External disc is not detected by any computer

Started by DR M, September 20, 2013, 12:13:48 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Print
Go Down Pages1 2 3
User actions

DR M

September 20, 2013, 12:13:48 PM
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!! 
Grecian Geek

"Count your blessings, remember your prayers..."

"In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars will be laughing when you look at the sky at night.. You, only you, will have stars that can laugh..."

DR M

#1
September 20, 2013, 05:42:56 PM
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.
Grecian Geek

"Count your blessings, remember your prayers..."

"In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars will be laughing when you look at the sky at night.. You, only you, will have stars that can laugh..."

Corrine

#2
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.


Take a walk through the "Security Garden" -- Where Everything is Coming up Roses!

Remember - A day without laughter is a day wasted.
May the wind sing to you and the sun rise in your heart.

DR M

#3
September 20, 2013, 07:09:24 PM
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.
Grecian Geek

"Count your blessings, remember your prayers..."

"In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars will be laughing when you look at the sky at night.. You, only you, will have stars that can laugh..."

Temmu

#4
September 20, 2013, 08:21:41 PM
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.

DR M

#5
September 21, 2013, 04:33:17 PM
Now, it does not even get electriciity.
Grecian Geek

"Count your blessings, remember your prayers..."

"In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars will be laughing when you look at the sky at night.. You, only you, will have stars that can laugh..."

DonnaB

#6
September 21, 2013, 06:04:42 PM
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.


"To achieve the impossible, it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought."
Tom Robbins

DR M

#7
September 21, 2013, 06:09:55 PM
Hi, Donna.

I didn't understand what an external enclosure is...
Grecian Geek

"Count your blessings, remember your prayers..."

"In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars will be laughing when you look at the sky at night.. You, only you, will have stars that can laugh..."

DonnaB

#8
September 21, 2013, 06:28:46 PM
The following link will explain what an external enclosure is:

Complete Guide to External Hard Drive Enclosures

The following link gives you an idea of what they look like:

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

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.



"To achieve the impossible, it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought."
Tom Robbins

DR M

#9
September 21, 2013, 06:51:39 PM
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.
Grecian Geek

"Count your blessings, remember your prayers..."

"In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars will be laughing when you look at the sky at night.. You, only you, will have stars that can laugh..."

DonnaB

#10
September 21, 2013, 07:43:36 PM
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.


"To achieve the impossible, it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought."
Tom Robbins

DR M

#11
September 22, 2013, 06:22:10 PM
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...
Grecian Geek

"Count your blessings, remember your prayers..."

"In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars will be laughing when you look at the sky at night.. You, only you, will have stars that can laugh..."

DonnaB

#12
September 22, 2013, 06:41:38 PM
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





"To achieve the impossible, it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought."
Tom Robbins

DR M

#13
September 22, 2013, 06:48:50 PM
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.
Grecian Geek

"Count your blessings, remember your prayers..."

"In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars will be laughing when you look at the sky at night.. You, only you, will have stars that can laugh..."

DonnaB

#14
September 22, 2013, 08:23:32 PM
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.
"To achieve the impossible, it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought."
Tom Robbins
Print
Go Up Pages1 2 3
User actions