need help fixing an external hard drive

1. 2019-09-05 at 4:37 PM UTC

   #1
   Japan-Is-Eternal Naturally Camouflaged
   So at one point while I was moving files I accidentally knocked the hard drive over and it disconnected, ever since it just loads and loads and nothing happens, if I open the file explorer it freezes up.
   How can I fix the drive while keeping the files safe?
2. 2019-09-05 at 4:42 PM UTC

   #2
   

   G4LM African Astronaut
   Is it making any squeaky noise?
3. 2019-09-05 at 4:43 PM UTC

   #3
   Japan-Is-Eternal Naturally Camouflaged

   Originally posted by G4LM Is it making any squeaky noise?

   
   the hard drive is perfectly fine
   it's just that the driver or something is corrupt
4. 2019-09-05 at 4:45 PM UTC

   #4
   

   G4LM African Astronaut

   Originally posted by Japan-Is-Eternal the hard drive is perfectly fine
   it's just that the driver or something is corrupt

   
   So does it recognize the device still? Have you tried simply reinstalling the driver?
5. 2019-09-05 at 4:46 PM UTC

   #5
   

   vindicktive vinny Black Hole
   was it dropped ?
6. 2019-09-05 at 4:49 PM UTC

   #6
   Japan-Is-Eternal Naturally Camouflaged

   Originally posted by G4LM So does it recognize the device still? Have you tried simply reinstalling the driver?

   
   Windows recognizes it, but it won't load the hard drive.
   When I try going to disk manager it hangs while loading the drives until I disconnect the external drive.
   I tried uninstalling the drive while it was connected but that too just hung there.
7. 2019-09-05 at 5:16 PM UTC

   #7
   

   vindicktive vinny Black Hole

   Originally posted by Japan-Is-Eternal Windows recognizes it, but it won't load the hard drive.
   When I try going to disk manager it hangs while loading the drives until I disconnect the external drive.
   I tried uninstalling the drive while it was connected but that too just hung there.

   
   the read heads are stucked.
8. 2019-09-05 at 5:34 PM UTC

   #8
   Japan-Is-Eternal Naturally Camouflaged
   is there any kind of machine I can buy where I can take the platters out of the broken drive and recover the data off them?
9. 2019-09-05 at 5:40 PM UTC

   #9
   

   Grylls Cum Looking Faggot [abrade this vocal tread-softly]
   use a magnet on it
10. 2019-09-06 at 11:26 AM UTC

    #10
    Japan-Is-Eternal Naturally Camouflaged
    It's probably a firmware issue
    what can be done?
    I might look into buying one of these tools to rebuild the hard drive's firmware.
    
    
11. 2019-09-06 at 11:43 AM UTC

    #11
    

    vindicktive vinny Black Hole

    Originally posted by Japan-Is-Eternal is there any kind of machine I can buy where I can take the platters out of the broken drive and recover the data off them?

    
    no need for that.
    
    just get the torx screw driver of the right size and open the stainless steel cover.
    
    do it by holding the HDD upsidedown to minimize the dusts that land on the disc.
12. 2019-09-06 at 12:16 PM UTC

    #12
    Japan-Is-Eternal Naturally Camouflaged

    Originally posted by vindicktive vinny no need for that.
    
    just get the torx screw driver of the right size and open the stainless steel cover.
    
    do it by holding the HDD upsidedown to minimize the dusts that land on the disc.

    
    and then what?
13. 2019-09-06 at 4:17 PM UTC

    #13
    

    vindicktive vinny Black Hole

    Originally posted by Japan-Is-Eternal and then what?

    
    see if the read/write heads are ok and the servo arm is still swinging.
    
    can it seek/read/write ?
    
    you still havent answer if you dropped it.
14. 2019-09-06 at 7:44 PM UTC

    #14
    

    Admin African Astronaut
    Did you spill water on it?
15. 2019-09-07 at 7:18 AM UTC

    #15
    

    Grylls Cum Looking Faggot [abrade this vocal tread-softly]
    how much cp is on it?
16. 2019-09-07 at 8:20 AM UTC

    #16
    

    aldra JIDF Controlled Opposition
    it's probably just that the filesystem is corrupted
    
    chkdisk it
17. 2019-09-08 at 1:11 PM UTC

    #17
    

    Grimace motherfucker [my enumerable hindi guideword]
    Use TestDisk (https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk) to see if it can recover anything. Honestly though, I see this constantly. "Son knocked over my external hard drive", "Cat knocked over my external hard drive", "Dog knocked over my external hard drive" "Husband knocked over my external hard drive.". Some of them are designed in a way to stand upright on their side. Huge no-no. Never do that. They should be lying flat to the surface they are on. They are easily tilted over and when a hard drive spinning at 7200RPMs or higher tilts over, slams into a desk or the floor, often times, what you see is head damage. The heads are the tiny little magnetic "reader" that reads the data on the platters. Yes, the heads can be replaced, but not by you most likely.
    
    Almost certainly this requires a professional data recovery lab that specializes in physically damaged hard drives. I have a recommendation in Atlanta, GA as well as one in Toronto if you are interested.
    The following users say it would be alright if the author of this post didn't die in a fire!

    • Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, 
    • aldra
18. 2019-09-08 at 8:28 PM UTC

    #18
    

    Admin African Astronaut
    Did you connect the cable backwards?
19. 2019-09-11 at 1:13 AM UTC

    #19
    Japan-Is-Eternal Naturally Camouflaged

    Originally posted by Grimace Use TestDisk (https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk) to see if it can recover anything. Honestly though, I see this constantly. "Son knocked over my external hard drive", "Cat knocked over my external hard drive", "Dog knocked over my external hard drive" "Husband knocked over my external hard drive.". Some of them are designed in a way to stand upright on their side. Huge no-no. Never do that. They should be lying flat to the surface they are on. They are easily tilted over and when a hard drive spinning at 7200RPMs or higher tilts over, slams into a desk or the floor, often times, what you see is head damage. The heads are the tiny little magnetic "reader" that reads the data on the platters. Yes, the heads can be replaced, but not by you most likely.
    
    Almost certainly this requires a professional data recovery lab that specializes in physically damaged hard drives. I have a recommendation in Atlanta, GA as well as one in Toronto if you are interested.

    
    I already did that before making the thread and it didn't work.
    Nothing works, if it's plugged in everything hangs until I disconnect the drive.
    I'll probably buy one of those devices that rebuilds the firmware, hopefully that'll work.
    I had some pretty good files on the drive, pictures and songs I made from a decade ago.
20. 2019-09-12 at 12:14 AM UTC

    #20
    

    Admin African Astronaut
    Did your dog chew it?