When you are in the middle of rushed copying some crucial data from one drive to another and suddenly a screen pops up, saying “Data error!” You start to wonder What is Data Error Cyclic Redundancy Check, why it failed and how do I resolve it?

Well, you are in the perfect place to find out. Cyclic Redundancy Check or Simply CRC is a check performed by the file system to check if the source file and the destination file are the same, i.e. if the file has been successfully copied or not. Instead of comparing each bit of data of both the files, some checksums are generated and then they are compared to see if the files are the same.

Now, two things can be wrong with copying the data.

  1. The source file or the Drive on which the file was stored initially is corrupt, or
    The destination drive is corrupt leading to no match in source and destination files, as the file could not be copied accurately.
  2. If the file or files that gave the Data Error Cyclic Redundancy Check messages are not much important, you can simply permanently delete them and copy the rest of the files. But if they are essential, you will have to recover them.

Check Out: Best Data Recovery Software?

 

How to Fix Data Error Cyclic Redundancy Check

If you get the Data Error Cyclic Redundancy Check screen while copying some files, here are some things you can try to resolve the problem:

Method 1: Recover the Source Files

There are many Data Recovery Software available on the internet. Some of them are paid with a free trial and some are free. When you delete or move or overwrite a file from any storage device, the special hidden file that contains metadata about the files and folders simply deletes its entry, not completely removing every byte of the file.

The Recovery software makes use of this, and rebuilds the metadata file, making the deleted or corrupted file available again, and you can copy files now without the Data Error Cyclic Redundancy Check message.

Some of the data recovery software include Minitool Power Data Recovery, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, Recuva, etc. All of them are designed to do the same thing: recover corrupt or deleted files from a drive or recover files from a lost partition.

Are You Facing This:-

Steps to recover files using a recovery software:

  1. Firstly, Close all running programs first.
  2. Secondly, Now run the software as administrator (Right click on the software icon in the start menu or on the Desktop and Choose Run as Administrator from the context Menu).Run as Administrator
  3. Select the Drive you want to recover files from and select file types if you’re going to recover the specific type of files like images, audio, documents, etc.
  4. Choose to start recovering after setting the destination (where to save the recovered files to). And you are set.

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Method 2: Repairing the Whole Drive

You can also use the Command Prompt to repair the Drive, using a popular command called chkdsk. Chkdsk is a built-in windows utility to check and repair file system errors, to repair the broken file registry and to repair bad sectors if possible.

If you don’t know How to Run Chkdsk In Windows 10?

To repair a drive using chkdsk, follow these simple steps:

  1. Firstly, Close all running programs including background apps, because if any apps are using the hard drive during the repair, it may cause the applications to stop or the repair to fail.
  2. Secondly, Open command prompt as an administrator. Press Windows Key + R to open the Run… dialogue box.
    Command Prompt
    Command Prompt
  3. Type cmd in the box and Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter. This will open the command prompt in administrator mode, allowing you the full access to the drive for repair.
  4. Now type “chkdsk /f d:” without quotes. Here, replace d: with the drive letter of the drive you want to repair. Press the Enter key.chkdsk f d
  5. Now the chkdsk utility will run and check for the drive errors. Depending upon the condition of the drive, it will take more or less time.
  6. After the utility completes scan and repair, it will display a report about the condition, and errors found on the drive and if they were successfully repaired or not.check for the errors

There is a high chance that you can copy files without the Data Error Cyclic Redundancy Check message popping up now. If there are too many errors in the drive, you may want to format it. But before formatting the drive, you can always try to recover the important files and documents from the drive by following the steps mentioned earlier.

Are You Facing: Windows was Unable to Complete the Format

Fix: Windows 10 100% Disk Usage in Task Manager

Method 3: Format the Corrupted Drive

If the drive you are copying from is beyond repair and you want to fix the drive, you can consider formatting it.

Formatting the drive will erase everything on it so make sure you have backed up any important files before proceeding any further.
You can follow our guide to format the drive:

  1. firstly, Open This PC or Explorer from the Desktop icon or start menu.
  2. Secondly, Right-click on the drive icon of the drive you want to format.
  3. Click on Format.format the corrupted drive
  4. Deselect Quick format if you want to clean your drive thoroughly.
  5. Choose NTFS if the drive is a hard disk or FAT32 in case of pen-drives or memory cards as the partition system.
  6. Complete the format. If there were no errors while formatting, you could now copy files to and from the drive without any Data error cyclic redundancy check message popping up on your screen and ruining everything.

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Method 4: Renaming the Drive (Assigning a drive letter) if a Drive is Not Accessible

In some cases, the windows operating system does not automatically assign a drive letter to a newly connected drive or de-assigns it for safe disconnection when idle. If that is the reason the drive was not accessible, you can rename or assign a drive letter to the drive to access it.

Follow these steps to assign a drive letter to a drive or a partition in Windows:

  1. Firstly, Press the key combination Windows + R to open the run… dialogue box.
  2. Secondly, Type “diskmgmt.msc” in the text box provided without the quotes and press the Enter key.diskmgmt.msc
  3. Disk management tool window will open if you also see the drive you want to assign the letter to. Right-click on it. You can identify different drives from their sizes or file systems. DO NOT mess with small partitions that are reserved for Windows operating system’s safe operation or you may end up screwing up the OS and PC won’t boot, which in turn will end up in you losing all of your data.
  4. In the menu that pops up, Select Change drive letters or paths.Change drive letters or paths
  5. If there is any drive letter associated already, select change or select add if there was none.
  6. Assign a new letter to the drive, ignore any warnings if anything pops up.Assign a new letter
  7. Close the windows and reboot.

See if this change in drive letter allowed you to access the drive now and removed the message Data Error Cyclic Redundancy Check.

Also, Fix Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device

Method 5: Check for Bad Sectors on a Hard Disk

If the source or destination drive is corrupt and hence resulting in a Data Error Cyclic Redundancy Check error. Maybe it is time to replace it or get a warranty replacement if it is still under warranty.

Drive getting corrupt may have many causes like the mechanical failure of the hard drive due to accidental shut down. That too due to bumps or drops causing the head on the hard drive to dislocate and damage the drive. Or ejection or drive when data on it or read from it.

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To check for bad sectors on a hard disk. You can use any of the partition tools like Recuva, Minitool, or EaseUS.

  1. Open the tool and right-click on the drive you want to scan for bad sectors or damage.
  2. Select the option that resembles something like Scan for bad sectors…Scan for bad sectors
  3. Let the scan complete and be patient as large drives can take a lot of time to complete the scan.

If the computer freezes during the scan. Wait for a while and if it stays frozen for too much time, you have bad news. And also the drive is beyond repair.

Conclusion

In such a case or if the software reports bad drive, then try to replace the drive. There is no software fix to a hardware problem. Therefore, Data Error Cyclic Redundancy Check will be the start of a long list of problems waiting for you if you don’t replace the drive.