SAMSUNG external hard drive FAILURE - HELP!

FLATCAT4

Reputable
Jun 6, 2014
4
0
4,510
My Samsung external hard drive 1T (P3) has failed. The computers can see something has plugged in, but won't go any further to identify it or allow me to open anything. I have tried to isntall a new device driver - that failed.

Any help in recovering the files most gratefully received!
 
Solution
In Disk Management it will have no name so you may have missed it. It will just say "Raw" on the ribbon so look again.

if definitely not there, the bridge-chip in the enclosure may have failed rather than the drive itself. If possible, extract the drive from the Samsung enclosure and put it in a third-party enclosure. If it doesn't work in that either, the drive has definitely failed and only a data recovery service can get any data off it if you can afford it.

Your present dilemma could so easily have been avoided if you had kept your data backed up. I have four external drives all containing the same data, and I continue to use them that way. When one drive dies I replace it asap.

FLATCAT4

Reputable
Jun 6, 2014
4
0
4,510
Thank you for the advice - I couldn't see it come up in the disk management to change the drive letter. All it had was the HP recovery tools, HP tools, System and Windows (c), and so I clicked on each but didn't want to change the drive letter on any of those.
Any other ideas?
 
In Disk Management it will have no name so you may have missed it. It will just say "Raw" on the ribbon so look again.

if definitely not there, the bridge-chip in the enclosure may have failed rather than the drive itself. If possible, extract the drive from the Samsung enclosure and put it in a third-party enclosure. If it doesn't work in that either, the drive has definitely failed and only a data recovery service can get any data off it if you can afford it.

Your present dilemma could so easily have been avoided if you had kept your data backed up. I have four external drives all containing the same data, and I continue to use them that way. When one drive dies I replace it asap.
 
Solution

FLATCAT4

Reputable
Jun 6, 2014
4
0
4,510
Right. Ok. I think I can see it as 'disk 1' but it says it needs initializing - this is in the disk management section - does this mean I would lose all content? I can see it in the devices list (when I go to 'devices and printers') but I can't open it.