HELP! Toshiba 3Tb hard-drive full of family memories asking to be formated! What do I do?

[lplater01]

Can I format it without losing anything, or get onto it without formating it?
When I try to get onto it, it says 'Parameter Incorrect'. What is this?

 

[USAFRet]

What do you do?

This is when you replace the dead drive, and recover your family photos from your backup.

Is this an internal drive? Or something USB connected?

 

[lplater01]

What do you do?

This is when you replace the dead drive, and recover your family photos from your backup.

Is this an internal drive? Or something USB connected?

USB connected...
This is the hard drive that I use for my backup, I have backed up my computer onto it for about 3 years now...

 

[USAFRet]

What do you do?

This is when you replace the dead drive, and recover your family photos from your backup.

Is this an internal drive? Or something USB connected?

USB connected...
This is the hard drive that I use for my backup, I have backed up my computer onto it for about 3 years now...

Then the family photos still exist on the internal PC drive(s), correct?
Not to harp on the concept, but a backup is a second or third copy, not the only copy.

How to proceed is sensitive.
You could try a different USB cable, different USB port.
If that fails, then possibly take the external enclosure apart and expose the drive. It should expose regular SATA connections.

Here is where it gets tricky...some of these external drives do their own encryption in the enclosure firmware. If this is the case, taking the drive out won't work.

 

[lplater01]

What do you do?

This is when you replace the dead drive, and recover your family photos from your backup.

Is this an internal drive? Or something USB connected?

USB connected...
This is the hard drive that I use for my backup, I have backed up my computer onto it for about 3 years now...

Then the family photos still exist on the internal PC drive(s), correct?
Not to harp on the concept, but a backup is a second or third copy, not the only copy.

How to proceed is sensitive.
You could try a different USB cable, different USB port.
If that fails, then possibly take the external enclosure apart and expose the drive. It should expose regular SATA connections.

Here is where it gets tricky...some of these external drives do their own encryption in the enclosure firmware. If this is the case, taking the drive out won't work.

Is there a way to get onto the drive without formating it?


And what does 'Parameter incorrect' mean exactly?

 

[USAFRet]

Is there a way to get onto the drive without formating it?


And what does 'Parameter incorrect' mean exactly?

1. If you've tried everything I listed above, probably not

2. It would mean that the drive, or the enclosure firmware, or the cable...is giving some signal to the PC that it does not recognize.

 

[lplater01]

Thanks