Summary :
Before you attach a flash drive or hard drive to your computer, consider the following options that Windows 10 automatically offers for using the newly attached disk: Configure This Drive for Backup uses the new drive for the File History function and is best suited to large-capacity drives, at least 500GB. Configure Storage Settings opens. Possible causes for the external hard drive to become dead and how to fix an external hard drive in different cases. The hard drive recovery cost. Basic characteristics of the external hard drive. Be relax, all the steps to recover from the crashed disk and the solutions to fix the external hard drive are easy to master.
One of the biggest advantages of an external hard drive, when compared to the internal hard drive, lies in its portability. You can carry an external hard drive with you whenever and wherever you want. In this way, data and applications saved in this removable hard drive are always available. Yet, do you know how to recover data from a dead hard drive?
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When you enjoy the portability and easy access brought by external hard drives, you must understand that they also increase the possibility of hard drive damage.
Imagine that you are in the face of a dead external hard drive; you may easily get into a panic, right? How to recover files from dead external hard drive would be the thing that you'll think of when you have important files stored here. Otherwise, you may choose to just reformat the hard drive to try to make it work again easily.
This is right. I mean, if important files are included in the dead external hard drive, you are strongly suggested to recover files from a broken external hard drive firstly.
But do you know how to recover data from hard drive? Here, I introduce MiniTool Power Data Recovery, which is a wonderful hard drive recovery tool that enjoys a high reputation. By using it, you can finish HDD file recovery in a few easy steps. (The Seagate external hard drive recovery is quite simple.) Screenshot drag windows.
I'll tell you how to recover data from damaged external hard disk without formatting in the following content. When hard drive data recovery is completed (you get all the data you want to recover), I'll tell you how to repair external hard disk not detected.
Besides, I'll tell you the following things:
- Possible causes for the external hard drive to become dead and how to fix an external hard drive in different cases.
- The hard drive recovery cost.
- Basic characteristics of the external hard drive.
Be relax, all the steps to recover from the crashed disk and the solutions to fix the external hard drive are easy to master.
How to Recover Files from Dead External Hard Drive
How can I recover files from a dead hard drive? Actually, here are the actionable steps telling you how to recover data from damaged external hard drive.
One: you need to get MiniTool Power Data Recovery and then install it to computer local drive. At the end of the installation, connect your external hard drive to the computer and run the software to see its main interface.
Two: you need to do 2 things in this step:
- Check whether the partition which keeps your lost files still exists or not.
- Select a suitable option from the main interface of the external hard drive recovery software.
You can select This PC to recover files from existing partitions on the damaged external hard drive. In contrast, if the partitions get lost from the crashed disk, you should select Hard Disk Drive. (I'll take the latter situation as an example.)
Attention:
If your device can't be detected in software, you need to unplug the external hard drive and connect it again to the computer and then wait for the software to refresh the list.
If this still failed, you should read the next part of this article or go to this post to discover more workarounds:
The problem – external hard drive not showing up/recognized/detected – can be fixed easily by following ways.
Three: select the crashed hard drive from the right side of the software interface and then click on the Scan button to detect files inside.
Four: look through the found files during or at the end of the scan and pick out the files you need to recover from the damaged hard disk by clicking on the Save button & setting a storage path.
This is the end of how to recover data from crashed external hard disk. As for how to recover data from a dead/crashed/corrupted internal hard disk, you should find answers here:
If you're stuck in the data recovery from corrupted internal hard disk, the solutions and software provided here will be of great help.
Top Recommendation
The hard drive may become dead easily sometimes, so you need to be careful enough when using the hard drive in which significant data are saved. When you hear a clicking noise coming from the hard drive, please be alert and read this to know how to rescue data.
How to Recover Data from Hard Disk Which Is Not Detecting
What's more troublesome than files not showing in external hard drive? Actually, it lies in that you can't see the external hard drive in the computer. That is to say, the external disk is not recognized by the computer.
To recover data from external hard drive not recognized, you must make it appear on the computer.
Change Drive Letter
I suggest you go to Windows Disk Management to have a look at first. Why? Sometimes, an external hard drive doesn't show up due to a missing Drive Letter or drive letter conflict.
Drive letter conflict could be a mysterious reason that most users are not aware of. To put it in a more simple way, this means the driver letter that belongs to external hard drive has already been taken by one of the computer local drives.
External Hard Drive For Laptop
Under this circumstance, you are supposed to make use of Disk Management or third-party tools like MiniTool Partition Wizard to assign a drive letter or change letter of the external hard drive.
Then, you can follow the steps introduced in the previous part to restore files from the damaged external drive.
4 Other Causes for External Hard Drive Not Showing up
- System or system built-in drivers are not correct.
- CMOS parameter settings are improper.
- There's problem with the data line.
- The power supply is unstable or not enough.
It is a common case that you can't see your external hard drive after connecting it to the computer. At this time, some of you will think that your external hard drive is dead. But please don't rush to put aside your external hard drive. I'll show you the possible causes and tips in different situations that may be able to help you fix the problem.
Cause 1: system or system built-in drivers went wrong.
Problems occurred in system or system built-in drivers may be the reason why the removable drive is not shown in the computer after connection. If you're in face of this situation, please try the following methods for fixing it.
Method one: boot into safe mode to repair registry.
- Boot into safe mode by pressing F8 or another button (this varies from computer to computer) while starting the computer.
- Exit the safe mode and choose to restart or shutdown the system.
- Now, you can enter the normal mode to check whether the registry has been repaired or not.
Method two: use System Restore.
If the problem persists, please use the built-in system restore function to restore system to the last known good configuration.
- Press the F8 key on the Windows splash screen.
- Select last known good configuration (advanced) from the Advanced Boot Options window.
- Press Enter and wait for Windows to start.
Method three: run System File Checker.
If the problem also persists, please adopt the system repair disc.
- Click on the search box in taskbar and type command prompt. (Click here if your Windows taskbar is not working)
- Right click on Command Prompt under best match and choose Run as administrator.
- Input sfc /scannow and press Enter.
- Insert the original system disk repair disc. After that, the system will automatically compare and repair.
Method four: modify the boot sequence.
- Start your computer and press ESC, F1, F2, F8, F10 or another button to enter the BIOS.
- Select the BOOT tab by using arrow keys.
- Move CD or DVD drive to the first option in the list (shown as below).
- Exit the BIOS Setup Utility after saving changes.
- Afterwards, insert system setup disk and press R to select repair install function.
Top Recommendation:
If you find your computer is broken at any time, please follow the suggestions mentioned in Meet The Best Way To Recover Files From Broken Computer to rescue your data at once.
Cause 2: improper CMOS parameter settings.
CMOS parameter settings may need to be changed on your computer. If you have never used USB external devices, the problem – thesystem does not detect USB hard drive – may also appear even after you have properly installed the driver.
This direct reason for causing this problem is that the motherboard's CMOS default port is closed. To fix it, you need to do the following things:
- Reboot.
- Enter the CMOS settings window.
- Set Assign IRQ For USB as Enabled in PNP / PCI CONFIGURATION column.
Cause 3: USB data line failure.
- USB data line failure is a commonly seen problem. If the USB data line used to connect the external hard drive with a computer is broken inside, there's no way you can access it in the computer.
- Besides, if the standard of the computer USB interface is different from that of the external hard drive interface, the drive is also can't be recognized.
So please try to replace the failed data line with a new one to fix this problem permanently.
Cause 4: power shortage problem.
The unstable or insufficient power supply is also a possible cause. If the external power supply is not enough for normal working of the external hard drive, it may easily become inaccessible in the computer due to power shortage.
In this case, you had better choose the device which is powered directly by Alternating Current.
In addition to the cases mentioned above, there are also possibilities for an external hard drive to become really dead. For instance: the physical damage like a bad sector or scratch is detected. Of course, you may find many other factors that can make an external hard drive crashed, failing to work normally.
After making the external hard drive appear on the computer properly, you should follow the steps mentioned in previous How to Recover Files from Dead External Hard Drive part carefully to get back the files you need.
How Much Does It Cost to Recover Data from a Damaged Hard Drive
You may be wondering: how much does it cost to retrieve data from a broken hard drive. Certainly, there is no exact answer to this question. Many factors are found to have an impact on the prices of data recovery:
- The method you have chosen for crashed external hard drive recovery
- The tool you have used for recovering files from the damaged external drive
- The amount of data you'd like to recover from the external hard drive
- The difficulty of data recovery on dead external hard drive
- And so on
External Drive Ph
That is to say, if you only need to recover a small file lost from an external hard drive that is damaged slightly and logically, you can do it just for free. In contrast, if you want to recover a large amount of data from a hard drive that is broken terribly, this may require extensive efforts from lots of professionals; naturally, the data recovery can be costly.
World edit for xbox one. What can a Personal edition of MiniTool Power Data Recovery do for you?
- It will enable you to recover unlimited data from commonly seen storage devices (including hard drive, flash drive, SD card, and optical disc).
- It has good compatibility: support various operating systems (Windows XP/7/8/10 and Windows Server OS), file systems (FAT, NTFS, ext2/3/4, extFAT and HFS+), and file types (document, picture, video, email, and other types).
- It offers a bootable builder which can help you create USB/CD/DVD bootable disk & use it to recover data from hard disk without OS.
- You can always get the latest version of this data recovery software for free.
Conclusion
While using the external hard drive on a computer or other devices, you tend to meet data loss caused by common reasons like accidental deletion/formatting. In the meantime, you may lose data without knowing the exact reasons.
No matter which is the actual case, you need to remember only one thing – please stop using the device immediately and start to recover files from dead external hard drive ASAP.
Please don't get panic when you find external hard drive nor showing up on the computer; I have provided you with some useful methods for fixing the drive not recognized problem effectively.
Always keep this in mind: when an accident occurs all of a sudden, please apply the skills you've learned here to the actual situation to rescue your data immediately.
Recover Files from Dead External Hard Drive FAQ
- Connect the Seagate external hard drive to computer.
- Make it show up in at least Disk Management.
- Run MiniTool Power Data Recovery and select Hard Disk Drive.
- Scan the Seagate drive and choose needed files to recover.
- Wait for the Seagate drive recovery to complete.
If only! This is the two-word refrain of anyone who lost hard drive data without having a solid backup waiting in the wings. Learning how to backup your computer to an external hard drive may not be the most fun way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon, but trust us on this!
You may well be thanking yourself (and us!) later.
Nerds On Call Computer Repair are always here to help you retrieve lost hard drive data, but when it comes to keeping your data safe, the simple fact is that prevention is way better than finding a cure!
So here's a quick and snappy guide to keeping your data safely backed up on an external hard drive. We'll start by giving you the pros and cons of opting for an external drive backup. Then we'll walk you through the five key principles of data backup. Then we'll give you a step-by-step walkthrough for backing up your data to a Mac or a Windows PC.
So, first up, why might you want to create an external hard drive backup?
The obvious reason is it's a contingency plan. Hard drives are physical devices, and they can destruct. Keeping a backup on your existing hard drive won't help you if that hard drive fails!
What about cloud backups. Absolutely. A cloud backup is a good thing to have. However, an external hard drive backup means you'll be able to restore your computer with or without a functioning Internet connection.
For many, this is a more convenient and secure option.
The first and most obvious reason is in case of hard drive failure. That failure could look like a complete and sudden breakdown of your hard drive, or (more often the case) you may have experienced file corruption owing to a gradually deteriorating drive.
You might also face a situation where software failure damages crucial files. This is less common than it once was, but sometimes software fails catastrophically, damaging files you may have been reading or editing.
Finally, there's good old-fashioned human error. Accidental file deletion or overwriting happens all the time. While you have a range of options for retrieval here, an external hard drive backup is your best final safety net.
External Drive Wikipedia
If all else fails you can always grab that crucial archive.
OK, so by now hopefully you're convinced that backups aren't an optional extra in your computing life! So let's get down to the nitty-gritty of how.
Know Your Backup Best Practice
Your first step is to know and understand some basic principles of good backup practice. There are five rules of thumb you should attempt to follow faithfully:
- Have a schedule – It's boring we know, but backing up is something you should do regularly. Some software will handle a regular backup schedule for you, but just to be sure, add a regular reminder to your calendar to check that you're backed up. We'd recommend that, at a minimum, you aim for a quarterly full backup schedule.
- Aim for redundancy – External hard drives can fail as well! If your budget will spring for it, don't just backup to one external drive. Backup your backup. One neat way to do this is to alternate your quarterly backups across two external drives.
- Only backup clean data – Before you perform a backup, it pays to spend a little time cleaning your hard drive of old, duplicate files. Spend a little time on file structure as well. The more organized your folders are before you backup, the easier it'll be to retrieve specific files or folders.
- Keep your drive safe – Ideally, you'd keep your external drive off-site. At the very least, make sure it's stored away from your main computer, and somewhere that wouldn't easily be found in the unfortunate event of theft. Again, it happens! Make like a cub-scout, and be prepared.
- Encrypt where possible – People backup in different ways, and encrypting your backup drive (making it impossible to read or access without a password) isn't always feasible. However, if you can, encrypt your backup. It takes a little longer but it keeps your data extra safe.
For Mac Owners
Mac processes are usually pretty simple and streamlined. Unfortunately, this rule doesn't apply quite so readily to external drive backup. There are a few reasons for this, but the big reason is that Apple wants you to backup your data to iCloud. This isn't a terrible idea, but you will have to pay for that feature! Once you buy your external drive/s, you face no ongoing expense.
Here are your steps:
- Connect your new drive to your Mac via the USB port.
- Right up at the top right of your screen, you'll see a little magnifying glass. Click that and type Disk Utility. On the left, you'll see a directory of connected drives. Be sure to select your new drive, and then select Erase from the top bar of the Disk Utility app.
- Select Mac OS Extended format (Journaled) and then give your Mac the go-ahead to perform the erase. Note that, if you wish, you can encrypt this drive as you format it. We recommend you do this!
- Your new drive will be wiped and formatted to be compatible with Time Machine backups.
- Open up your Apple Menu (the cute little apple at the top left of your screen). Then select System Preferences and hit Time Machine.
- You'll be asked to select your Time Machine Disk. Select the disk you just formatted. If you ticked the encrypt button during the formatting stage, you'll be asked to re-enter your password at this point.
At this point, Mac will now manage data backups for you, periodically sending a mirror of your hard drive across to your external drive. Should you ever need to retrieve files (or restore your whole system in case of catastrophic hard drive failure) Time Machine will handle your data retrieval for you.
One thing to note: this is a perfectly fine solution for keeping your data safe, Bluestacks requirements windows 7. except that you need to keep this drive connected to your machine in order for the dynamic backup process to work.
If you want to keep your data safe from theft, you might want to consider an additional external drive to which you periodically copy your most valuable files. This one you can store separately from your computer, effectively covering all your bases.
For Windows PC Owners
First up, be aware that Windows PC owners also have cloud backup solutions they may like to consider in parallel with an external backup option. Google Drive and SkyDrive are among the most widely used in the Windows PC world, and they're an acceptable solution if you don't mind cloud and if you don't mind a subscription service.
If external hard drives backup is your preferred option, the process is pretty straightforward.
- Connect your external hard drive via your PC's USB port.
- Open your Control Panel. The easiest way to do this is by going into your system-wide search bar and typing Control Panel. Then, look for System and Security.
- Select Save Backup Copies of Your Files with File History, then select System Image Backup.
- You'll then be prompted to create a system image.
- Be sure to select your new hard drive from the drop-down box, and then hit Next.
- At this point, your computer will whir into life and backup your whole system. This includes all your system files, your OS settings, and of course, all your media files. Essentially, this backup is a mirror of your whole local hard drive.
- Now, wait! And by wait, we mean that this process could take several hours. While you can continue to use your computer during this process, it's best not to. For this reason, you might want to time your external backup to take place overnight, or even better, while you're powering through Season 4 of Better Call Saul.
A Few Minutes Now Could Save You Hours Later!
So now you have the skinny on external file backups. We know it's not necessarily a fun topic, but keeping your data safe is a vital part of responsible home computing. So, kudos for sticking with us through to the end.
The bottom line is, learning how to backup your computer to an external hard drive is just a smart and prudent thing to do. Sure, it's not the most fun piece of housekeeping, but setting yourself up now with a simple, easy-to-repeat process, may well save you hours of heartbreak and hassle further down the road.
Best Pc External Hard Drive
If you'd like to learn more about how Nerds On Call can set you up with an online backup process, check outthis link for Mac users, andthis one for Windows PC users. Or, you could just call us on 800-269-8084.