Recover Data from Failed External Hard Drive

How many of you have ever encountered the issue where a memory card gets corrupted and you can't access the data stored on it? Well, I'm currently facing that problem with my camera's SD card, which isn't functioning properly in the camera. I tried connecting it to my computer to see if it would read there, but it seems the card is damaged and isn't showing any content or being detected at all. Does anyone here know how to resolve this issue?

Is it possible to recover data from a damaged/failed external hard drive?

Before determining the feasibility of recovering files from a damaged external hard drive, you need to identify its status in Disk Management. Navigate to "This PC" > "Manage" > "Disk Management" to check its status. Usually, you'll find a damaged USB drive in one of the following conditions:

• Your USB drive is completely unrecognizable or undetected by Windows.
• Your external hard drive shows up as "Online" in Disk Management, but you can't access its files because the partition is displayed as RAW or missing.
• Your external hard drive appears as "Lost," "Uninitialized," or "No Media" in Disk Management.

If your external hard drive still doesn't show up in Windows after you've checked your connections and updated your device drivers, or if there's physical or electrical damage to your device, your hard drive is likely truly broken. Data on a physically damaged or failed external hard drive can only be recovered with a professional manual data recovery service.

However, if your device is being recognized or detected by your computer like the first two cases or your external hard drive lights up but won't work, you still have the chance to recover data from the corrupted USB drive and fix the faulty device on your own.

How to Recover Data from a Damaged External Hard Drive

The time it takes to perform the external hard drive recovery depends on your specific situation.

Method 1: Recover Data from the External Hard Drive & Format the Drive If It's Not Working

If your external hard drive shows RAW file system or if you have lost partitions, recover files from the external hard drive first and then format it directly.

When your external hard drive can be detected but not accessed, the Data Recovery Wizard tool - Data Recovery Wizard, can help you recover data from the failed external hard drive. The software supports data recovery from local/external hard drives, USB flash drives, memory cards, and other common storage devices, whether the data has been deleted, formatted, or lost.

Recover Data from External Hard Drive:

Video Tutorial:

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Step 1. Connect your <external hard drive> to your computer using the correct USB cable. Run Disk Drill and you'll see your external disk listed under “External Drives.” The software supports all popular external hard drive brands, such as WD, Seagate, Toshiba, LaCie, SanDisk, Samsung, and so on.

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

Step 2: As the scan progresses, the software will find more and more of your lost and deleted data, displaying it in the scan results. The recovered data is well organized. You can quickly locate your target file/folder by file type, or search for it by entering its exact name in the search box.

Step 3: You can preview the files found by the scanning algorithm of the Data Recovery Wizard. Then, select the files and click 'Recover'. To avoid data overwriting, we recommend saving the recovered data to a different drive than the original Seagate one.

Now that you have successfully recovered all your files, you can format the external hard drive to make it usable again.

Step 1: Connect the external drive to your computer.

Step 2: Open “This PC.” Right-click on your hard drive and select “Format.”

Step 3: In the new window, set up your file system and click Start.

Step 4 Click “OK” in the warning window to begin formatting the device.

Method 2: Repair the Damaged External Hard Drive and Recover Your Data

If your external hard drive shows up as "Lost," "Uninitialized," or "No Media" in Disk Management, you'll first need to try fixing the damaged external hard drive before recovering files from the device with data recovery software.

When an external hard drive shows up as "Lost" in Disk Management, it could be due to a damaged or disconnected USB device. In this case, reconnect your USB flash drive or USB hard disk and reactivate it (right-click on the USB in Disk Management and choose "Reactivate Disk"). If that doesn't work, use data recovery software to salvage your data as much as possible.

If your external hard drive shows up as "unknown not initialized" or "no media", you can refer to the detailed articles for fixing. If it prompts to recover your damaged external hard drive to a normal state, you can use the tool Data Recovery Wizard to recover files from the external hard drive. If not, send the damaged external hard drive for manual repair.

Bottom line

Depending on the state of your external hard drive, data recovery can be both easy and difficult. If your external hard drive is still recognizable, don't hesitate to use a “Data Recovery Wizard” tool and try to fix the corrupted USB drive. If not, you can still refer to many tips available in the relevant article.

For various reasons, an external hard drive or other storage device can become damaged, corrupted, or fail altogether. If you don't want to lose your valuable files, backing up your files regularly is a good idea.

Also applies to: USB flash drives, memory cards, and other external storage devices