[sean.bonner]

I think my external just copped out on me...
So long 200gbs of media...
So long 150gbs of Hip.

I'm not really sure what happened...but is there anyway that the kind folks at some type of store (perhaps Future Shop) can fix this/is it all possible for me to recover my data?

[chris]

Depending on what happened to it, there may be a way to recover the data. The Best Buy Geek Squad or your local equivalent would be my suggestion if you want to take it to a store.

If you are more adventurous, do some googling as there are lots of tools online that might help you out. There is probably/hopefully a Hipbaser who can point you in the right direction about Windows software. And if you've switched to Mac, I'll help you out.

[markslog]

Have you tried taking the hard drive out of the external case and directly connecting the drive to the IDE or SATA ports in your computer. Or getting a new external case and putting the drive in the new case. I have found a lot of the cheaper External Hard Drive cases go bad regularly.

When you power the external case can you hear the hard drive spinning up?

[sean.bonner]

Yeah I can hear it spinning... but it does make irregular noises that I've never heard it make before.
And I'm not sure I want to take it out of the case, as I'm technologically inept and am afraid that I will just do something to make a bad situation worse.
When I connect the hard-drive, my computer makes the "hardware found" sound... it just seems to not read whats on the drive.
I'm gonna keep trying a few things.
Thanks Mark.

[sean.bonner]

Anyone else have some suggestions?

[chris]

Put the hard drive in the freezer for a while and then try it.

There aren't other suggestions because there aren't other options.

[MattyM]

Hit it with a hammer... it won;t fix it but it'll vent your frustration.

[markslog]

Anyone else have some suggestions?

Sean:

If you send it to me I'll attempt to fix. I have recovered many a bad hard drive over the last 10 years. I still think its the external case. The case is probably not providing enough power to the hard drive. Windows is probably just detecting the USB controller but not the hard drive. Normally if the drive is beyond normal repair you would hear a "clunking" sound. If that's the case you can try what Chris said.

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But be warned if you do this and your drive is not in this state you could potentially corrupt your data.

PM me if you are interested.

Mark

[sean.bonner]

I tried to contact Seagate Technical Support (the brand of external I have).
What a nightmare.
There automated operators sent me in circles.
Press 1 for English. so i did.
Press 5 for Data Recovery Issues. so i did.
Press 5 for Technical Support. so i did.
Press 1 to continue in English....so i did.
Press 5 for Data Recovery Issues. so i did.
Press 5 for Technical Support. so i did.
Press 1 to continue in English....so i did.
Press 5 for Data Recovery Issues. so i did.
Press 5 for Technical Support. so i did.
Press 1 to continue in English....so i did.
Press 5 for Data Recovery Issues. so i did.
Press 5 for Technical Support. so i did.
Press 1 to continue in English....so i did.
Press 5 for Data Recovery Issues. so i did.
Press 5 for Technical Support. so i did.
Press 1 to continue in English....so i did.
Press 5 for Data Recovery Issues. so i did.
Press 5 for Technical Support. so i did.
Press 1 to continue in English....so I hung up.
What a fucking farce.
And the freezer didn't work either. Mark, I may take you up on that, I'm going to try a few other things here in Halifax first though.