how to recover data from damaged external hard disk?

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divyansh20feb

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Apr 18, 2015
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I have toshiba external hard disk and now it is damged.My laptop is detecting it but unable to open it(not displaying any external hard disk on 'My Computer'.)
I know chances are low but is there any chances of recovering my data.
 
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

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Jul 31, 2014
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Hey there, divyansh20feb.
That depends on how damaged the drive is. How do you know the drive is detected, e.g. have you checked if it's recognized in Disk Management and Device Manager? If it is recognized in Disk Management, what does it say about the drive and its partition? Here's how to open it:
How to access Disk Management in Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8 to manage hard drives. How was the drive damaged?
For data recovery you could try accessing the HDD via Linux Live CD/USB to see if it's recognized properly and if you can get to your data, or try some of the data recovery programs from this thread: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1644496/lost-data-recovery.html
Another option would be a professional solution, such as a data recovery company.

Hope that helps.
Boogieman_WD
 
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Maarsch

Maarsch

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Sep 14, 2012
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Is this a newer External HDD run purely by USB power?
Or an older one where you have to plug it in a 220V (or whatever based on your location) from a wall socket?

In case of the second you should be able to open up the case and remove the HDD which can then be built into a standard desktop (Find someone that has one that trusts you don' thave virusses on that HDD or go to any computer repair shop). If it isn't the HDD that's the problem, but the power supply, you can recover it that way.
If it is the HDD that's shot I suppose the freezer trick may work. (Please tell me that trick has been debunked since I last dabbled in it.)

In the case of purely USB powered ones . . . I dunno.

In general providing specifics on the parts that are malfunctioning (or the ones they are interfaceing with) helps.
 
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vesp3r

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Dec 11, 2014
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First off you need to determine how badly it is damaged.
1. Check if you see it in the Disk manager section
2. If it is constantly showing and then disappearing you can try to cool the drive before use - put it in a bag to prevent any water to get in contact with it and put it inside your freezer (yes! in the freezer) take it out and quickly connect it to your pc and see if you have stable connection
3. another method is through 3rd party soft - but it wont work unless you get stable connection
Here are some suggestions http://lifehacker.com/5237503/five-best-free-data-recovery-tools
4. If you still cant recover data it might be unrecover-able
 
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Someone Somewhere

Someone Somewhere

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Sep 23, 2012
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2. If it is constantly showing and then disappearing you can try to cool the drive before use - put it in a bag to prevent any water to get in contact with it and put it inside your freezer (yes! in the freezer) take it out and quickly connect it to your pc and see if you have stable connection
Click to expand...
I seem to remember hearing that that's only for the very special situation of stuck bearings. Generally not a good idea otherwise.
 
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vesp3r

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well if his hdd is getting too hot it will do that and will need to be cooled to work for a time...
still i forgot to mention that after doing it he probably wont be able to use the drive for much more time
Anyways, i did recover data from few damaged hdd`s that way

also before doing any of these steps he should just check if its really the drive or the cable
 
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

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Jul 31, 2014
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Hey, vesp3r.
I'm with @Someone Somewhere when it comes to freezing a drive and I wouldn't recommend it. Although on the other hand I agree with you about trying the drive with a different USB cable (not longer than 12") and a different computer to see if the same thing happens. When I read that the disk is damaged, perhaps I made the mistake of taking this for granted and that's why I didn't suggest it right away. Thanks for the additional advice. :)

 
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