Windows 7 CHKDSK is frustrating

[Cryptic]

Whats up guys,

since I wasn't able to copy files off of my external drive anymore, I decided to run chkdsk which hopefully will fix the problem. It has been running since 11 hours now and is still at stage 1 and 0 % which is frustrating especially, after a quick calculation, that it will be running for another NINE days to complete stage 1. I know that this means the external drive has ALOT of issues, but I can stop the process without making it worse than it it? I was able to copy some of the files over using freefilesync, but some files are not able to be copied. Would it make sense to copy as much as possible, delete those already copied files, so that the files that I can not copy would remain and then run chkdsk? Would that be faster, since it has less data on it?

 

[Neemobeer]

You can cancel the chkdsk without doing any damage. Chkdsk will take longer the more data that is present and the size of the drive. It also depends which switches you used. chkdsk /r /f will generally take the longest but will be more thorough in finding and fixing problems.

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Hi,
If that external drive is over 4 years old; it's probably failing or has failed. Stopping the Chkdsk may not damage it, but you should test that drive using drive diagnostics listed here: Hard Drive Diagnostic Procedure.

If you don't get through the Chkdsk in 24 hrs. you should stop it. Unless you have a hdd larger than 2TB or something. You should know that if you don't have another backup of the stuff on that drive, continuing to run further diagnostics on that drive can reduce your chances of getting data off of it before it completely fails. If you DO have backup of some or all of that data elsewhere, you can continue fooling around with it taking the risk of killing the drive completely or not.

If you DON'T have your data on that drive backed up elsewhere; my recommendation is to SHUT DOWN YOUR COMPUTER; STOP, REMOVE THE DRIVE FROM YOUR COMPUTER, SET IT ASIDE, AND TAKE IT TO YOUR LOCAL REPAIR SHOP FOR PROFESSIONAL DATA RECOVERY!!

I've been doing Data Recovery for 30+ years. This is a warning that could save you from losing everything on that drive!!

Best of luck,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>