My Fujitsu 160 MB portable hard disk is with me for 6 months working, then suddenly I can’t able to access my files. When I select the disk from my Windows Explorer, the mouse hourglass just keeps on showing, then it hangs. Any advise on what to do? There are important files that I need to retrieve.
Oops, its not 160 MB, its 160 GB.
how to recover data from external portable hard disk?
14
Mar
DemonSlayer
March 14, 2010 at 12:47 pm
It sounds like it died, go buy another one, and go into either Best Buy, or CompUSA, and ask to see if they can transfer the files over. Sometimes, after a hard disk dies, it can be revived by extreme means to get the important things off. They will most likely charge you a service fee though.
Emperor
March 14, 2010 at 1:10 pm
I recommend you try hard drive recovery software like Power Data recovery. Before that I would try plugging into different usb ports and also try plugging into a different computer because it may just be a driver issue.Check your email in a few minutes I will send you more info.
Chris
March 14, 2010 at 1:15 pm
Emperor is right on part of what he said: before you do anything drastic, eliminate all the possible “easy” stuff. Do other devises work in the same port (USB probably, maybe FireWire)? Will the drive work on another computer? Was there a disk that came with the drive? If so, try re-installing the drivers (although I doubt that’s the issue).
If Windows is reading it at all (and you are getting the hourglass) it’s probably not the hard drive itself – if it’s not the port or drivers, it might just be the external case. You could try buying an empty enclosure case – make sure it’s the same interface as the one you have (SATA is most common) – and removing the hard drive itself from the old case and installing it in the new one.
Does it make any noise when you plug it in? Can you hear the disk spinning? If it sounds normal, it’s most likely the case it’s in now. If you hear a click or grinding sound, the hard drive itself may be dying.
If it’s the hard drive, you are going to have to have a professional look at it and see if they can recover the data (but it’s usually somewhat expensive). If it’s just the port, drivers or case, you can fix it youself pretty easily.
Not to be a jerk, but my brother’s teacher (he went to the Art Institute of Seattle to be an Audio Tech) had a great saying: “if the data isn’t backed up in at least three different places, it doesn’t exist!” In most cases two places is okay (like on your internal HD and an external, or on two externals, or one external and one on-line data storage space) but you always want to have everything backed up: even your backups.
Good luck!