Ex-HDD issue help

**technoallah** · August 14th, 2016, 05:54 PM

Hello,

Hoping to find a tech wizard round these parts that might be able to help! So I was copying some files to an external hdd when suddenly my PC decided to crash, on restarting lo and behold my hdd was now set to write protected. This happened before and I lost the hdd but presently it works and I can see everything, I just can't copy or delete anything from it.

I did the cmd/diskpart solution but it strangely is saying it's not write protected which lead me to think maybe one of the files I was copying was corrupted (there is a file there that looks like it didn't finish copying) but because it's saying it's write protected I can't delete it.

I've removed the hdd for now, it might be easiest to backup to a new hdd but because I can't 'cut' anything, copying will take forever!

Any ideas?

Cheers.

**seany65** · August 15th, 2016, 03:33 AM

Are you able to right-click on the corrupted file and go into it's 'Properties'? If so, maybe you can change it to 'not write protected'.

VintageRC · August 15th, 2016, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by technoallah

Any ideas?

PMed.

**Paraque123** · August 15th, 2016, 03:54 PM

Maybe it's a problem of permissions.
In the explorer right click in the HDD unit -> Properties -> Security
Check your permissions and change them if necessary, you may need administrator privileges.

**technoallah** · August 15th, 2016, 07:30 PM

Hey Paraque,

I tried that but didn't see the security selection which might be because I'm not signed in as admin, I'll give that a shot thanks, I'm going to back it up in any case, just to be safe!

Lemo · August 16th, 2016, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by technoallah

I'm going to back it up in any case, just to be safe!

May be you could make full image of HDD, than mount that image, so OS will recognize it as HDD and then access it as usual or with file recovery software? Something like Acronis True image might help.

In situation, when, because of technical problems, files were visible but access speed was slow, or speed was OK at first, but then was dropping to very low level I was using some another file manager to copy files. Like Total commander. Somehow it copy files in some different and better way, than Explorer do.

Another way might be accessing your files with some deleted files recovery software, like R-Studio. It can recover not only deleted but ordinary files too and it can do so while ignoring files security properties )).
But make a back up first!

Bill derBerg · August 16th, 2016, 02:15 PM

If the drive stopped while you were copying a file it may have a corrupted entry in the File Allocation Table (FAT). By necessity, the OS must lock out the file it is copying and it doesn't update the FAT until the file is copied. If the drive quits during the operation then there will be a mismatch between its entry and its actual location on the drive.

There is a small program called Unlocker which can help remove the OS lock on the file in question. If it turns out the file is corrupted use Unlocker to delete it then recopy so its entry in the FAT and its actual location will match.

August 14th, 2016, 05:54 PM	#1
technoallah Vintage Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 844 Thanks: 5,747 Thanked 89,927 Times in 2,213 Posts	Ex-HDD issue help Hello, Hoping to find a tech wizard round these parts that might be able to help! So I was copying some files to an external hdd when suddenly my PC decided to crash, on restarting lo and behold my hdd was now set to write protected. This happened before and I lost the hdd but presently it works and I can see everything, I just can't copy or delete anything from it. I did the cmd/diskpart solution but it strangely is saying it's not write protected which lead me to think maybe one of the files I was copying was corrupted (there is a file there that looks like it didn't finish copying) but because it's saying it's write protected I can't delete it. I've removed the hdd for now, it might be easiest to backup to a new hdd but because I can't 'cut' anything, copying will take forever! Any ideas? Cheers. __________________ 'Ain't got no woman next to me, I just got this magazine, and what's on the TV screen, but that's okay with me'

August 15th, 2016, 03:33 AM	#2
seany65 Vintage Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 3,652 Thanks: 80,476 Thanked 32,737 Times in 3,528 Posts	Are you able to right-click on the corrupted file and go into it's 'Properties'? If so, maybe you can change it to 'not write protected'. __________________ <-- That's Emer Kenny and I want to be stuck in her front bottom. Quote from electrofreak : I'd rather have questions that can't be answered, than answers that can't be questioned.

August 15th, 2016, 07:30 PM	#5
technoallah Vintage Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 844 Thanks: 5,747 Thanked 89,927 Times in 2,213 Posts	Hey Paraque, I tried that but didn't see the security selection which might be because I'm not signed in as admin, I'll give that a shot thanks, I'm going to back it up in any case, just to be safe! __________________ 'Ain't got no woman next to me, I just got this magazine, and what's on the TV screen, but that's okay with me'

August 15th, 2016, 03:54 PM	#4
Paraque123 Vintage Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 477 Thanks: 1,609 Thanked 12,820 Times in 442 Posts	Maybe it's a problem of permissions. In the explorer right click in the HDD unit -> Properties -> Security Check your permissions and change them if necessary, you may need administrator privileges.

August 16th, 2016, 02:15 PM	#7
Bill derBerg Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: My own little reality. Posts: 1,257 Thanks: 17,648 Thanked 18,325 Times in 1,256 Posts	If the drive stopped while you were copying a file it may have a corrupted entry in the File Allocation Table (FAT). By necessity, the OS must lock out the file it is copying and it doesn't update the FAT until the file is copied. If the drive quits during the operation then there will be a mismatch between its entry and its actual location on the drive. There is a small program called Unlocker which can help remove the OS lock on the file in question. If it turns out the file is corrupted use Unlocker to delete it then recopy so its entry in the FAT and its actual location will match.