer Management window, select Device Manager and go to Universal Serial Bus controllers option
• Now locate and right-click on the external hard drive. Select Update Driver Software
• Next select Search automatically for updated driver software and Windows will help you in updating the latest drivers automatically.

So once the external hard drive is detecting on the system, you need to recover data from it. You can use this Partition Recovery tool to get back files. It will retrieve files in just a short while. The software helps to recover data from iOmega external hard drive when it is not recognized, Western Digital drive after format, Seagate drive after corruption, and other such data loss situations.

Problem with mounting HFS+ drives and got the invalid secondary volume header error? Well! there are numerous reasons why you are getting invalid secondary volume header error. Some of them are listed below:

• File system corruption
• Virus infection
• Hard drive failure
• Bad sectors on the hard drive

And many more. In such situation, first, you need to take care of data stored on your HFS+ drive. Because invalid secondary volume header error fixing process may lead you to data loss. Once you get back your data from error showing HFS+ drive, you can easily fix the issue.

Phase 1: Recovering Data from HFS+ Drives

You need to make use of an advanced and reliable Mac data recovery software to get back data from an inaccessible HFS+ drive. I will suggest Hi5 Software Partition Recovery for Mac. It is a perfect tool to get back data from HFS+ drive as it is built with advanced algorithms. It scans the entire HFS+ partition and locates data. Here is the guide for recovering data from HFS+ drive using Hi5 Software Partition Recovery for Mac.

• Download, install and run the tool
• Select Partition Recovery option
• Then, select the drive/partition
• The software scans and displays the files
• Select the required files and save them in any location

After getting all the data from HFS+ drive, you can fix it for further use. Moreover, the tool will also help you to restore data from deleted volume formatted with any file system including FAT.

Phase 2: Fixing HFS+ Invalid Secondary Volume Header Error

Method #1: Reformat Hard Drive

The main reason for HFS+ secondary volume header error is file system corruption. Hence, reformatting the drive/volume will help you in fixing the issue.

• Open Disk Utility and select the drive which has to be formatted from the left pane
• Select Erase option to format the selected drive
• Next, give the name to drive and then hit Security Options
• In the next window, you will find a slider ranging from Fastest to Most Secure. Where Fastest erases header information, but it will keep files intact, but in a hidden state. Whereas Most Secure will overwrite the entire drive once.
• After selecting the appropriate option, click on Erase and wait until the process gets completed

After reformatting the partition/drive successfully, copy all restored data back to HFS+ drive.

Method #2: Run First Aid

The second method which might help you to get rid of this error is First Aid option. Go to disk utility and run First Aid. It will scan and fix error on your drive.

Your Western Digital hard drive suddenly stopped working. It was working fine all the while, but suddenly it has started having issues. But when the drive is connected with USB cable, the flashlight continuously blinks. Even using another USB cable didn’t help. So how to make Western Digital hard drive show up and work like before?

First of all, stop worrying. It is possible to fix this issue. So when WD external drive is not being detectable on your computer, but it is on, then here are the fixes that you can try out to resolve the issue:

Check USB cable / port

If Western Digital external hard drive is not being detected/fails to show up on PC, then connect it to another USB port, and see if it works. Or else use another new USB cable to connect the WD drive and see whether it shows up on your computer.

Clean virus or malware

If your Western Digital external hard drive is infected by virus/malware, then you need to immediately clean the device. When the external drive is infected by virus or malware, you may not be able to access data or even open the drive when connected to PC. If the PC is infected, then clean it too, as when an external drive is connected to it, there are chances of the drive getting corrupted.

Change Drive letter

• Go to This PC – Right click and select Manage 
• In the Computer Management window, go to Disk Management and right-click WD external hard drive
• Select Change Drive Letter and Paths. option
• Assign a new driver letter to the Western Digital hard drive and save all changes
• You should now be able to see the WD external hard drive on your system

After fixing the issue, and making Western Digital drive recognizable on your computer, you need to recover data. This can be done safely with the help of Hi5 Partition Recovery software. This tool will recover data from Western Digital drive in a quick and easy manner. Even if you had formatted WD external drive and files were erased, you can recover them with the help of this software.