Storage drive problem

[badthumb]

I have a Seagate external USB drive on my Dell Inspiron that had been working fine and suddenly, the computer tells me that I must "format" the drive. I've checked "management" and the drive shows up as "Healthy" with a RAW format. I've also had problems with the windows explorer that started at the same time...not sure if they are related...feel like they are. Can anyone help???
badthumb

 

[JMMD]

Anytime a drive shows up as "raw" it's file system/partition info is no longer known to Windows. Could be the drive going bad, could be corrupt MFT or MBR.

I've had a similar issue recently, I used GetDataBack to copy the files off but it's an expensive program.

 

[LookinAround]

Anytime a drive shows up as "raw" it's file system/partition info is no longer known to Windows. Could be the drive going bad, could be corrupt MFT or MBR.

I've had a similar issue recently, I used GetDataBack to copy the files off but it's an expensive program.

@badthumb
JMMD is 100% correct in diagnosing the symptoms of your problem. You might give TestDisk a shot first (it's freeware) as it has helped some for free. $$ tools that i've seen people use are GetDataBack and EASUS Partition Table Doctor (don't know how they compare price wise)


@JMMD
Just curious: Did TestDisk not work for your case? Or did you just decide to use the pay for tools?