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[rc-dc]

I'm in the process of upgrading drives in my DNS-323. I have two 1TB drives backing up each other.

I'd like to copy the files to my new Windows7-64 bit machine, but it couldn't read the firmware I had (1.06). Thinking it would be easier, I removed one of the 1tb drives and installed it in the new machine. Apparently, it's just not that easy. Wouldn't map the drive, and one of the utilities I tried to read the drive said no data was recoverable (and I had just used the drive minutes earlier on the old setup).

My questions follow, primarily because I've read some threads that upgrading firmware or installing drives can be tricky and it can launch into reformatting. Which would be a disaster as both of these 1TBs hold all my data.

1) Can I put back the drive into the 323 case without it reformatting? Nothing has changed, other than trying to access the files in a Win7 machine.
2) Can I upgrade the DNS-323 firmware from 1.06 to 1.09 without damaging the data? If I do this I think I'll be able to grab them off the network connection again (though it will be slower than direct from the sata6 connection)
3) Is there a way I can read the data in the new machine?

Sorry if these sound rather noobish - it's been a while since I managed the drives, other than daily usage.

Thank you!

[jamieburchell]

1) Can I put back the drive into the 323 case without it reformatting? Nothing has changed, other than trying to access the files in a Win7 machine.

If nothing has changed on the drive, yes.

2) Can I upgrade the DNS-323 firmware from 1.06 to 1.09 without damaging the data? If I do this I think I'll be able to grab them off the network connection again (though it will be slower than direct from the sata6 connection)

A firmware upgrade and/or factory reset afterwards (recommended) SHOULD not format your drives. Notice I say SHOULD not.

3) Is there a way I can read the data in the new machine?

Yes, install http://www.ext2fsd.com and attach your SATA drive to your computer again, then run the app to mount EXT partitions to Windows drives.

[rc-dc]

Thanks a million - great help.

1) The drive worked fine when I put it back; 2) waiting until data is backed-up to install firmware (just in case). 3) I'll try that bit o' ware. I was having a problem as there's some kind of network protection on the file folders. Not sure how I got that in place, but it won't allow Goodsync access (Error 5). While at the same time, I can create a new folder using Explorer, move all the files, then sync from that new folder just fine. Whatever that file protection was didn't allow me to see folder contents in the EXT format on the new machine.

[rc-dc]

Closing the loop on this. Backed up my drives to an external USB drive (took a while to move ~1TB). Installed the 1.09 firmware (from 1.06) and noting exploded. It even appears to be accessing the data faster. Could must be me.