very slow scanning process

[achriscole]

i currently have a western digital(WD 1200B015). During my reinstallation of Windows XP onto my computer, I accidently partitioned my external WD hard drive. Unfortunatly, I have/had hundreds of memories on that hard drive. I purchased ZAR in hopes that I could safely recover my files and restore my wifes love and faith in my computer skills and loyalty to our relationship:). Therefore, I need some direction on where to start. I tried following the directions surrounding "partitioning" but it seems to take forever during the scanning part...is that common (1% per hour).....so im concerned that im doing something wrong....pls advise.

[Alexey V. Gubin]

If using USB enclosure, make sure the enclosure is USB 2.0 and plugged into the USB 2.0 port, so actually the 2.0 mode is engaged, NOT the USB 1.1.
Other than that, I suggest that you get the drive out of the enclosure and attach to the corresponding mainboard port directly. This typically eliminates any kind of speed issues.
For a drive with a single volume on it, this tutorial (http://www.z-a-recovery.com/unformat-tutorial.htm) should be a good starting point. If the volume readout is unavailable or bogus (in Step 4 of the tutorial), right click the volume list, select "Define volume manually". When prompted, select "There was only one volume" and click OK. The new volume will appear in the list, select it and click "Next".To answer the original question - this is not a common thing. Typical for a 120GB would be 2 hours or so (with IDE attachment - direct to mainboard port).

[tomcloney]

I am having the same issue. i am trying to recovery a maxtor HD that is 120gb which is connected via IDE to motherboard as secondary drive. I have disable internet connection and disable anti-virus software. The drive i believe is mechanically ok (windows and other OS detect it but states that it needs to be formatted). ZAR recognizes it and starts the scan but takes forever, 7hrs and only 5% in which that rate it would take 6 days! I have selected the volume as only one volume known that was posted on another thread but still no improvement. After all that, I ran it again and 15mins and still 0%. Any help would be appreciated.

ps- i was thinking about maybe running it in safe mode?

[Alexey V. Gubin]

Check if the drive is not in PIO mode.
Refer here for the details - http://www.z-a-recovery.com/art-power-supply-failure.htm, you need to verify "Symptom III - Drives in PIO mode, high CPU load".