Acer D110 1TB ex HD gone HELP !

[jandajoy]

I bought this a couple of weeks ago and it's worked perfectly.

This morning for no known reason, when I click on the desktop icon it gives me this;



The Acer suite thing says the 500+ GB of Data is still there.

How the hell do I get to it.

[Fondles]

Desktop Icon, as in a shortcut to the HDD ??

go to my computer, can you see it there, if yes then click on it, you should have access.

[jandajoy]

Desktop Icon, as in a shortcut to the HDD ??

Yes.

go to my computer, can you see it there, if yes then click on it, you should have access.

Yes, I can see the I drive but I still get the shit as in picture above.

[jandajoy]

Incidentally, I've tried it on my laptop and got the same result.

[Butterfly]

nasty virus ? directory map destroyed ? can you actually open the files in the drive ? not clear as usual.

[harrybarracuda]

Could well be a virus.

You don't say what OS so I assume XP.

Open My Computer, Right-click the drive and run the error check (I think it's there in XP, to be honest I haven't used it since the Vista Beta came out). Deselect the option to automatically fix errors - you just want to see what it reports in the first instance.

[harrybarracuda]

Incidentally, I've tried it on my laptop and got the same result.

Do I assume from this you have two computers exhibiting exactly the same behaviour?

Almost certainly a virus.

If you can, get on t'internet and google "Free Online Virus Scanner".

[jandajoy]

can you actually open the files in the drive ?

nope

not clear as usual.

Don't be grumpy.

[jandajoy]

Could well be a virus.

bugger

You don't say what OS so I assume XP.

Yes.

Open My Computer, Right-click the drive and run the error check (I think it's there in XP, to be honest I haven't used it since the Vista Beta came out). Deselect the option to automatically fix errors - you just want to see what it reports in the first instance.

Done - nothing.

[Butterfly]

directory or partition map gone,

have you used Linux before ?

there is a nice system to restore the partition map

[jandajoy]

have you used Linux before ?

Nope.

[harrybarracuda]

Ah, I think I've just deciphered your code. This is an external drive. USB connected, I presume?

Do you know how to open a command prompt?

Navigate to the drive?

Do a DIR command?

This will help establish how badly mauled it is.

It still may be recoverable so don't try anything drastic yet.

Oh, while you're at it, run a CHKDSK as well.

[Butterfly]

have you used Linux before ?

Nope.

then your drive is lost,

time to go see Somchai the local computer guru to have it format

or you could read a book and learn how to use a computer

[harrybarracuda]

I wouldn't go that far, Butters. If the MFT and all that directory information is corrupted, you may still be able to restore from the backup copy stored on the disk. Haven't done it for a long time, mind you, that was back in the day.

JJ is the drive FAT or NTFS?

[Butterfly]

JJ is the drive FAT or NTFS?

dude !!!

[harrybarracuda]

JJ is the drive FAT or NTFS?

dude !!!

Come on, I'm a bit hungover today. What am I missing?

[jandajoy]

Ah, I think I've just deciphered your code. This is an external drive. USB connected, I presume?

Yes, indeed.

Oh, while you're at it, run a CHKDSK as well.

done that.

[jandajoy]

JJ is the drive FAT or NTFS?

FAT Harry, and thanks for your interest.

[Butterfly]

JJ is the drive FAT or NTFS?

FAT Harry, and thanks for your interest.

first, try to find which virus fucked you over,

did you receive any suspicious emails or forum PMs containing porn links ?

[harrybarracuda]

Remarkably, Butters does have a point. Let's first make sure you have up-to-date antivirus on both of your PCs, then when they're updated Scan the drive (but DON'T correct any of the problems just yet).

Let's see if it finds anything, and if it does, then we can look and see if we can establish what sort of damage it might do.

[keda]

Not a clue to the tech bits of your ploplem JJ, but in the past when a drive couldn't be accessed with explorer I ran treesize pro and everything was there; then copied what I needed to another drive before formatting the cranky one.

Just a thought if you have treesize or another file manager.

[Butterfly]

Remarkably, Butters does have a point. Let's first make sure you have up-to-date antivirus on both of your PCs, then when they're updated Scan the drive (but DON'T correct any of the problems just yet).

Let's see if it finds anything, and if it does, then we can look and see if we can establish what sort of damage it might do.

he probably doesn't have Anti-Virus software, or some old stupid ones like Norton

[jandajoy]

Harry,

Have up to date antivirus.

Have run it.

Have also run Norton Power Eraser.

Updated AntiMaleware, run.

Updated Avira, run.

Nothing found.

[jandajoy]

Just a thought if you have treesize or another file manager.

Treesize!

Never heard of that. Thanks for the input.

[jandajoy]

Harry,

point to note, the the two machines are not connected in any way.

As in lap top is on the ironing board and the PC is on my desk.