Recovering files from external hdd?

Toots

I think there's a problem with my hdd, it's making strange noises and my pc is not detecting it when I connect it. I'm going to see whether I can have it fixed or not. Is there any way of recovering the files on it if it can't be fixed?if fixing it is going to wipe it or something? I have all my music and photos on it. The music I'm not too bothered about, but I'd be devastated if I lost the photos.

Any ideas?

Karoma

What sort of noise? clicking, scraping..?
If it's just the enclosure (the casing), then there shouldn't be any data loss.
If it's the HDD - it depends on what's causing it; it might be recoverable but not practical (It'll cost too much.)

What HDD? Can you open up the ext. HDD? Is it in warranty?

Toots

Karoma wrote: »

What sort of noise? clicking, scraping..?
If it's just the enclosure (the casing), then there shouldn't be any data loss.
If it's the HDD - it depends on what's causing it; it might be recoverable but not practical (It'll cost too much.)

What HDD? Can you open up the ext. HDD? Is it in warranty?

No, can't open the ext. It's an iomega 500gb hdd. It's in warranty, but I have my suspicions that my bf knocked it off the table. It's a high pitched whine and then a clunk. quite loud too

its also making a kinda 'boing' sound like a cartoon spring

meathman 007

oops, this happened to my external hardrive and i lost everything - i sent it back to amazon and they sent me a new one in exchange, i wouldnt give up hope though, there is every chance someone with a bit of knowledge of pc's could recover it for you

gamer

if its out of warranty ,if you know some tech smart pal,ask him to open the drive ,take out the hdd and set it up as a slave drive,sata,or ide inside a pc.THE data,usb,to ide/sata cables may be loose inside case.DOES THE hd active light flash when you try and acess it.ALL the data could be copied thru pc to drive c, or another external drive.IF UNDER WARRANTY,OPENING THE CASE ,voids the warranty usually.INSIDE its just a standard ide,or sata hardrive.IF sata,you,d need a sata data cable,and sata power cable to connect to a pc, i,m assuming your pc has a sata motherbord interface on it,usually orange/red 2inchx1inch approx size.if its dropped when its not on,or NOT read,writing, or loading prog,data, acessing the drive heads it should be ok,re recovering data,data cable inside could have partly slipped out ,like a cdrom,or pc ide cable ,or hd ide ,sata cable,sumtimes works itself loose.

Toots

Thanks for all the advice guys, well I just rang peats and they said if the drive is sent for repair, it'll be formatted in case there's any viruses on it, so that's not really a good option. I'd be reluctant to open it myself as it's still under warranty and there's a big sticker thing over the top of the case that'll tear if I open it so they'll know. Peats reccommended a place called 'Back from the Future' on Aungier st, so I gave them a call and they said to drop it in, and they'll have a look. I hope it's not too expensive. I'd probably be willing to pay about E100 or thereabouts to get the files, as there's photos from my trip around the world and all sorts on it that I've not had a chance to print yet If it's gonna be really pricey tho I'm gonna have to go out and make myself some technologically minded friends.

Is there a computers and technology beers anytime soon?:o

gamer

CHANCES are high the data can be recovered,by setting it up as drive d: in a standard pc,then copy to another external hd, or dvd r disks ,1disk holds 4.2 gig approx,or just copy the photos if you are short on space, pc world have 500gig drives external,120euro approx,could take 15mins to install the drive in a pc,its pretty simple .Like installing a new dvdrom drive.

Toots

Could I install it as a drive D in a laptop some way?

yoyo

Toots85 wrote: »

Could I install it as a drive D in a laptop some way?

You would need to install it into a dekstop pc (Externals like this are 3.5") or if you can get a SATA cable to usb you could possibly use a laptop. I'm guessing its a SATA drive due to capacity (Newer drives generally are), you would need a pc with sata connector, sata cable and sata power to do this, theres a chance you could get data back this way, but like all broken hard disks, you cant be 100% you can recover anything

Nick

gamer

YOU can buy usbto ide/sata cable in peats dublin,28euro approx.IT connects ide,or sata hd to any laptop or pc via usb.Search peats.com usb cables,you,d still need to open casing ,take out the hd to connect into the hd data interface,and connect power to it.Theres no gaurantee of recovering all files,look at www.pcinspector.de, it has free download ,program to recover files from any hardrive.IF your a techy ,experienced its easier quicker to install it in a pc as drive d,open the case plug it in the cable going to the dvd drive,if its an ide hardrive.Knock off all power to pc while doing this.TAKE out pc plug from power /esb socket.You could get a pentium 3 on boards for like 40euros,or maybe free on adverts .ie .