Help!. Data Recovery for External Hard Drive

[MzT]

I accidentally dropped my BACKUP hard drive. Currently, my computer only recognizes it as "local drive". I've been running CHKDSK /f /r so I can see some of the files. But, what else can I do?

With the right software, if I grab the files off of the corrupted drive, I can work with that. But, what do I use?. What do I need?

Help!

Edited January 2, 2016 by MzT

[vern]

Might try this program.


http://filehippo.com/download_teracopy/

[LoneWanderer]

Oh no, that sucks!

I haven't had major problems with a broken HD so but I have found a free tool called Recuva (http://www.piriform.com/recuva/) to be pretty good. Also use that company's other programs for computer maintenance (Defraggler and CCleaner).

[pnutts]

Try a free program from this link. http://www.majorgeeks.com/mg/sortname/data_recovery_233b.html

[Musky]

The problem with dropping the hard drive is the physical damage makes it hard to recover data. You may have dislodged the read/write heads. If that is the case, you would need to send it to a hard drive recovery service who will disassemble the drive and remove the platters (these contain the data) and put them in a working drive. All this is done in a "clean room" and it's very expensive. 

 

I also like "Recuva" as Julius suggested above, but if that doesn't work or if the system cannot read the drive, there is not much you can do yourself.

[Peanuts]

The problem with dropping the hard drive is the physical damage makes it hard to recover data. You may have dislodged the read/write heads. If that is the case, you would need to send it to a hard drive recovery service who will disassemble the drive and remove the platters (these contain the data) and put them in a working drive. All this is done in a "clean room" and it's very expensive. 

 

I also like "Recuva" as Julius suggested above, but if that doesn't work or if the system cannot read the drive, there is not much you can do yourself.

This is what happened to me, took it to a computer shop and the only option was sending it away to the clean room. It was going to cost at least £400 And there was no guarantee of success. We decided not to do it, but I've kept the hard drive in case one day I'm feeling rich I was gutted as it contained all the photos of my son from birth until age 3. I'd saved them all on there and wiped the laptop. A lesson for me in backing up the back up!

[MzT]

The data recovery efforts were taking a very long time so I decided to reformat the drive which ALSO took a long long time.

I really think the drive is damaged enough not to try to use it for much more than a brick so I will likely just purchase a new drive.

[Qapla]

Many years back I had a hard drive crash, it was an IDE drive. Keep in mind, it was not dropped, it just quit working correctly. I was a bit taken back since I had some things on that drive that I did not have anywhere else.

 

I kept the drive after I had replaced it.

 

After I had access to the Internet and was able to do some serious searching, I determined that my drive may actually still work if I changed the controller board. In order for this to work I had to have an "exact" replacement for the board, as they are very particular about such things. It must be the same series and certain other numbers have to match.

 

I found someone with the exact same drive on eBay - had all the right numbers. I bid on it and won.

 

When I got the drive, I removed the control board and installed it on mine and was able to retrieve all my data.