HDD Transfer Problem

August 5, 2016

I recently purchased a hard drive enclosure for IDE/SATA drives, so that I may transfer files in the future without tearing open my case. I have an older HDD from '08, SATA interface, that refuses to allow me to transfer files efficiently. Once enabled the drive is easily navigated and opened and there doesn't seem to be any issue; the second I start copying stuff to my desktop, the drive constantly disappears and reappears, making the transfer a complete pain. Would this be an issue with the drive, my enclosure or my rig? I'm running Windows 10 and the OS on the drive is Windows XP if that helps anyone. And yes the drive was working fine in the older PC, but that PC no longer exists due to a temper tantrum.

Thanks for any insight!

PS - If all else fails I'll attach directly to my motherboard, but again I'm trying to avoid it if I can.

Electronics Wizardy · August 5, 2016

Try using a sata port on your motherboard.

If its the same problem, you have a dead drive and should use a program like ddrescue to get the data from it.

paddy-stone · August 5, 2016

13 minutes ago, Stylized_Violence said:

I'm running Windows 10 and the OS on the drive is Windows XP

???

The only sense I can make from that is thta you are currently running windows 10, but the drive was maybe formatted using windows XP? or the drive itself that's in the enclosure came from a winxp computer as it's boot drive?

I shall assume the latter... OK, first make sure that you have the computer you're running fully booted up BEFORE inserting the USB drive... sometimes it can cause problems. Next, unless you need files off the drive reformat the drive to get rid of the possible boot problems in future. If after doing those 2 things you're still having problems with the drive, I suggest trying a different USB port, preferably one directly connected to the motherboard rather than a case USB port, you can sometimes get conflicting controllers that will cause problems.

I am almsot sure that this will be some kind of controller/driver problem. I have experienced quite a few in the past myself and doing the above will usually rectify the problem if it can be rectified at all. If it still doesn't work, then it could be due to a faulty enclosure/drive, so put a different drive in the enclosure and try again to troubleshoot that part, if the different drive works fine, then it looks like it's the drive that's the problem... if there's still problems and you've covered the points I made above again, then it could very well be the enclosure that's the problem. Ask a friedn to try it on their PC or try it on another device if you have one handy.

August 5, 2016

Just now, paddy-stone said:

???

The only sense I can make from that is thta you are currently running windows 10, but the drive was maybe formatted using windows XP? or the drive itself that's in the enclosure came from a winxp computer as it's boot drive?

I shall assume the latter... OK, first make sure that you have the computer you're running fully booted up BEFORE inserting the USB drive... sometimes it can cause problems. Next, unless you need files off the drive reformat the drive to get rid of the possible boot problems in future. If after doing those 2 things you're still having problems with the drive, I suggest trying a different USB port, preferably one directly connected to the motherboard rather than a case USB port, you can sometimes get conflicting controllers that will cause problems.

I am almsot sure that this will be some kind of controller/driver problem. I have experienced quite a few in the past myself and doing the above will usually rectify the problem if it can be rectified at all. If it still doesn't work, then it could be due to a faulty enclosure/drive, so put a different drive in the enclosure and try again to troubleshoot that part, if the different drive works fine, then it looks like it's the drive that's the problem... if there's still problems and you've covered the points I made above again, then it could very well be the enclosure that's the problem. Ask a friedn to try it on their PC or try it on another device if you have one handy.

Sorry, that could have been worded better on my part. I was trying to say that my personal rig has Windows 10 on it, and the drive that I am recovering files from has Windows XP on it. I built it for my mom back in 2008, and since the rest of the system has become trash, it's been entrusted to me to remove her personal files from the drive. My whole issue stems from the fact that when I attempt to transfer files, the drive vanishes from detection and reappears, stating there are issues with the drive. Scanning isn't possible since, when a scan is initiated, the drive vanishes again. So basically anytime the drive moves it spazzes out. That's my issue.

I attempted to plug in directly to my mobo with the same issue. A different USB port was also attempted. I've come to the conclusion that the drive is in a failing state...it did last me almost ten years, so can't really complain. My hope with this post was that I was overlooking something that was simple, and that a more experienced person could sniff it out. But when a drive is on its last leg, not much you can do. I appreciate the effort though, you as well @Electronics Wizardy, but I think I'll end up trashing the drive.

paddy-stone · August 6, 2016

12 hours ago, Stylized_Violence said:

Sorry, that could have been worded better on my part. I was trying to say that my personal rig has Windows 10 on it, and the drive that I am recovering files from has Windows XP on it. I built it for my mom back in 2008, and since the rest of the system has become trash, it's been entrusted to me to remove her personal files from the drive. My whole issue stems from the fact that when I attempt to transfer files, the drive vanishes from detection and reappears, stating there are issues with the drive. Scanning isn't possible since, when a scan is initiated, the drive vanishes again. So basically anytime the drive moves it spazzes out. That's my issue.

I attempted to plug in directly to my mobo with the same issue. A different USB port was also attempted. I've come to the conclusion that the drive is in a failing state...it did last me almost ten years, so can't really complain. My hope with this post was that I was overlooking something that was simple, and that a more experienced person could sniff it out. But when a drive is on its last leg, not much you can do. I appreciate the effort though, you as well @Electronics Wizardy, but I think I'll end up trashing the drive.

Yeah, unfortunately it does appear that the drive might be failing, especially if it still behaves the same when connected directly to a SATA port. If they only do that with USB connection though I have known it to be the controller at fault, and have recovered drives simply by pulling the drive from the USB enclosure and connecting to SATA.