Topic: External hard drive problems

[callanlfc5times]

The USB port on my hard drive has snapped off, does anyone know where I can buy a replacement case for my external hard drive that has a USB port on it? I will be gutted if I lose all my data. Please help

[Sir Harvest Fields]

By the same model and swap it all over?

[callanlfc5times]

By the same model and swap it all over?

Its broke from the motherboard type thing on the hard drive it self not the casing.

[Sir Harvest Fields]

I meant can you not buy the same HD and transfer the actual disk into the new one?

[callanlfc5times]

I meant can you not buy the same HD and transfer the actual disk into the new one?

Pretty sure I could after examining the hard drive, I dont really want to do this straight away though only as a last resort as it was an expensive hard drive, but thanks for giving me a last resort atleast.

[HFD]

You could try one of these
http://www.ebuyer.com/259498-extra-value-2-5-3-5-usb-2-0-docking-station-supports-up-cs667

Got one myself. Works a treat and only costs a tenner.

[callanlfc5times]

You could try one of these
http://www.ebuyer.com/259498-extra-value-2-5-3-5-usb-2-0-docking-station-supports-up-cs667

Got one myself. Works a treat and only costs a tenner.

So I put my external harddrive in this external case and it will work in exactly the same way it did before? For example it would read on both my computer and PS3?

[HFD]

So I put my external harddrive in this external case and it will work in exactly the same way it did before? For example it would read on both my computer and PS3?

Yes, just dismantle your external unit and whip the hd out, will probably be a standard 3.5" sata drive which you can drop into the hd docking station. Works exactly like a normal external hd. Just check first that your old unit is a standard hd, should be pretty simple to take apart.

Did the same when the power supply on my old external unit went pop. Have now bought a couple more drives instead of externals as its cheaper, one of which I use for my ps3.

[John C]

My PC isnt reading my external hard drive, the drive is making a clicking noise. If its fucked I'll lose lots of good stuff - will a technical expert be able to extract the files? Where would I need to go - There's no local PC World.
Ta.

[The Gulleysucker]

Depends on how bad the fault is. It might just be a case of swapping the drive controller board from another identical drive but I've personally never had any great success doing that myself.

However, I've had some success with using testdisk to get stuff of broken drives. You specify via a set of filters what file extensions to search for and to try and retrieve. It can take a few days to run though depending on the size of the drive.

[John C]

Thanks Gulley, I'm just trying to identify which file is the hard drive from the 3 options:-
P windows
* HPFS
P HPFS

Which one?
Thanks

[The Gulleysucker]

I think it's likely to be the P windows option.
Give it a go, it should only be trying to open and recognise the disk at this stage.

[John C]

Thanks Gulley, I've taken it to a shop in Garston and its fucked, there is a chance a specialist company my be able to extract some files so I'll phone them on Monday. Thank you again mate.

[Elmo!]

Thanks Gulley, I've taken it to a shop in Garston and its fucked, there is a chance a specialist company my be able to extract some files so I'll phone them on Monday. Thank you again mate.

We use this company at my work for recovering data from failed hard drives.  They've been successful every time we've used them since I've been there (3 or 4 times) but obviously it depends on the extent of the damage and it is not cheap...

http://www.krollontrack.co.uk/

[John C]

We use this company at my work for recovering data from failed hard drives. 

Thanks mate, I've sent it to a place in Stockport now and it isnt going to be cheap.
Thank you again anyway.

[Tim]

Hi!

Is there a way to fix a corrupted external hard drive so I can get all of the files off it or can't it be fixed?

[The Gulleysucker]

I've had some success with TestDisk and Photorec open source freeware.

Try Photorec first,.

They do take some time to run and recover stuff, depending on the size of the disk....

[SP]

Hi!

Is there a way to fix a corrupted external hard drive so I can get all of the files off it or can't it be fixed?

Try this kind of stuff.

http://lifehacker.com/5951822/how-can-i-recover-data-from-a-dead-or-erased-hard-drive

If it does not work, post a specific question about the errors that you are getting and you'd probably get a more detailed answer.

[John C]

If its making a ticking noise it will probably have a serious mechanical defect and is fucked. If gulleys tip doesn't work there's a few specialist places that will look at it for you for nothing but if they can recover files you may be talking £420 mate.

Its hard to learn the hard way about hard drives - back them up frequently.

Did you drop it?

[Tim]

If its making a ticking noise it will probably have a serious mechanical defect and is fucked. If gulleys tip doesn't work there's a few specialist places that will look at it for you for nothing but if they can recover files you may be talking £420 mate.

Its hard to learn the hard way about hard drives - back them up frequently.

Did you drop it?

It it ticking yeah. My laptop finds it but can't access any of the files. I don't remember dropping it. It just stopped working one day.

I've scanned with a couple of the online tools and they seem to find a lot of the files but you need to purchase the software to actually recover them.

My mate works in the IT department at John Moores, he's gonna have a look if their piece of software can recover them.

[John C]

It it ticking yeah. My laptop finds it but can't access any of the files. I don't remember dropping it. It just stopped working one day.

You'll have a chance of recovery than mate. Turn it off and don't try it at all until someone has looked at it. There's a place in Garston Village on St Mary's Rd that will have a quick look for you for no charge.

[johnsmithlfc]

Hi!

Is there a way to fix a corrupted external hard drive so I can get all of the files off it or can't it be fixed?

I had a similar problem which I still haven't fixed it.... it's a 1TB full of movies and tv shows.
Mine is showing the data/drive as RAW and I've checked the files are on there using free software.... but I'm not sure how to recover and was quoted £130 to transfer to another drive (plus cost of the drive, another £50) and maybe MORE if it had to go to their "Lab"...

Very frustrating as There's some great films and stuff on there but too expensive to get fixed.

[chris2006]

You could try and use FTK imager. Its free forensic imaging tool from AccessData.

http://go.pardot.com/l/46432/2014-07-09/44kh

I think it may limit file extraction to 100 files or so but what you could do is create a .dd image or .e01 file and mount it using Arsenal Image Mounter.

http://arsenalrecon.com/apps/image-mounter/

If the disk is showing as RAW there may be a problem with the first few sectors on the disk as this is where the partition table is stored....

If it's clicking its likely the arm that reads the data is knackered or jammed, in which case every time it's powered up theres a risk the actual platters are going to be damaged....

Its your call brother... Try and recover and risk damaging the disk further or take it to an actual data recovery team for them to do the proper business!

Good luck! 

[Sir Harvest Fields]

Hit it. Works for an ipod.
I bought the same one as the one that was fucked and replaced the discs. I had 30,000 songs on it. No way was i losing them.

[Oddball]

Its hard to learn the hard way about hard drives - back them up frequently.

Is there a way of backing things up but smaller? As in I have an external with TV Films and Music on. Lets say its 600gig. If I backed it up that would be 600 gig wouldnt it and be too much for external drive. Is there a way of making the back up say 100 gig for example? Something (preferably a LOT) lower.

[Elmo!]

Is there a way of backing things up but smaller? As in I have an external with TV Films and Music on. Lets say its 600gig. If I backed it up that would be 600 gig wouldnt it and be too much for external drive. Is there a way of making the back up say 100 gig for example? Something (preferably a LOT) lower.

Your video files are almost certainly already compressed a lot so trying to zip them will make very minimal difference but 600gb is no where near too much for an external drive.

You can get a 1 TB external drive for £50 on Amazon

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elements-Capacity-Portable-Drive-Windows/dp/B00CRZ2PRM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1407352758&sr=8-2&keywords=western+digital+1tb

Or 2 TB for less than £80

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Passport-Ultra-Portable-Drive-Backup/dp/B00CSH19PI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1407352825&sr=8-2&keywords=western+digital+2tb

[John C]

Is there a way of backing things up but smaller? As in I have an external with TV Films and Music on. Lets say its 600gig. If I backed it up that would be 600 gig wouldnt it and be too much for external drive. Is there a way of making the back up say 100 gig for example? Something (preferably a LOT) lower.

The only suggestion I have is to perhaps back up the more precious files like photos or old music. Music can be retrieved easily really can't it?

[Oddball]

Your video files are almost certainly already compressed a lot so trying to zip them will make very minimal difference but 600gb is no where near too much for an external drive.

You can get a 1 TB external drive for £50 on Amazon

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elements-Capacity-Portable-Drive-Windows/dp/B00CRZ2PRM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1407352758&sr=8-2&keywords=western+digital+1tb

Or 2 TB for less than £80

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Passport-Ultra-Portable-Drive-Backup/dp/B00CSH19PI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1407352825&sr=8-2&keywords=western+digital+2tb

No I know it isnt mate, I meant is there a way of making 600 smaller. Thanks though.

The only suggestion I have is to perhaps back up the more precious files like photos or old music. Music can be retrieved easily really can't it?

True mate. Just the thought of the ball ache of getting it all again.

[Rattleduser]

everything I want to keep I burn to a dvdr

[Oddball]

everything I want to keep I burn to a dvdr

Makes sense mate...I just need a dvd burner.

[NuncaCaminarįsSolo]

I had a similar problem which I still haven't fixed it.... it's a 1TB full of movies and tv shows.
Mine is showing the data/drive as RAW and I've checked the files are on there using free software.... but I'm not sure how to recover and was quoted £130 to transfer to another drive (plus cost of the drive, another £50) and maybe MORE if it had to go to their "Lab"...

Very frustrating as There's some great films and stuff on there but too expensive to get fixed.

The exact same thing happened to my external a few months ago and after a bit of searching I came across TestDisk. If you've had other free software find your files then TestDisk surely will as well. The advantage is that it's completely free so you'll be able to copy your files to another drive within the program itself without any cost.

Here's a helpful step by step guide: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step#Quick_Search_for_partitions

[johnsmithlfc]

The exact same thing happened to my external a few months ago and after a bit of searching I came across TestDisk. If you've had other free software find your files then TestDisk surely will as well. The advantage is that it's completely free so you'll be able to copy your files to another drive within the program itself without any cost.

Here's a helpful step by step guide: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step#Quick_Search_for_partitions

Thanks for that, I'll have a play around and see.
Cheers

Seems pretty complicated to be honest, I'm running it and it's searching but I can't really get my head around it to be honest.
Seems people are saying you can't recover stuff and have to download other problems.

I got the message can't open filesystem. filesystem seems damaged.

So I googled that and that leads to lots more stuff.

It's just not going to happen man, I've already come to terms with the fact that the drive is gone.

Thanks anyway mate.

[ChaChaMooMoo]

Not exactly a corrupted HD question but still related to formatting HD.

I had a Dell laptop with 500gb sata 2.5' western digital harddrive. It was working fine and I had windows 7 installed on it.

I recently built up a gaming build that boots up windows 8.1 with a 120gb SSD. I would like to install the 500GB as the secondary drive on the desktop. I tried connecting the HD, but my windows 8.1 doesnt recognise the HD. And I am unable to erase the contents.

Can anyone help me as to how I can format the 500GB HD and installing it as a secondary drive?

[chris2006]

Hi mate,

Does the hard drive show up in Disk Management within the Computer Management console?

[ChaChaMooMoo]

Hi mate,

Does the hard drive show up in Disk Management within the Computer Management console?

Thank you mate. No it doesn't.

It doesn't get detected as well. Nor does it show up in the boot up options at start.

[Ken-Obi]

The ticking bit - could also apply to head parking which some 'green' drives do more aggressively or do they sound different?

[chris2006]

Thank you mate. No it doesn't.

It doesn't get detected as well. Nor does it show up in the boot up options at start.

Wierd.

Could you try sticking it back into the laptop and see if it boots up in there?

If it does could it be something to do with the SATA cable or the port on the motherboard which its being plugged into?

[ChaChaMooMoo]

Wierd.

Could you try sticking it back into the laptop and see if it boots up in there?

If it does could it be something to do with the SATA cable or the port on the motherboard which its being plugged into?

Im so sorry I completely forgot about your response.

I did mate and it does boot up. Im still able to boot up with the 500GB hdd. So it still functions. In my desktop, I tried connecting the DVD rom in the slot that I intend on connecting the 500gb. And it does detect. So there doesnt seem to be any problem. But when I connect the 500gb, it doesnt detect/recognise.

Do you think that the hdd might be incompatible in the desktop? I can upload a photo of the top side of the hdd.

[CaptainBeefheart]

Wondered if anyone can help.

Can't get into it my external hard drive. When I plug it in the light comes on but all I get in My Computer is"Local Disk (H:)".  When i double click it says the parameter is incorrect. 

When I disconnect through the notification icon, it has the actual hard drive name.

[jonnypb]

Try it on a different PC?
Can you hear the HDD spin up?  Possible faulty HDD?
Download a free HDD utility tool to test the HDD.  Something like this http://hddscan.com/
Can you view the contents from within DOS?
Can you easily take the hard drive out or not?  If so try it in an external caddie.