My old case of external hard drive was damaged. I bought a new one but it did no

[Tulika]

My old case of external hard drive was damaged. I bought a new one but it did not get recognized in my computer and had no drive name. So I created a new partition and the drive was visible but I did not format the disk. I can't access the drive and it asks to format the disk. I want to have my old data back.did I do something wrong? Can I get my data back? Please help.I am desperate

 

[John_VanKirk]

Hi there,

When you get a new hard drive, it is low level formatted by the manufacturer. There is nothing on it. You have to place a partition on it, then add a file system, so you can add data to it. On this 'new' drive there is nothing on it.

If your old HDD still functional, you don't do anything to it. You just copy your old data to the new hard drive. But you have to format the NEW drive , which places the file system NTFS on it, before it can hold data.

 

[Tulika]

Hello there,

I did not buy a new hard drive. I am just using the old one. The hard drive is encased outside to use with a laptop.That case was changed.The drive is still the same.

Tulika

 

[John_VanKirk]

Hello there,

I did not buy a new hard drive. I am just using the old one. The hard drive is encased outside to use with a laptop.That case was changed.The drive is still the same.

Tulika

Hello,
Now I understand. After exchanging the external case, you HDD wasn't recognized by your laptop.
Then you partitioned the HDD into a new single partition. Wonder if the HDD became damages also since it was not recognized by your OS after the accident.

If you partitioned this drive, you will not be able to see any of your old data. Do Not format it!

You need a program that can find the old partition and replace it.
One of the best programs to do that is Easeus Partition Master (free edition).
Go to their web site, and download it, and run the Partition recovery wizard. Hopefully that will get your data back.

There are other partition recovery programs available, some free, some to purchase, but Aeseus is used by many people.

After you are done, then you can assign a DriveLetter and VolumeName to the Partition

 

[almartin]

You can also try www.powerdatarecovery.com to recover your data and it is free. Also I agree with John don't format your drive before you get the data.