I know there are a few of very good programs that can recover lost data. I plan to return a seagate external hdd to best buy and I had erased some personal documents. If I go into folder options and untick “hide protecting operating system files” I see a folder called “RECYLCER” I’m assuming those recovery programs work from that folder? If so, then should I just delete all the contents in that folder?
Posts Tagged ‘External’
External hard drive use?
08
Jun
My previous external hard drive burnt out after just a few months of not-so-often use, but I luckily managed to recover the data and transfer it to a new one. I’d like to prevent this one from burning out so fast!
So I want to make sure I’m not violating some important principle of external hard drive use. It’s a Western Digital MyBook. I keep the power cord plugged in all the time, but only plug in the USB cable if I want to actually access data on it (or write to it). It appears to be designed so that it’s only really “on” if the USB cable is plugged in; I assume that with the USB unplugged and the power plugged in, it keeps the drive spinning so the data stays intact but doesn’t actually provide enough power for data access and manipulation.
Is this a “good practice”?
Thanks.
External hard drive data recovery?
06
Jun
Hey there… so I bought this SimpleTech 500gb external hard drive to free up space on my pc thinking it was much newer and more reliable than my aged computers hard drive. I moved all my data off of my pc on to the new external hard drive. Well… all was well until my girlfriend knocked the darn thing over…now it’s making clicky noises etc. Can anyone help me figure out how to retrieve the data off of it? I’d prefer not to send the hard drive to some specialist to protect privacy. I’d appreciate any good advice on how to recover the data, I don’t have a lot of money, but would rather spend more to fix it to ensure privacy. Any help please??
is there a way to protect an USB external disk drive’s content from errors which then make it unmountable ?
06
Jun
I have a mac laptop and also use bootcamp to run windows xp. but there are a few times when external USB hard drives are unplugged “by accident” (ie not properly unmounted), or that windows crashes while running data from such a drive.
This, for my NTFS+ external usb hard drives, almost always results in a broken catalog / or element which then makes the drive unmountable or unuseable. Sometimes is can be repared, by diskutilities or macdrive, but sometimes not. I’m loosing a lot of time transfering a whole disk’s content to another, then erasing reformating the drive. Is there anyway to secure the drive by software ? Ie make sure that even if the computer crashes or the power goes of or whatever, drive hierarchy can be restored, and mounted. a kind of protection for these 1Tera USB external hard disks ?
please don’t answer “be more careful”, accidents just do happen, and some of the drive’s data is valuable. At one point i even had to mount one on linux to recover te data, all of this because of an accidental unplugging. but rather than spending 20 hours recovering, i would much rather back up the drive hierachy catalog at times, to protect it and have it a safe mount point from which to work.
is this possible ?
to those who cannot be bothered to read the question properly : i am not asking how to repair a usb disk, but how to secure the info so that it wan’t be broken in such a way. please read the details before answering. And I’ve also had drives which are “unrepairable”, meaning they have to be reformated to be mounted again. i’m sick of this and want to try to protect the structure / catalogue / hierarchy of my external USB drives, IF this is possible. hence the question, which is not a question on repairing drives.
thanks
Cheap data recovery services for external hard drive?
04
Jun
My hard drive just broke, and so far, I could only find services to recover data to be more than $200. Does anyone know any cheaper services?
My hard drive is broken to the point where it’ll turn on, you can hear it spinning, then it’s starts beeping and clicking. My computer cannot detect it. Is the data still recoverable? Is the hard drive still repairable? And can I use any of the solutions in the answers, now that you know this?
Ok I don’t see how a data recovery program can help if my computer cannot detect the hard drive.
Computer says my external hard drive needs to be reformatted, can not get onto the drive to recover any files?
29
May
This is the second time my Simpletech 1tb external hard drive suddenly stopped working properly and when it is attached to my computer and i try to access it, it pops up “this drive needs to be formatted before it can be used”. Last time i formatted it and lost everything, and im done with this hard drive but first i need to get the information off of it. Does anyone have any clue how i can access it? Is there a program on the internet that will help or do i have to bring it to a repair shop? What kind of money am I looking at for retrieval? Lastly, what is a good brand of hard drive to buy???
Using windows Vista. THANKS!
I have tried unplugging it and plugging it back in, tried everything. I would probably be willing to spend money on a program like GetDataBack or whatever but I just want to make sure that I can use the program on the drive itself considering i cant get onto it. It does come up in “my computer” folder but when I click on it, the “drive needs to be formatted” message appears. I have a ton of media on it I dont want to loose…
Formatting an external hard drive.?
29
May
Okay, so I have a 1.5 TB Seagate FreeAgent external that has gone RAW file system on me. I want to quick NTFS format it in Vista so that I can use Power Data Recovery to hopefully recover some of, if not most of, my stuff. Please direct me as to how to do it, or if I have made some error in thinking I can do this, but can’t, please inform me.
chkdsk says file system is raw, spinrite can’t do anything. Computer only recognizes that there is a drive G: there, says it’s empty or freezes explorer when fiddled with.
It freezes up every program that tries to link with it.
My external hard drive crashed?
28
May
I have a Maxtor 4 OneTouch, 500 Gig external hard drive, running on a Windows Vista operating system. After having to shut down my computer via the power button, it will not recognize the OneTouch anymore. Neither will a MacBook recognize it anymore. I’ve heard about external hard drives not operating correctly when they are not powered down or removed correctly. I believe this is why this has happened, but I’ve looked and looked here on Y! Answers and googled myself to death and still cannot find a solution even though it seems like enough people are familiar with the problem…
I tried restarting the computer multiple times, I’ve plugged the hard drive into various USB ports, I’ve unplugged the AC adapter…No matter what I do, the computers will not recognize the drive – the icon will not show up or anything. Not even an error message. It’s like it’s not even plugged in…although the drive’s light will glow.
Also, around the same time, I created a partition on the OneTouch, though I am almost positive, and have been assured that this would not create such a problem.
What can I do to restore functionality to my drive, and if that is not possible, then how may I at least recover the data from it?
When should I replace my external HD before it fails?
26
May
I heard that all HD’s eventually fail. It’s expensive to recover data from a HD. I have an Iomega network external HD with all of my data on it. It’s hooked into my wireless network & I use it in lieu of the HD on my laptop. It gets pretty light use. I only turn it on a couple of times a week. Should I replace it before it fails & I have to spend big buck on data recovery? How long could it last?
Any chance of recovering data from dropped external hard drive?
25
May
My sister was in the process of backing up her computer to our external hard drive when she tripped on the cord and the hard drive fell about 50cm and crashed onto the lino on concrete floor. Now upon being plugged into power the hard drive beeps about every two seconds and the computer cannot find it when USB is connected.
I am distraught as this was the only copy (My laptop died a few months ago and we are still in the process of replacing it) left of all my data from the last two years; school work, photos, memorabilia, everything!
Is there ANY possibility the data could be retrieved?
Thankyou
Tamsin
Yeah, I plan to take it to the local computer shop and/or a data recovery service. I just wanted to get an idea for what kind of odds I’m up against.
Thanks for your answers! Keep then coming.
-Tamsin
How and where can I recover the data in my broken external western digital hard drive ? Cheaply?
24
May
Have had this hard drive for about 2 years of course the warranty has expired. I contacted a site that western digital recommends they said something like 500.00 $ thats crazy Its just some picture and music files . Thanks for the help!!
When you turn on the hard drive it just clicks
Retrieve data from a external hard drive?
23
May
I have a 300gb hard drive that I was using as a back up, but now when it gets plugged in or turned on the “found new hardware” thing comes up. It has always been plug and play, but apparently not anymore… I can’t access it. It turns on, doesn’t make any strange sounds, hasn’t been dropped or had any other damage. Just started doing it. I even have an install disc that came with it that’s not doing much good either. Is there a way to recover the files from this without spending the rates of $200 and hour I’ve heard. There is also alot of personal information on here….hate for that to get out by some disgruntled employee. Know what I mean…
do i need to install my External hard drive to use it?
23
May
Okay, my computer crashed last night, i’m recovering my data now using puppy linux and a new WD My book 500Gb external hard drive to back the files up.
do i need to install the hard drive to the computer, or can i just start dumping files onto it.
if i do need to install it, how do i do so?
it doesn’t work with the auto start function and i’m unsure how to use linux.