Dead external drives...
Apr 16, 2020 10:07:01 #
Is there a Dr. Frankenstein??? Is it possible?? Can the dead be bought back to life???
Apr 16, 2020 10:12:19 #
Mark Williams wrote:
Is there a Dr. Frankenstein??? Is it possible?? Can the dead be bought back to life???
Give us some actionable details, such as:
Brand / size HD
Brand / OS host computer
Your typical usage, such as file types, programs loaded, etc
When they 'die', what are the symptoms, how do you make this assessment?
Are they covered by warranty?
etc
Apr 16, 2020 10:14:54 #
It depends on if it is truly dead (no power) or if it has merely scrambled your data.
Is it powered by a USB port or does it have its own power supply?
If it is powered externally, remove the drive (it is separate from the internal power supply) and use an adapter that converts the drive's data connection to a USB connection and plug it into a spare port on your computer.
If it is USB-powered, it is a bit more delicate.
You swap the platters with the ones in a working USB drive and see if you can recover the data.
If it is solid state, it's usually toast.
You can, however send it to a recovery outfit and they can run software to try to recover whatever data has not been corrupted.
This is also the path to take if it is still running, but the data is "missing".
Good luck!
Is it powered by a USB port or does it have its own power supply?
If it is powered externally, remove the drive (it is separate from the internal power supply) and use an adapter that converts the drive's data connection to a USB connection and plug it into a spare port on your computer.
If it is USB-powered, it is a bit more delicate.
You swap the platters with the ones in a working USB drive and see if you can recover the data.
If it is solid state, it's usually toast.
You can, however send it to a recovery outfit and they can run software to try to recover whatever data has not been corrupted.
This is also the path to take if it is still running, but the data is "missing".
Good luck!
Apr 16, 2020 10:20:35 #
CHG_CANON wrote:
Give us some actionable details, such as:
Brand / size HD
Brand / OS host computer
Your typical usage, such as file types, programs loaded, etc
When they 'die', what are the symptoms, how do you make this assessment?
Are they covered by warranty?
etc
Brand / size HD
Brand / OS host computer
Your typical usage, such as file types, programs loaded, etc
When they 'die', what are the symptoms, how do you make this assessment?
Are they covered by warranty?
etc
Wow, you mean "broke" isn't a good description???
Apr 16, 2020 10:22:46 #
Seagate 2tb back up plus ultra slim metal rescue edition Windows photos only expired warranty no light no vibration... does not register... there are other different brands much older
Apr 16, 2020 19:05:24 #
Does the drive enclosure have a separate power supply, or is the drive powered via the USB port?
Apr 17, 2020 08:04:30 #
TriX wrote:
Does the drive enclosure have a separate power supply, or is the drive powered via the USB port?
These are all the small usb plug in drives
Apr 17, 2020 08:52:59 #
Longshadow wrote:
Wow, you mean "broke" isn't a good description???
Not in our house!
Coming from the grandkids' mouths, it means one of their toys is no longer working the way it should.
Coming from the sons' mouths, it means they're out of money and "Mom, can you lend me some?"
It never has anything to do with photography, photographic equipment, or computers....
Apr 17, 2020 09:08:45 #
I recently had a Seagate drive "die" on me. I took it to my local computer repair store and they put the old drive in a new housing and it's been working great. Take care & ...
Apr 17, 2020 09:26:56 #
NCMtnMan
Loc: N. Fork New River, Ashe Co., NC
Mark Williams wrote:
These are all the small usb plug in drives
Most likely a 2.5 inch SATA drive. Have you tried using a different USB cable or different USB port on your computer or trying it on a different computer? You'd be surprised how many times a cable can go bad. All it takes is one wire not making connection. If none of these things work, then you can just pop the case open carefully, gently remove the drive and get a drive enclosure for a 2.5 inch drive and connect it to that enclosure. It can be an enclosure that has its own power supply. You could also take the drive as it is to a local computer repair store and give them permission to open it and test the drive. If it is good, then they may have an enclosure they can sell you and put the drive in. With SATA drive the 2 connectors are keyed so that you can see which way they connect. Large one is power and the small one is data.
Apr 17, 2020 09:31:26 #
Mark Williams wrote:
Is there a Dr. Frankenstein??? Is it possible?? Can the dead be bought back to life???
Why did you start a second posting for the same problem?
Apr 17, 2020 10:19:47 #
Mark Williams wrote:
Is there a Dr. Frankenstein??? Is it possible?? Can the dead be bought back to life???
Why didn't you ask this in your other post?
Apr 17, 2020 10:30:02 #
Mark Williams wrote:
Is there a Dr. Frankenstein??? Is it possible?? Can the dead be bought back to life???
Not worth the trouble. If it dies and gets revived, would you trust it? On the other hand, if it is actually repaired, it should be okay. However, a new one would probably cost less than a repair.
Apr 17, 2020 11:08:02 #
Maybe the power supplies in your external units failed. Over 15 years I have had three external hard drives fail. I gently removed them from their cases planning to buying new cases for the harddrives but first, as a means of troubleshooting the units themselves, installed them in my DROBO (I did wonder if the drives might damage the DROBO but prior to these event, had two drives fail in it with no problem) where they have continued working for more than five years.
I have since learned from the guys at Micro Center that it is not unusual for the power supplies in external hard drive cases to fail and, as in my case, the hard drives are still completely functional.
I have since learned from the guys at Micro Center that it is not unusual for the power supplies in external hard drive cases to fail and, as in my case, the hard drives are still completely functional.
Apr 17, 2020 11:52:49 #
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