I have an external harddrive. Whenever I put its USB into the USB port of my laptop, it asks me to format my hard drive. I think this is because of some sort of virus. Can someone please help me to sort out this issue ?? I have very important documents inmy hard drive. Thanks.
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1Sounds more like file system corruption than a virus. Are you still able to mount the drive? If so run a chkdsk /f on it.– SpamwichCommented Mar 12, 2014 at 22:16
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I am able to mount it on macbook but on on my Dell laptop.– kamalbhaiCommented Mar 12, 2014 at 22:18
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2-1 you make a wild assumption straight away in your question it's not like you've seen that viruses ask you or people to format hard drives, you just imagined it completely, that is not how to look at things that aren't working or how to look at things that are working, or how to look at anything.– barlopCommented Mar 12, 2014 at 22:20
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1If the drive works with your macbook I highly recommend you get your very important documents copied off of there.– SpamwichCommented Mar 12, 2014 at 22:24
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The macbook is around 5 years old .. and has very less space .. is there any other way around by which I can rectify this issue on my Dell lappy itself ?– kamalbhaiCommented Mar 12, 2014 at 22:28
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4 Answers
It probably is not malware.
Try repairing the file system disk using chkdsk utility.
Example:
chkdsk d: /f
Note: d is your drive letter.
If the above does not work use a tool to recover important data or try using a Linux distribution to see the files.
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1format? if the other answers are true (which probably are) and he has a valid volume that Windows can't read, you're asking him to lose data? Commented Mar 12, 2014 at 22:26
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should I use the command
chkdsk d: /forchkdsk d: /r? Can you also tell me the difference ? Commented Mar 12, 2014 at 23:02 -
It is not virus that prompts you to format the external hard drive. It's because either Windows is unable to detect the file system on the external hard drive or because your external hard drive is corrupted.
You can use a program such as HFSExplorer to read Mac's file system on Windows. Just Google the software name.
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actually I had this problem in my other hard drive b4 too.. but then I found some
.exefiles in Macbook. I deleted these and then the external HD started working fine as usual on windows too. But this time, I am unable to delete those.exefiles cuz they are broken as told by macbook. So, I think it is definitely because of a virus. Commented Mar 12, 2014 at 22:33 -
and the software you recommended can't load the drive. I am telling you, it is because of a virus. Commented Mar 12, 2014 at 22:37
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If the .exe files are reappearing even after deleting them then either your system or system + external hard disk are infected with viruses. I'd recommend you to perform a through scan of both the things.– user306109Commented Mar 12, 2014 at 22:37
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I tried to scan it in windows using norton, it was unable to scan it. and secondly, do you know how to scan on Macbook ? I tried to verify and repair it, but that also went in vain. It was futile. Commented Mar 12, 2014 at 22:39
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If you know to use Linux then I'd suggest to install ClamWin and scan the entire hard-drive to remove any virus. Or ask for help from one of your tech-savvy friend or call your computer technician. If data is really important to you then I'd recommend you to contact data recovery store.– user306109Commented Mar 12, 2014 at 22:42
Its probably formatted with Mac file system which windows cannot read. And when Windows cannot read a file system, it asks you to format the drive.
If this indeed is the case, you just have to convert drive back to FAT32 or NTFS and I don't quite know how to do that without affecting data.
answered Mar 12, 2014 at 22:19
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I dont think that it is formatted. Windows can detect the hard drive but on asking it to open the Drive.. it prompts me to Format the drive. Commented Mar 12, 2014 at 22:21
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2That's exactly what I am talking about. By formatted, I meant drive uses Mac file system. Easiest way to check is plug it back into Macbook and check file system Commented Mar 12, 2014 at 22:22
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@kamalbhai: Move the data off on your Macbook, plug the thing into your Dell, say yes to format, put test data on there and check if you can read and write to it on the Macbook. Commented Mar 12, 2014 at 22:24
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This has nothing to do with a virus. Simply put, Mac OSX and Windows use different file systems. It is likely that you set the disk up on an OSX system and only now are you attempting to read it from a Windows machine.
Natively, Windows cannot read OSX file systems (typically HFS) or vice-versa (Windows normally uses NTFS). Commonly, they can both read FAT filesystems but this format is unattractive due to limited file sizes. You can, however, use a software called MacDrive to read OSX filesystems on Windows machines. Be warned though, it is not free.
