Recovering Files From Crashed External Drive

flying_hun

flying_hun

Adverse Selection
Any recommendations on how I can recover files from an external drive I was using for backup (yeah, that didn't exactly work out). Initially I got an error that there was a USB device that wasn't recognized. Now, no matter what PC I connect it to, it isn't recognized as being present.

What's the best way to proceed?

Thanks!
 
kelsodeez

kelsodeez

2wheels good 4wheels bad
I am going to assume that its a HDD and not SSD. Can you hear it spinning when you plug it in? If not, A little trick i learned on how to get a HDD to work for a short time (just enough to extract your data) is to put it in the freezer for a little bit and then try to get the files off of it before it crashes again.
 
rodr

rodr

Well-known member
First thing I'd try is a different USB cable. Definitely sounds like a hardware problem.
 
berth

berth

Well-known member
You might also try a different drive housing. Take the one in this one, and put it in another. Could be the housing itself is bad.
 
flying_hun

flying_hun

Adverse Selection
I have recovered most of the files! :party

The only ones I haven't are those I ran out of room for. I'll get them later.

Thanks for all of your help!
 
flying_hun

flying_hun

Adverse Selection
dravnx said:
Kurt, how did you do it?
Glad it worked out.
Click to expand...

Magic? Dumb luck?

Okay, I went out to get a new cable. I had already tried re-seating both ends of the cable several times, so I didn't think it was a connection. However, tried the new cable, and it didn't appear to work. Then I reconnected the old cable, and suddenly the drive became visible to the PC. Maybe the contacts were dirty and it took multiple re-seatings to get them clean enough. Not sure. Time to retire it in any event.
 
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