Recover files from broken external hard disk

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Soren Landbo

Reputable
Jan 28, 2015
1
0
4,510
My 3 year old external has begun to make clicking sounds all of a sudden. At some points when connected i can open the drive, but when i try to move something, it either just freezes, or does nothing. I can see all of my pictures names, but not their miniatures. I cant drag them to my desktop or anything. I have tried some free hard drive recover tools, but most of them just get stuck at loading the files...

Does anyone have a suggestion for recovering my files? Is it possible, or are they lost forever?
 
Solution
F
I would start by examining the SMART report with a tool such as CrystalDiskInfo.

http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html

Look for reallocated, pending, or uncorrectable sectors.

If the HDD has numerous bad sectors, then I would clone it with a tool such as ddrescue (freeware). Depending on the brand of the HDD, there are DIY methods to improve your chances of recovery.

http://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=29187&start=20
http://www.alexsoft.org/viewtopic.php?t=998&p=4345#p4345
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boosted1g

Titan
Jun 12, 2013
14,846
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74,965
If it is clicking then the drive is near death.

If you have a desktop you can try busting open the external's case, and unscrewing it and connecting it via normal sata and power connectors in your desktop (with power off of course). While I don't give this more then a 25-30 percent chance of helping it is the only thing you can do besides pay hundreds to thousands of dollars sending the drive to a data recovery place.
 
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D_Know_WD

D_Know_WD

Judicious
Jul 30, 2014
6,633
3
35,960
Hi there Soren Landbo,

It may be a good idea to start with changing the USB cable. Sometimes, a bad cable could cause clicking sound in external hard drives.
If this does not help though, I would also say that you should try to connect the drive internally. Just make sure that the model is not a hardware encrypted on as you will not be able to retrieve the data if the drive is out of the enclosure.
If this doesn't help as well, then I am afraid you will need to use the services of a data recovery company in case the data is really important.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD
 
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fzabkar

Judicious
Sep 22, 2010
9,374
745
36,390
I would start by examining the SMART report with a tool such as CrystalDiskInfo.

http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html

Look for reallocated, pending, or uncorrectable sectors.

If the HDD has numerous bad sectors, then I would clone it with a tool such as ddrescue (freeware). Depending on the brand of the HDD, there are DIY methods to improve your chances of recovery.

http://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=29187&start=20
http://www.alexsoft.org/viewtopic.php?t=998&p=4345#p4345
 
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