inpage error Hard Disk problem

[menelik seth]

I have an external Hard Disk (WD2500JB WD Caviar SE) its about 200GB.

THE PROBLEM:

1. When I connect it via the USB2.0 cable, the computer registers it (the safely remove hardware icon pops up on the taskbar).

2. The drive letter appears in My Computer (G:\) but it appears empty (Free space is max capacity).

3. I cannot access the disk, and the My Computer locks up if I try to right click on the icon to select properties. If I try to access it in any way I get the error message "Error performing inpage operation".

3. When I go to Disk Management (Via Administrative Tools > Computer Management), I see the drive letter, and the Disk Status is "Healthy" but the "File System" column is blank.

My father told me he was using the disk to save some files, and all of a sudden he couldn't access it. I'm hoping there is some way to recover the files because all his work is backed up on this disk and it would be terrible if he lost everything.

I'm currently downloading both Trinity Rescue Kit and Knoppix Linux and I'm hoping one of them will work >_<

Any idea what this error message "Error performing inpage operation" means, and are there any straightforward and free ways to solve it?

My OS is Windows XP, my dad's PC is SP1 and mine is SP2; the problem started on his PC, he's not very computer savvy so anything could have happened really... he's not quick to admit to his boneheaded moves >_>

[menelik seth]

Thankfully the problem is solved. Here's what I did:

1. I downloaded and installed the Western Digital LifeGuard Diagnostics (Thank you Kongo xD)

2. Ran the utility, Quick Test came back positive for no errors. Ran the Extended Test; it found some bad sectors and repaired them. Once the bad sectors were repaired, I was able to access the Hard Disk as usual. The volume was renamed to "New Volume".

3. Attempted to defrag the hard disk; windows message prompt informed me that it was scheduled to run Chkdisk and that I should type chkdsk /f into the command prompt. Typed it in and rebooted with the USB disk still plugged in and turned on.

4. PC rebooted and did a full scan of the USB drive. I didn't notice if it actually repaired anything though.

5. Rebooted into windows, and was able to access the disk and defrag it.

Thankfully that's as far as I had to take it. I had the Trinity Rescue Kit on standby, but I knew it was going to be a fiasco just learning how to use it ah well, it'll give me something to tinker with so I'm better prepared for that next hard disk failure that will hopefully never occur.

My dad was so relieved though, and dubbed me his "hero" lol

Here's to hoping nobody ever has to go through this hair-raising experience >_< now to purchase a DVD burner so I can back up, the back ups lol.