weybrew Posted July 13, 2023 Share Posted July 13, 2023 I am attempting to recover the content of a formatted SSD and I get a message saying my target drive is "not ready." I am not a techie and do not understand what has happened and how or if I can fix the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators nukecad Posted July 13, 2023 Moderators Share Posted July 13, 2023 To begin with - it is (almost) impossible to recover deleted files from a SSD. That's simply because of the way that SSDs work. TRIM and Garbage Collect zero out deleted files, (not realy but the effect is similar), so although the filenames may be found the files themselves have probably gone for good. However if the SSD has crashed then it may be possible to recover the undeleted files that were on it. If that is why you had to reformat your SSD then you have a better chance of recovering the files. In either case though you have nothing to lose by trying, other than time. As for 'The target drive is not ready' that is usually an indication that the target drive is a HDD that has 'gone to sleep' ie. stopped spinning because it hasn't been accessed for a while. Simply opening File Explorer and opening the drive should wake it up again. If Recuva still says that the target is not ready after you've woken it up then you will have to scan again - but before you do make sure the target won't go back to sleep again. Presumably your target drive is connected to USB? You can prevent USB connected drives going to sleep, either by changing the Power managment in Windows Settings, or changing the USB behaviour in Device Manager, (or both). There are plenty of articles and instructions on the web about how to do that, so I won't repeat them here. PS. Is your Recuva up to date? There was a 'Patch' update last month, it shouldn't affect the above but it's still good to have the latest version.https://www.ccleaner.com/knowledge/recuva-v1-53-2096 *** Out of Beer Error ->->-> Recovering Memory *** Worried about 'Tracking Files'? Worried about why some files come back after cleaning? See this link:https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/52668-tracking-files/?tab=comments#comment-300043 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weybrew Posted July 13, 2023 Author Share Posted July 13, 2023 Thanks, nukecad, for your reply and suggestions. Yes, it seems the target drive was, in fact, sleeping. When I clicked on it in Windows Explorer it responded and Recuva seems to be working on it now. I also checked to make sure the Power Management setting was not turned on. Thanks again for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weybrew Posted July 14, 2023 Author Share Posted July 14, 2023 While doing a scan of a target SSD, the process froze at Stage 2, 34%. So I tried an uninstall which was not successful. Only when I did a "force uninstall" was I able to remove the program. Now I want to reinstall a new copy but the process freezes yet again and I am unable to complete the install. Can anyone suggest a fix and/or point out my mistake? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weybrew Posted July 15, 2023 Author Share Posted July 15, 2023 I continued attempting to reinstall Recuva and suddenly the install initiated and completed successfully. ??? Even after this, however, I scan and find files available to recover but I am failing to complete. I keep getting the "device not ready" error message. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators nukecad Posted July 15, 2023 Moderators Share Posted July 15, 2023 As this is presumably about the same drive I have merged your 2 threads. The previous comments still stand, but as you seemed to have solved that sleeping drive 'not ready' issue then I'm not sure why you felt the need to reinstall Recuva? *** Out of Beer Error ->->-> Recovering Memory *** Worried about 'Tracking Files'? Worried about why some files come back after cleaning? See this link:https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/52668-tracking-files/?tab=comments#comment-300043 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weybrew Posted July 15, 2023 Author Share Posted July 15, 2023 Yes, nukecad, it is the same problem. That's why I tried to post the updated information. And I'm still stuck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators nukecad Posted July 16, 2023 Moderators Share Posted July 16, 2023 I'm just looking back at the screenshot in your first post and notice that it is drive M: which it is saying is not ready. Also it is the Source drive (the one you want to recover from) and not the Target drive (the one you are putting the recovered files on). How is drive M: connected to the computer?M: is conventionally used to designate a networked drive rather than a drive which is directly connected to the computer. *** Out of Beer Error ->->-> Recovering Memory *** Worried about 'Tracking Files'? Worried about why some files come back after cleaning? See this link:https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/52668-tracking-files/?tab=comments#comment-300043 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weybrew Posted July 16, 2023 Author Share Posted July 16, 2023 The drive is plugged into a powered USB 3.0 hub. I tried reconnecting directly to the CPU but it still wouldn't work. The File Explorer (WIN 10) shows the drive, so I assume that Windows "sees" the drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators nukecad Posted July 17, 2023 Moderators Share Posted July 17, 2023 So to recap, just to make sure we are on the same page: You have a 5 Terabyte external SSD that failed. (EDIT- The drive had not failed, it was one that had been given to the OP). The drive is connected to the computer via a powered USB hub. You have reformatted the SSD, and are now trying to recover the non-deleted video files. (EDIT- The drive is not a SSD). However Recva is repeatedly unable to complete a scan of the SSD. You have changed you settings in Windows to ensure that both the drive and the USB port are not 'going to sleep'. Is all that correct, or have I misunderstood something? Reading back I see that you never actually confirmed that you have reformatted the drive because it crashed. (EDIT- The drive had not crashed) Can you tell us what make/model the drive is? Can you tell us what make/model the USB hub is? *** Out of Beer Error ->->-> Recovering Memory *** Worried about 'Tracking Files'? Worried about why some files come back after cleaning? See this link:https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/52668-tracking-files/?tab=comments#comment-300043 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weybrew Posted July 17, 2023 Author Share Posted July 17, 2023 Not sure why the drive was formatted... it was donated. The drive is a Seagate Backup Plus SRD00F1 (or SRDOOF1) 5TB. The USB 3 hub is an ATOLLA 4slot. But, as I mentioned above, Recuva also balked when the drive was plugged directly into the CPU (HP EliteDesk). I hope this information helps... and thanks for continuing to help me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators nukecad Posted July 17, 2023 Moderators Share Posted July 17, 2023 2 hours ago, weybrew said: Not sure why the drive was formatted... it was donated. 'Donated' is an interesting choice of word, are you a charity and have had the drive given to you? So where these files on the drive when it was 'donated'? Had they been deleted before the drive was 'donated'? In other words - who put those files on the drive? how did they get 'lost'? It could make a difference. I've tried to look up that particular drive, but that designation 'SRD00F1' is not recognised by Seagate, do you have another number, possibly starting with 'STDR'? However I believe that it may be a NAS (Network Attached Storage) backup device, which would explain the M: designation. I also don't think that it is a SSD at all, but it's a spinnning disk HDD. If it is the kind of NAS device that I suspect that it may be then Recuva will not be able to recover from it, PS. A CPU is a computer chip, you can't plug a drive directly into a chip. You have plugged it into a USB port on your computer, the CPU is a chip somewhere inside that computer along with a lot of other chips. I think that we have been being confused by the wrong terminology here since the first post. *** Out of Beer Error ->->-> Recovering Memory *** Worried about 'Tracking Files'? Worried about why some files come back after cleaning? See this link:https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/52668-tracking-files/?tab=comments#comment-300043 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weybrew Posted July 17, 2023 Author Share Posted July 17, 2023 No, I am not a charity. I'm just a retired, senior who has a friend, who has a friend, who passes along equipment he no longer needs or wants. So, I have no idea who did the formatting. This "M" drive just popped up when I first plugged it into my computer. The fellow who passes along the equipment has lots of money and uses it buy the newest, baddest thing when released, so I'm sure he has one or more NAS units. I just assumed I was dealing with an SSD because it looks about the right size... 4 1/2 x 3 x 3/4. And it does run warm. And I just now heard it spinning when I held it to my ear. Sorry for the improper terminology, I'm just trying to cope with 2023 tech. If the drive is as you suspect, is there any reason I cannot use it as an external storage drive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators nukecad Posted July 17, 2023 Moderators Share Posted July 17, 2023 Having done a bit more looking about I now believe that what you have may be one of these, even though the number you gave doesn't match. It does seem to be an older one, so just the sort of thing that someone might replace with something newer and give away.https://www.seagate.com/support/external-hard-drives/portable-hard-drives/backup-plus/ Does it look like that? Not very scientific I know, lots of external drive cases look alike. A more complete check would be to download SeaTools and run it. SeaTools will tell you the exact name and number(s) of the Seagate drive that you have.https://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/seatools/ If it is one of those then it can be used as a regular drive and just connected to the computers USB port (or your USB hub). As there was an issue with trying to use Recuva then I'd suggest that you also use SeaTools to check the drive. (That may take some time on a 5TB drive): TBH though as it appears that the files you are trying to recover are not something that you have lost, but files that had been deleted from the drive before it was given to you, then I'd forget about trying to recover them. For a start if the person who previously owned the drive knows what they are doing then they will have wiped it before passing it on, so all you will get will be the filenames of what used to be there. *** Out of Beer Error ->->-> Recovering Memory *** Worried about 'Tracking Files'? Worried about why some files come back after cleaning? See this link:https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/52668-tracking-files/?tab=comments#comment-300043 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weybrew Posted July 18, 2023 Author Share Posted July 18, 2023 Thanks for your comments and links. I've downloaded the Seagate Tools and it seems to confirm your thoughts about this drive... attached are the specifics. I have resumed my search for a recovery program and have found WinfrGUI which is FREE and with an unlimited data cap. Using it I was able to recover many, many files, all of which seem to be fully functional. Thanks so much for your help to a seemingly successful solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators nukecad Posted July 18, 2023 Moderators Share Posted July 18, 2023 Good to hear that you have identified the drive and have now recovered what you wanted, even though it wasn't with Recuva. As this now seems resolved I will change the title and close the thread. I would still use SeaTools to run a check/fix of the drive if you haven't already. (If you did already run it then that may be why the new recovery was sucessful). For information: WinfrGUI is simply a graphical interface for the Windows File Recovery tool which as standard runs in a command window. Not everyone is comfortable using command windows. (Although you can usually do more in a command window than in a GUI). Both Windows File Recovery and WinfrGUI can be downloaded from the Windows store. *** Out of Beer Error ->->-> Recovering Memory *** Worried about 'Tracking Files'? Worried about why some files come back after cleaning? See this link:https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/52668-tracking-files/?tab=comments#comment-300043 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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