TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

If it’s the actual mechanical drive rather than the controller board (on the drive), you might try one of two “last resorts” to get it to spin up so you can get the data off.

Method 1. With the drive attached directly to the computer (both power and SATA cables), give it a hard flat handed slap on the flat side of the case (opposite the controller board)

Method 2. Place the drive in a sealed plastic zip lock bag with minimum (air space) and place in the freezer for an hour or so before removing and trying to restart it.

Finally, if you suspect the controller board on the drive is bad and have access to the same make model drive that you are willing to potentially sacrifice AND have the requisite skill set, you can swap the controller board.

AirWalter Loc: Tipp City, Ohio

Have you tried removing the drive from the case that is in and hooking it up directly to your computer on one of the empty sata connectors? You might find that there is nothing wrong with the drive. It could just be the wiring from the case to the usb connector.

Kuzano

In over 25 years of computer teching External Hard drives (most have an enclosure or caddy in which a standard hard drive is enclosed) the failures are one of two possible.

1) the actual hard drive fails
2) the enclosure which contains an actual hard drive fails

The larger majority of failures occur with the enclosure. The enclosures are not often built to the same standards as the hard drive. Quality control on hard drives is vastly superior to QC on the enclosures. They are separate units.

The vast majority of failed EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE ENCLOSURES in my experience is LaCie. Seagate has built their market over time by buying out Hard Drive manufacturers and peripheral manufactures that are failing. They bought Quantum and Bigfoot, Maxtor and others going broke due to QC issues.

A relatively recent acquisition by Seagate was LaCie. They had previously been selling Seagate drives to LaCie to be installed in EXTERNAL DRIVE ENCLOSURES.

OP, If your enclosure has failed instead of the actual hard drive, it's entirely possible that the drive is intact and will work properly OUT of the enclosure. This has more often been the case on External drive failures I have worked with.

Hard drives inside your computer do not fail in the same percentile as those installed in separate external enclosures. ie. example the terrible history with LaCie (taken over by Seagate)

It is to be noted hear that Seagate does bring up the Quality Control on their actuisitions, but there is often a bump in their numbers in QC. I have often found it odd that Seagate builds their numbers in this way. However such takeovers are not uncommon in the tech world.

This is why my backup configurations start with triple redundancy. I require at least three functioning backups of each file to fulfill a minimum standard to even suggest that you are covered with a working backup. In addition, at least one of those must be off-site from your location. In fact the best plan is a functioning fourth copy off site.

One's efforts devoted to a secure backup system should be an integral part of your work flow, or you are sadly deficient and will lose valuable data. It's called DAM for a reason. Digital Asset Management.

jaycoffman Loc: San Diego

I have almost the same problem as you--also Seagate. (My second Seagate with same problem--fool my once, shame on you; fool my twice, shame on me--won't happen again.) I took mine to a local guy who is quite good but he couldn't recover anything including the ones that showed up sort of as ghosts in pictures. He referred me to a forensic computer guy who may or may not have been able to recover the images but the cost was prohibitive. Sorry I don't have a better answer but let's both look for another brand of external hard drive.

AntonioReyna Loc: Los Angeles, California

Some of the older external drives were more problematic. When I had that happen, I had computer shot recover and put on newer external hard drive.

df389w Loc: Canada

Yes cover has been removed, still no luck.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

There is no doubt that if the cover of a hard drive is opened it voids the warranty.

The thumbnails are small images. They are not the original full size image. Yes you can access the thumbnails and back them up.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I’m hoping he means the cover of the external case, not the actual hard drive 😫.

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

If they are really important turn to a Pro. There are many companies out there that specialized in recovering files from crashed hard drives. I have seen several recommended by UHH members. Don't try to do it yourself, the risk is too high.

albertaoldie Loc: Lloydminster Alberta

This may seem crazy but try putting it in the freezer overnight. This actually worked with a laptop that the harddrive had died in. Took two trys but it came back to life enough to recover my data.

ChuckMc Loc: Prescott, AZ

Google an application called Recuva. I hope you have not written to that failed disk in the interim. Best of luck to you.
Chuck

ChuckMc Loc: Prescott, AZ

And that freezing trick often works.