HP xw8600 PC with Windows 7 Ultimate and ESET antivirus all up to date.I have 3 hard drives in my computer --- C: is the operating system, --- F: (2Tb) is for data and --- V: (3Tb) for for backup using Symantec System Recovery 2013 R2 The last time I checked there was about 500Gb of free space on the V: drive. Today I had a backup failure. After rebooting I find that the V: drive has lost its format and name. Windows Explorer says that I should reformat. This same thing happen about 6 months ago also.Disk Manager show the V: HD but without any name and 100% free space.I know I can reformat, but I am more interest in what went wrong.The 3Tb drive has been working with no problems making daily backups.Any suggestions?Could it be that I hit the 2.2Tb limit? Disk Manager show it as a 2794.39 Gb.

Whoever made the drive should have diagnostic software available- I would use it to do a full surface scan. I would also probably replace the drive on general principals, as I suspect the drive is failing.

Chris Bryant wrote:Whoever made the drive should have diagnostic software available- I would use it to do a full surface scan. I would also probably replace the drive on general principals, as I suspect the drive is failing.It passes the extended test which I think is a surface scan test. I also ran chkdsk /f which found a few error and fixed them. From my Google search it looks like the disk lost the MBR/partition table.

I think I'd start by REPLCING the "V" driveBut first Reformat as instructed, then download a drive test program (The manufacturer's is generally good) and let it run for a while, Use the deep scan and let it run overnight.. Or longer. Next: One of the issues with some backup programs is they do not check for space on the target (Backup) drive, so if your back up takes say 2 TB and the Target drive has only 3 TB of space, when you do the NEXT back up it runs over, this is because even if you use "Save with replace" it saves THEN deletes the old, and you do not have the room. Hence.. Crash This crash can get into the part of the drive which SHOULD be protected, the part that holds the name and ID. I've seen it happen with smaller drives. Suggest a bigger Backup Drive.

wa8yxm wrote:I think I'd start by REPLACING the "V" drive+1And.....you aren't set to do an ENTIRE mirror image backup every time, are you ?? That is an unnecessary waste of time and space.

Sam Spade wrote:wa8yxm wrote:I think I'd start by REPLACING the "V" drive+1And.....you aren't set to do an ENTIRE mirror image backup every time, are you ?? That is an unnecessary waste of time and space.I do an incremental backup. Each daily backup is only about 5 to 10Mb

Hard Drive Lost Format and Name | Good Sam Community

1492
Moderator
Sep 21, 2016
Your graphic and description is not what you typically see corresponding to an issue with the MBR. More like an issue with hardware controller. The question of whether its the MB or on the drive itself?
1492
Moderator
Sep 21, 2016
TenOC wrote:

Could it be that I hit the 2.2Tb limit? Disk Manager show it as a 2794.39 Gb.

Are you running 32bit version of WIN 7 Ultimate? If that was the case, you'd only see 2T as usable storage. It would ignore the extra space.

You can avoid drive space limitations by installing the HD in an external USB2/3 enclosure that has built-in firmware support for larger drives. Most do nowadays.
TenOC
Nomad
Sep 21, 2016
1492 wrote:
TenOC wrote:

Could it be that I hit the 2.2Tb limit? Disk Manager show it as a 2794.39 Gb.

Are you running 32bit version of WIN 7 Ultimate? If that was the case, you'd only see 2T as usable storage. It would ignore the extra space.

You can avoid drive space limitations by installing the HD in an external USB2/3 enclosure that has built-in firmware support for larger drives. Most do nowadays.

Windows 7 - 64 Ultimate
1492
Moderator
Sep 21, 2016
Does your WIN x64 PC use GPT? Then it can utilize internal SATA drives larger than 2.2TB. The 2.2TB limitation comes in when using the older MBR NTFS standard.

Generally, not an issue either way if using an external USB drive enclosure with firmware support.
TenOC
Nomad
Sep 21, 2016
1492 wrote:
Does your WIN x64 PC use GPT? Then it can utilize internal SATA drives larger than 2.2TB. The 2.2TB limitation comes in when using the older MBR NTFS standard.

Generally, not an issue either way if using an external USB drive enclosure with firmware support.

Yes it is GPT. I have been able to see the full 3Tb of the drive for a long time -- until this happen. In the screen capture photo you can see that Windows Disk Manager shows the full 3Tb as available but not formatted.
1492
Moderator
Sep 22, 2016
That being the case, I would tend to believe its a hardware controller or cable issue. So long as the drive's SMART is not indicating an unusual number or increasing reallocated sector count? In any case, the drive could be on its way to failure.

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