Windows 10: Error checking external hard drive stuck at scanning and repairing

It has been stuck for 16 hours. I cannot access the hard drive nor can I run chkdsk. If I am to physically remove the hard drive, how like will I be able to recover the lost data? Or do I just have to wait for even longer?

:)

 

Repair an external hard drive connected to Windows 10

Hello Jeff,

You may try running Disk Error Checking and the CHKDISK tool to help you repair your external hard disk. Both tools are designed to fix errors on your disk. Make sure that you're signed in as administrator before performing
these steps:

Run Disk Error Checking

• Plug in your external hard disk.
• Open File Explorer by pressing the
  Windows keys button + E.
  
• Go to This PC.
• Right-click your external hard disk under Devices and drives.
• Select Properties
• Go to Tools tab.
• Under Error checking, click Check.
• If prompted, click Yes or enter the administrator password.
• Click Scan drive > Repair drive.
• Wait for the process to finish.
• The scanning process may take a while depending on the size of your external hard disk and the specifications of your PC.

Run the CHKDSK tool

• Plug in your external hard disk.
• Click the Start button.
• Type Command Prompt.
• Right-click Command Prompt and then select Run as administrator.
• On the Command Prompt screen, type the command below:
  • chkdsk <drive letter>: /f
• <driver letter> would be the letter assigned to your external hard disk.
  • For example: chkdsk E: /f
• Do take note of the spaces between the command.
• Again, the scanning process duration depends on the size of the external hard disk and your PC's specifications.

Let us know if you need further assistance.

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Scanning and Repairing External Hard Drive stuck for days





I was having problems with transferring my files from my old (and probably dying) external drive to the new drive, so as suggested I tried using "error checking" thing as shown in the attached image. I've heard these scan and repairs could take up to 72
hours and it's been longer. It's been stuck as shown in the attached image since last Thursday, 8/16/2018. I'm not sure if I should just let it continue running at this point because like I said, it's been days and I am really starting to worry.

Not sure how helpful this information will be, but before I started the scan and repair on this drive I was having a lot of issues with it. Like it would randomly freeze or take much longer to read a file than it should. When trying to transfer all my files
it would work fine for about 10 seconds and then the transfer rate drops to zero and it just sits there doing nothing for hours. (left it transferring over night, it was still stuck on the same file when I got up in the morning). Then the worst thing is while
trying to accesses files from the external drive after it's been on for more than a few minutes it actually crashes windows explorer.

I know at this point my hard drive is basically dead, but I am desperately trying to save my files before they disappear completely ;_;

 

How to repair external hard drive that has errors that need repairing

Hello,
I scanned my 2 TB external hard drive and it was found to have errors. The box said errors were found and to close the box and repair them. It doesn't say how to do this. This hard drive registers as Drive N on my PC.

I am trying to copy the files on this drive to a new 2 TB drive I just purchased, so I really appreciate any help anyone can provide.

I am new to Windows 10, and don't know the next step.

Thanks in advance.
JC