jpicc1113

Does anyone know who restores hard drives....I'm not able to retrieve my photos....Please Help!!!!!

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

Google it. It’s not likely to be cheap. Good thing you have a backup—right??

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Describe the symptoms - is the drive spinning? (You can feel it). If so, can your OS disk manager see the drive letter? Have you tried a different cable? If the external drive has a seperate power supply (wall wart), have you checked or swapped it (is it warm?). Have you tried connecting to a different computer? Answering these basic questions will help us help you.

TBerwick Loc: Houston, Texas

If the drive is spinning, you have a fair chance of recovering the files. A good portion of the time, the electronics fail in the data interface of the external drive. The drive could be mounted in a similar housing or as a 2nd drive in a desktop system. Do you have any buddies who might be computer geeks?

JeffL Loc: New Jersey

There is a software product called “Rescue PC” that helped me recover a failed drive. Check it out. It isn’t perfect. I had a drive fail last week that it couldn’t read. However, I use an online backup service called “BackBlaze” and restored my data. Nothing lost.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

BackBlaze has saved me in the past. Relatively inexpensive

BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

Long story short - I hit the wrong command and the software removed all of my images. Had to send off to recovery company and it cost me a bit more than $1,700.

Mick 53 Loc: Minneapolis

You might want to consider Carbonite in the future. They will back up your computer and another drive. My 2TB external hard drive crashed and they moved the back up to my new external hard drive. Memories are priceless. Good luck.

catchlight.. Loc: Wisconsin USA- Halden Norway

The data is not lost if you have not over written and the drive is still running. The only data that is lost is the file information. Any online recovery program will work. The average cost is about $75.

NCMtnMan Loc: N. Fork New River, Ashe Co., NC

Since it is an external drive, the drive itself may not have anything wrong with it. However, the housing and its electronics could be bad. An external drive is simply an internal drive in a case or housing. It could also be a problem with the USB cable you're using or the port on the computer. If you haven't already, try plugging it into a different port on your pc and try a different cable as well. Also, if you haven't shut your computer down, not a reboot, then try that as well with the external drive turned off and disconnected from the pc. Then turn pc on and let it go through all of its boot up process. Give it plenty of time so there is nothing trying to run on it. Then turn the external drive back on and plug it back in. If it doesn't have a power switch on it then it is being powered through the USB connection which is another good reason to try a different cable and port. If none of this works, then I would take it to a good local pc shop to let them look at it. They should also be able to open the housing and take the drive out to see if it actually is bad. If it's not, then it can be put in a different housing to continue using for small dollars.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

All your data is probably still on the disks. That's the good news. If what NCMtnMan didn't help, look for a local computer shop. Ask around first, though. Some can charge a lot for doing very little.

Of course, in the future, you will have multiple backups, right?

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Despite the many good suggestions, we’re all just guessing until the OP answers the basic questions that I and others have asked. It continues to surprise me that we get a frantic request for help (often on data recovery from failed cards/drives and computers or a mal-functioning camera), but then the essential information for an accurate diagnosis and fix goes lacking. Waiting for the information...

jpicc1113

I brought the external hard drive to my local computer store and had him check it out. He the owner checked it out and told me that their was very little movement from the drive. He then suggested I send it out to a data restoring professional but it would cost 700.00 or more....I thought it was a lot of money....he obviously wouldn't give me the name of the company that would try to expedite my problem....so I thought I would try UHH

photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA

I don't know where you're located, but take your computer to a local (not big box) computer store that has tech support. They may be able to retrieve your photos and other data. Kaplan Computers, here in Manchester CT, are my go to guys when it comes to computer sales and support. I don't work for them, but they are a good, reputable company, with knowledgeable people who go to the extra mile.

It's important to have at least 3 external hard drives because they do fail and when they do, it's not pretty.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

I have a guy in Chandler, AZ who has saved my bacon a few times. He kept saying, "have multiple backups." I'm a slow learner, I guess. Now I do, so I haven't had to see him for awhile. I'll give you his name and contact into if you want it. He's very good and is medium priced.