Hello! :hallo:
My external disc (with all my data in there, including photos and videos that are not saved in my computer) is not detected by any computer since yesterday. I used it in the morning in a computer (not mine) and then ... nothing. I have tried some things from google (uninstall usb devices from device manager, Microsoft fix it) but nothing solved the problem.
I don't know if this is an issue that it can be solved here in the forum, but any suggestions would be appreciated!!
I opened it with a screwdriver, I lost a screw and accidentally broke the part that is to be joined to the wire. Nice. Everything is fine now.
Glad you got it working (except for the broken part). You may want to consider a secondary backup to SkyDrive and/or Dropbox.
Quote from: Corrine on September 20, 2013, 06:46:24 PM
Glad you got it working (except for the broken part). You may want to consider a secondary backup to SkyDrive and/or Dropbox.
Actually, nothing has been repaired. I apologise for the misunderstanding... I just spoke with frustration and anger about what I did. Perhaps the best idea is to ask help from a technician, as soon as I can.
clear off some space from a drive inside your pc / laptop.
keeping it in a plastic bag freeze the defective hard drive overnight (your household refrig's freezer)
keeping it in the plastic bag quickly attach it back to your pc / laptop.
(you may wish to set the HD on ice upon removal from fridge)
quickly move the everything off it, starting with most to least important.
you may only get one shot at this.
Now, it does not even get electriciity.
Hi DR M,
You don't happen to have an external enclosure in your possession do you? You could take the HD out of it's present enclosure and install it into a USB external enclosure to see if you can access the data on the HD to transfer to an online storage site that Corrine recommended.
I had to do this for my external some time ago when one of the ports dislodged from the mother board on the external HD. Worked a treat and saved my data. I went ahead and left the HD from the external storage device in the external enclosure and still use it. This won't work if the HD itself in the external unit is bad. Hopefully it is just a connection to the mother board inside the external HD.
Hi, Donna.
I didn't understand what an external enclosure is...
The following link will explain what an external enclosure is:
Complete Guide to External Hard Drive Enclosures (http://www.supermediastore.com/blog/article/guide-to-external-hard-drive-enclosures#axzz2fYIThxhB)
The following link gives you an idea of what they look like:
HDD Enclosure (http://www.x-mediausa.com/hdd-enclosure/)
I only choose to link you to X-Media because that is the model I purchased. There are many other manufacturers of these enclosures as well and can be purchased at a local computer store or online.
Most external HDD's are 3.5" so that is the size of external enclosure you will need to purchase. I also bought one for my laptop HDD which is 2.5" in size.
What is the make an model number of your external that you are having trouble with? I'd be more than happy to look around and find what you need so you know what to look for if you decide to purchase one. Your local tech shop will know what they are as well.
There are also devices called Docking Stations that you can insert your HDD into and connect to your computer by USB. See link below:
Hard Drive Docking Station (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121043)
I prefer the enclosures though since I have cats and they tend to be the safer way to go for me. They offer more protection in my situation.
Ok ... I am not sure that I understood, although. It looks like an external disk, but it is only the box which makes the connection with the computer? My external is a Philips one, and there is a code behind it: SPE206CC/10.
Anyway, my concern is that putting it into the fridge (although in the plastic bag), moisture destroyed it. Probably this is the reason that it does not get power anymore.
Ok. I couldn't find anything with that model number though I am sure the HDD inside the device case is 3.5" in size.
Yes! An external enclosure is merely a "box". It comes as a kit that includes a cable that you plug into the HDD to so you can insert it into the box. It also includes a cable that you connect to the external enclosure that then connects to a USB port on the computer. Once the external device is attached into a USB port on the computer, it will then display as a "device with removable storage" on your computer just as a USB Flash Drive would. You can then access the external enclosure by doing the following:
Go to Start > Computer > Device with Removable Storage (your external enclosure)
Windows should assign a drive letter to it.
If it is the mother board of the external HDD that is the problem, then you should have no trouble accessing the data that is stored on the HDD. You still might be able to access the data even if the HDD is bad, not sure, but this is how I rescued the data from my laptop when my HDD crashed and when my cats knocked my Maxtor external HDD off the shelf which broke the port where the cable attached to the external HDD.
I don't think that putting it in the fridge caused the device any harm. I've seen many success stories with that technique. I truly believe this has something to do with the mother board of the device, though we won't know for sure till you uninstall the HDD from the external case and install it into an external enclosure.
You might even want to ask a friend if they have an external enclosure for a 3.5" HDD you could borrow just to see before you go spending money on a new one.
Hi, Donna.
I sent my sister to buy for me an external enclosure. She told them about the external disc's problem and she asked for the enclosure. The answer was that the disc is 100% "dead" and that they don't sell external enclosures.
Ok... Now I don't know what to do. All the documents in the disc are saved in my computer. Videos, photos and movies (I don't care about movies) were only saved in the disc...
Anyway, thank you again for your help. I wish you and Corrine and many others of this forum were here in my country, having a computer store or something similar, and giving valuable advice to people...
Hi Panos,
Did she take the HDD with her and did they check the HDD on site to verify it is 100% dead?
I wouldn't go by word of mouth.
Donna
She took the disk with her (I have out of its case) and without trying anything, only by seing it, they made their conclusion. Here, you know, we live in the era of easy format and even more easier replacement of anything seems to have something wrong. I am very disappointed.
Panos,
If the HDD was not tested, do not assume it is dead. When mine died I was able to install it into an external enclosure and access as I pointed out above.
Are there any other computer shops in your area? Check around with your friends to see if anyone has an external enclosure that you can borrow. You can purchase one online for fairly cheap though it may take a few days for you to receive it.
For the time being, your data is safe.
Let me know if you have trouble getting an external enclosure. I may be able to help from my end since I live in the land of plenty.
Hi, Donna.
I went today to another store, and I asked for help. They tested my disc with an external enclosure, but unfortunately the computer did not recognised it. They were surprised, because they could hear it working. Although they told me to leave it to the technicians, I prefered to bring it home and try to find my photos and videos from my devices. I won't find all I want, but it is better from nothing. I also bought two new external disks. I don't think that they will die the same day!!!
P.S. Do you want some more ... cats? I have 8 cats and I want to find for them a good family! :dance:
Hi Panos,
QuoteThey tested my disc with an external enclosure, but unfortunately the computer did not recognised it.
I am surprised myself. If I were a bit closer to you, I'd say bring it over and I'd see what I could do. Obviously if they heard it working it should be accessible via
Start > Computer > Devices with Removable Storage. Strange. Not sure what to say. I want to ask if they tried a different USB port, but I'm sure they would have tried that.
The new external disks you purchased. I wonder..... what is the possibility of exchanging the bad HDD with one of the new ones and trying to access it in that manner. I've never tried anything like that, but I am never one to give up hope until I run out of options to try.
QuoteP.S. Do you want some more ... cats? I have 8 cats and I want to find for them a good family! :dance:
:laughing: NO! I have 13 in my care right now. Bless their little hearts. 6 are mine. 7 are fosters. 5 of those 13 are special needs cats. Not going to be easy to place them in a furever home. The youngest one (Jinx - 4-5 months old) is driving me nuts. I can't even wash dishes without him sticking his little paws in the stream of water and splashing me. He's really into the bubbles from the dish soap as well. Crazy kitty! He's going to make a great companion for some lonely person as soon as the shelter has room for him. I'm sure he'll be adopted in a heart beat due to his personality.
Are all your cats spayed or neutered? If not, are there any animal foundations/shelters in your area that offer low cost spay/neuter. The ones I volunteer for either do it for free (for the ones I foster) or the cost is a mere $25 USD's including shots if I decide to keep the cat/kitten for my own. No more! 6 is too many. I need a farm with a cat enclosure fence.
Good morning Corrine, good morning Landzdown Forum!
My univercity teacher experiences a similar problem with mine, but with an important difference: her external disc icon is shown in task bar (we can even click on it and choose safe remove)! The problem is that is not shown in My computer. From Control Panel -> disc management, the disc is there but cannot be initialised and if so, an error occurs. I told her to go to the store I went, and they told her that the disc is dead (they tried the external enclosure). But why??? Is this possible? I click on the device icon and it says that it works properly... Is there anything we can do to recover the documents in it?
QuoteShe took the disk with her (I have out of its case) and without trying anything, only by seing it, they made their conclusion. Here, you know, we live in the era of easy format and even more easier replacement of anything seems to have something wrong. I am very disappointed.
I would be disappointed too.
Frankly, I do not like drive enclosures that connect via USB. They just do not seem to connect reliably, or consistently. And sadly, USB 3.0 was supposed to fix those issues, but instead, seem to have added more. :( So if an enclosure is necessary, I prefer one that connects via eSATA or is networked via Ethernet or wifi.
That said, my preference is to install all drives inside the computer via an interface designed exclusively for drives - that is SATA or EIDE (PATA).
For testing purposes, I don't recommend using another enclosure, unless eSATA. Otherwise, you don't remove possible USB issues from the equation - which is necessary while troubleshooting. So better yet, especially since you already pulled the drive, I recommend installing it into another computer as a secondary (NOT boot) drive. Depending on the drive, there are inexpensive (under $10) adapters to connect a 2.5 inch drive in a PC. Then see if you can copy off the data.
Hello Digerati, and thank you for your reply.
Unfortunately, my external disc is now dead...
My teacher's disc, although, has signs that give hope. I can see the green icon in the right corner of task bar, as well as in the device manager, but not in My computer. The problem is that it cannot be initialised, and if so, I get an error for incorrect function.
As I am not familiar with hard discs issues, I would like to have some more explanation about what to do, about this second hard disc. Is there a way to recover the data?
Not if you cannot read it. There are data recovery services where you can take the drive and they will perform "forensic" analysis on the drive. But this process can cost many $100s or more. So the data needs to be worth it.
Thank you, Digerati, for responding to my request to take a look at the problem that Panos' teacher has. :rose:
Does the drive show up at all in Disk Management, and if so, does it recognize there's a partition (or more than one if that was the case), and if it does, the file system (NTFS/FAT/RAW)?
Start | Run | type diskmgmt.msc and press enter/OK.
Screenshot of Disk Management might yield something helpful if you're not sure what to make of what it's telling us.
Quote from: Digerati on March 01, 2014, 06:29:02 PM
Frankly, I do not like drive enclosures that connect via USB. They just do not seem to connect reliably, or consistently.
Have you tried disabling write caching?
Quote from: Aaron Hulett [MSFT] on March 02, 2014, 08:09:34 AM
Does the drive show up at all in Disk Management, and if so, does it recognize there's a partition (or more than one if that was the case), and if it does, the file system (NTFS/FAT/RAW)?
Start | Run | type diskmgmt.msc and press enter/OK.
Screenshot of Disk Management might yield something helpful if you're not sure what to make of what it's telling us.
Hi, Aaron.
As I said,
"her external disc icon
is shown in task bar (we can even click on it and choose safe remove)! The problem is that is not shown in My computer.
From Control Panel -> disc management, the disc is there but cannot be initialised (there is a small arrow looking downwards, and the disc is named as disc 1) and if so, an error occurs. I told her to go to the store I went, and they told her that the disc is dead (they tried the external enclosure).
Isn't this strange??? The disk is there, but cannot be accessed.
Quote from: Corrine on March 01, 2014, 08:18:38 PM
Thank you, Digerati, for responding to my request to take a look at the problem that Panos' teacher has. :rose:
Sure - just wish I had more to offer but it seems others have touched on all the bases. :(
I thank you all for your replies, especially you, Corrine, for your willingness to help.
So... There is only one thing left!! Puting it in the fridge, as Temmu said. It had no success with my disc, perhaps it will work with this one! Dead is not afraid to be killed! Right? :muahaha:
It is very rare and unlikely putting it in the freezer will help. The idea behind it is cold causes matter to contract and the hope is, that contraction will close a microfracture or free seized motor bearings.
The problem is, as soon as you start to use the drive again, it heats up, and heat causes matter to expand.
I have only seen the freezer method work once in over 30 years and that was a very long time ago, and it only provided about 2 minutes of run time - which fortunately, was enough to copy off the 2 critical files the user did not want to lose before the bearings seized again.
Still, if all else has been tried, it is worth a try. But do be careful as condensation will form on the drive when you take it out of the freezer.
Quote from: DR M on March 02, 2014, 11:48:42 AM
From Control Panel -> disc management, the disc is there but cannot be initialised
Yeah, not good. I agree with Digerati - either send the drive out for data retrieval or just go without.
So the disc is dead...
Thank you all for your replies.
P.S. Freezing the disc is stupidness.
QuoteP.S. Freezing the disc is stupidness.
Well, it is an act of despair. But since
ALL DRIVES WILL FAIL [eventually], one might argue failing to keep a current backup of these drives is stupidness.
Quote from: Digerati on March 03, 2014, 07:57:24 PM
QuoteP.S. Freezing the disc is stupidness.
Well, it is an act of despair. But since ALL DRIVES WILL FAIL [eventually], one might argue failing to keep a current backup of these drives is stupidness.
Nothing more true! :Hammys pint: