How to Recover Data from a Damaged External Hard Drive Safely and Reliably

To recover data from a formatted or damaged disk, follow these steps:

1. Launch the Disk Drill data recovery wizard and locate the damaged disk. 2. Scan the damaged disk. 3. Review the search results. 4. Preview files by double-clicking them. 5. Select the files and folders to recover. 6. Click "Recover" and choose another location to save the recovered data. Read more...

External hard drives are ubiquitous in our daily life because they allow us to store and transfer important files easily and quickly. While we enjoy the convenience it brings, we also encounter the trouble it creates. Data loss from external hard drives is inevitable. You may have accidentally deleted files or formatted the external hard drive. The external hard drive itself might get damaged accidentally and stop showing up in File Explorer or Disk Management. All these issues can lead to data loss, and you can read on to recover files from a corrupted external hard drive.

Part 1: Reliable External Hard Drive Recovery Software

External hard drive corruption due to system file damage and resulting data loss is not uncommon, and anyone can fall prey to such an issue. Resorting to professional software for external hard drive recovery is your best bet to recover files from an external hard drive without formatting. There are numerous external hard drive recovery programs that claim to restore anything from an external hard drive.

Frankly, only a few can yield the desired results. If you're looking for a safe and reliable external hard drive data recovery software to restore deleted files, then you might want to try out the Data Recovery Wizard tool.

As one of the most professional data recovery tools, it has over 10 million users worldwide. It can also recover lost or deleted data from internal hard drives, SD cards, USB flash drives, and more. It boasts several remarkable features:

• Restore data from an external hard drive under various data loss scenarios.
• Effectively, safely, and completely recover photos, audio, music, and emails from any storage device.
• Recover data from a corrupted hard drive, memory card, flash drive, external hard drive, and other storage devices.
• Supports most external hard drive brands, enabling you to recover deleted files from a Samsung external hard drive, as well as SanDisk, Toshiba, and more.

Why do we say it's the best? Is there any proof? Of course. We tested 5 popular data recovery tools. On the same partition (total capacity: 141 GB, available space: 127 GB), we checked how long and how fast they could find lost or deleted files. For a powerful data recovery tool, scanning speed and the ability to find more files are very important. According to our test results, Disk Drill for Windows performed the best. Please check the details in the table below:

Part 2: How to Recover Data from a Damaged Hard Drive

When your external hard drive fails, the first thing you need to do is to get the data off of it before it's lost. This is the only way to recover from a failed hard drive before it becomes inaccessible. But you'll need to make sure that your external hard drive shows up as “Online” in Disk Management.

Then, you can try the best External Hard Drive Recovery software to restore all lost data from the external storage device containing videos.

 

You can also use the following guide to recover lost files from a damaged external hard drive. By the way, the software will automatically fix corrupted files during the data recovery process.

Step 1: Connect your external hard drive to the computer with the right USB cable. Run the Data Recovery Wizard, and you should see your external disk under “External Devices.” This software supports all popular external hard drive brands, including WD, Seagate, Toshiba, LaCie, SanDisk, Samsung, and more.

Select your external drive, then click the “Scan” button.

As the scan progresses, the software will find more and more lost and deleted data, which will be displayed in the scan results. The recovered data will be well organized. You can quickly locate your target file/folder by file type, or search for it by exact file name in the search box.

Step 3: Preview the files found by the “Data Recovery Wizard” scanning algorithm. Then, select the files you want to recover and click “Recover.” To avoid overwriting data, we recommend saving the recovered data to a drive different from the original Seagate hard drive.

Part 3: How to Repair a Damaged External Hard Drive

External hard drive failure is a very common issue, and thousands of people encounter this problem every day. When you're unable to access your external drive, you should follow the solutions below to check and fix it, preventing further data loss:

Check for power and connection issues. It's likely that your device has its own power source, so checking this will be important. Try using a different USB cable. It could be that the old one is faulty. If the external drive is infected with a virus, scan the drive with antivirus software. Run an SFC scan (open Command Prompt and type sfc /scannow). This can help repair Windows operating system files that might be causing your drive to become damaged or lost.

Run CHKDSK to fix file system errors (recommended)

If the above three simple methods don't help, I recommend running CHKDSK to fix file system errors on your external device. The CHKDSK command prompt checks for logical and physical errors in the file system and file system metadata of a volume.

Step 1: Type “cmd” in the search box. Right-click Command Prompt in the search results, and select “Run as administrator.”

Step 2: Type the command: chkdsk E: /f /r /x.

Here, replace E with the drive letter of your disk.

If you're not comfortable using the Command Prompt, you can use a tool like CleanGenius, which has a user-friendly interface for fixing file system errors on your hard drive with a single button.

Step 1. Download the free CleanGenius tool on your computer.

Step 2: Run the software. Click “Optimize” on the left, and then choose “File Display.”

Select the file with the display options

Step 3. Go to the “Select Disk” tab and choose the disk with the file system error. Check the option “Check and fix file system errors,” then click “Execute.”

Step 4: Wait for CleanGenius to finish the repairing process. When it's done, click “Here” to view the results.

Part 4: How to Prevent External Hard Drive Damage/Failure

The best way to prevent data loss is to take preventive measures to minimize the likelihood of external hard drive failures. Here are some tips that may contribute to hard drive damage and how you can avoid them to protect your storage devices: 1. **Regular Backups**: Ensure you frequently back up important data to another computer, cloud storage service, or additional external hard drive. This way, you have a secure copy of your data in case one device fails. 2. **Safe Disconnection**: Make sure to properly shut down or eject the external hard drive before disconnecting it. Avoid pulling the power cord or USB cable while data transfer is in progress, as this could damage the disk. 3. **Antivirus and Malware Protection**: Keep your operating system and antivirus software up to date to prevent viruses or malware from infecting your hard drive and causing data loss or corruption. 4. **Prevent Physical Damage**: Handle the hard drive carefully and store it in a safe place, away from vibrations, drops, or extreme temperatures, which can cause physical harm. 5. **Moderate Usage**: Don't overuse the hard drive and avoid continuous extended operation, as this might lead to overheating and hardware failure. 6. **Update Drivers and Firmware**: Keep your hard drive drivers and firmware up to date, as manufacturers sometimes release updates to fix known issues that could cause problems. 7. **Check and Defragment the Drive**: Regularly run disk checking tools (like Windows' chkdsk or Mac's Disk Utility) to detect and repair errors. Defragmenting the drive can also improve read/write efficiency and reduce the risk of damage. 8. **Limit Concurrently Connected Drives**: Avoid connecting too many external hard drives simultaneously, as this can lead to uneven power distribution and increase the risk of failure. 9. **Use High-Quality Hardware**: Invest in high-quality external hard drives from reputable brands, which typically offer better durability and reliability. 10. **Address Abnormalities Promptly**: If you notice slower read/write speeds, increased noise, or other abnormalities, inspect and address the issue promptly to prevent further deterioration. By following these recommendations, you can effectively safeguard your external hard drive and minimize the risk of data loss.

• Handle your hard drive with care. Keep it in a secure location when it's powered on, and store external hard drives away from direct sunlight.
• Always use the “Safely Remove Hardware” option. Never pull an external hard drive out while files are being accessed, as this can corrupt its data.
• Stay away from magnets. Magnets will wipe all of the data off of an external hard drive, so keep them far away.
• Use the USB plug correctly. When unplugging the USB cable from a device, tug gently on the connector. Don't pull the cord out too harshly or you could damage the connector.
• Backup, backup, backup. Create duplicates of your external hard drive files and upload them to a cloud service like Dropbox or Google Drive. You can also copy them to another drive, or set up a schedule to automatically back up files. It's always good to be prepared.

Conclusions

External hard drive failures and errors are pretty common. If your computer can detect the external HDD, even if all the files appear to be missing, you're lucky. You still have a chance to retrieve lost files with a professional data recovery tool – Data Recovery Wizard. No matter what kind of data loss situation you encounter, this tool is always ready to lend a helping hand.

By the way, if you encounter severe data loss issues, you can contact the Data Recovery Service to restore your lost data. Professional recovery experts can even assist in retrieving data from a damaged external hard drive.

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External Hard Drive Data Recovery Service

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Consult with our Data Recovery Specialist one-on-one and get manual recovery service. After a free diagnosis, we offer the following services:

• Repair damaged RAID configurations, unbootable Windows OS, and corrupted virtual disk files
• Restore/rebuild lost partitions and reformatted drives
• Recover and fix RAW drives (including Bitlocker encrypted drives) after formatting
• Repair disks with GPT protected partitions
• Fix external hard drives without losing data