How to backup external hard drive

crazycobra2000

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Aug 28, 2013
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I have a bugged harddrive. Whenever I plug it in it and open file explorer it freezes my entire computer except the cursor. How do I get the files off the external drive to my C drive because I need the files way more than I need the drive.
 
Solution

crazycobra2000

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Aug 28, 2013
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I've tried plugging it in to my desktop, same result. Freezes till I remove the drive, and it's always worked before
 


its sounds like either the enclosure or the HDD is bad then. most external hard drives are just a standard desktop or laptop SATA hard drive so you could see if you can take it out of the enclosure and install it in your desktop to see if it works or you could buy another USB enclosure to install it in too.

this is if your lucky because most external hard drives these days do not have standard connectors

 

crazycobra2000

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It's a seagate 1tb hard drive from Amazon, how do I check if it has a standard connector? Thanks for getting back to me btw
 


either search for youe hard drive model or find a way to open the casing. mind you i would check to see if you have any warranty left before trying something like this because it would certainly void it

 
Solution

RolandJS

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Mar 10, 2017
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If the HD is not suffering an imminent physical failure, rather, is suffering a "logical" failure, you might be able to copy off your data folders and files by booting a usb or dvd Puppy Linux and using its file manager. Right now, I don't know what failure the HD is undergoing.
 

crazycobra2000

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Aug 28, 2013
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Hi, since the last message I've called a external storage recovery line, and they say it's physical damage because I can hear quiet clicks from the drive when it's plugged in. I don't quite understand what you're getting at, but what I need is a way to access the drive and move files off it without going through file explorer as that's what makes my computer crash