Recover Data From External Hard Drive That Isn’t Detected
An external hard drive is a mechanical device that is prone to damage and corruption like other storage drives. In one such case, user’s hard drive is not being detected by the computer system when connected. If you are also facing such difficult situation, stay calm and use the DIY methods described here to safely recover your data using Stellar Data Recovery software.
We often come across questions on technical forums where people describe that their external hard drive isn’t detected on their machines. For example-
My computer isn’t detecting my external hard drive. This is surprising since everything was working fine until an hour ago. My machine shut down unexpectedly while transferring some data from the drive and now, it isn’t showing up on my PC. There’s a lot of important data on the drive. Can anyone give me a hint as to what the problem is and how I can get a hold of my files?
Such situations though alarming, aren’t uncommon. An external hard drive is just another mechanical device that is prone to damage and corruption like other storage drives. Thus, you must be aware of the ways to deal with unexpected problems like the one described above.
Most of us use an external hard drive for storing data backups; however, hard drives can often be unreliable. That’s why experts suggest we should maintain multiple copies of our crucial data, that too, at different locations and on different storage devices.
Nevertheless, knowing why a hard drive isn’t detected on a computer plays an important role in rectifying the problem.
Why Hard Drives May Become Undetectable?
- After sudden power surge while the hard drive is in use.
- If the drive suffers any physical damage resulting from mishandling or dropping.
- Due to abrupt system shutdown while the external hard drive is connected.
- Due to a virus/malware infection.
- Owing to wear and tear of the hard drive due to excessive or prolonged use.
- Deletion of hard drive system files, drivers, or OS corruption.
When a hard drive isn’t detected on a system, you might not see anything happening on the system after connecting it. No sound, no Auto-Play pop-up, and the drive might not even appear in Disk Management tool.
Alternatively, you may see a message, “You need to Format disk Drive E: before you can use it. Do you want to format it now?” flash on the screen on connecting the external hard drive (see screenshot).
[Caution]: Don’t click ‘Format disk’. This will erase all the data on the drive. Formatting the hard drive appears an ideal and may be the only option available. However, it is common knowledge that formatting erases all data on the drive.
So what can one do to make the drive usable again, without losing the data that is already present on the drive, but isn’t recognized by the system?
Common Fixes You Can Try Out
Before you decide on giving up or running to a service center, here’s what you should try out:
1) Try plugging in the hard drive into another USB port. If it works, that means the problem is with your system’s USB port.
2) Try connecting the hard drive to another computer.
3) Reassign drive letter to the hard drive. For this:
- Press Windows+R, type diskmgmt.msc in the box and click ‘OK’.
- In the window that opens, take note of all the letters already assigned to drives.
- Now right click on the external drive, select ‘Change Drive Letter and Paths…,’ and in the window that opens, click on the ‘Add’ button.
- Choose a drive letter from the drop down and click ‘OK’
- Restart the PC or reconnect the drive to the computer and see if you can access it via File Explorer.
The last fix should make the drive recognizable and accessible to an extent. However, you might get a prompt message to format the drive to use it again. In such a case, hit ‘Cancel.’
However, if you have already clicked ‘Format’ after such prompt, stay calm. You can get back your data even after formatting.
Recovering Data from Unrecognized or Formatted External Hard Drive.
Important Note: Immediately stop using the external hard drive if it is formatted to avoid overwriting. Do not store any data or attempt to access the hard drive. All your previous files are recoverable unless overwritten by new data.
You can recover the lost data from a formatted and unrecognized (RAW) drive or volume by using a professional data recovery software like Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Windows. Below are the steps that you must follow to get back your crucial data:
- Install and launch Stellar Data Recovery Professional software on the system.
- From the main screen, click ‘Recover Data.’ A new window will appear.
- From ‘Select What to Recover’ screen, choose the file types you want to recover and click on ‘Next’.
- Then choose the external formatted or RAW (Unrecognized) drive from the options under ‘Connected Drives’.
- Turn on the ‘Deep Scan’ toggle at the bottom and click ‘Scan.’
- During the scan, you can turn ON/OFF the file preview.
Tip: Turning file preview OFF boosts the scanning speed.
- After the scan, you’ll see that the files/folders get listed under ‘File Type’, ‘Tree View’ and ‘Deleted List.’
- Select the desired files that you want to recover from the scan result, and click on the ‘Recover’ button.
- Click ‘Browse’ and choose a save location.
- Click ‘Start Saving’ to save the recovered files at your desired location.
In addition to external hard drive recovery, Stellar Data Recovery Professional efficiently performs photo recovery; email recovery, CD/DVD recovery and hard drive image creation.
Try out its free version to test the software’s data recovery capabilities. You can scan and preview recoverable files with the demo version. Once satisfied, you can buy the full license to save the recovered data at your desired location.
Final Words
Always remember to maintain at least two backup copies of your crucial data. Moreover, avoid meddling with the hard drive while it is being used.
Do not disconnect it while in use, and always safely remove the drive after use. However, if you still find yourself in a difficult situation, like the one described in this article, stay calm and use the methods described in this post to safely recover your data.
About The Author
Jyoti Prakash
Problem solver and Data recovery specialist. Usually share informative articles on data recovery, database corruption and ways to recover lost data.
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I installed the software but my external WD hard drive is still not detected. what should I do? Please advise.
Hello Saad,
Please make sure the external drive should be detected in the system properly. If the drive is not detecting in the system, then our software is unable to read that drive for recovery.
Further, you can also perform “Can’t find drive” process in the software in order to recover data from an external drive. If still drive is not showing then you can contact data recovery services.
Contact No: +1-877-778-6087 ; Email id: support[at]stellarinfo.com
My Wd external drive shows up as a local disk. I tried opening Disk Management but it doesn’t do anything. Nothing appears. When I open file explorer it doesn’t respond. I did right click on it and after about a minute I got the following message:
D:\ is not accessible. The parameter is incorrect
Will I be able to recover my files?
I’ve tried this on my laptop with the same results.
Update. Before I started writing this I had right clicked on the drive letter and clicked on properties and about 4 minutes later it opened. It said there was 0 files and 0 space (I think)
Hello Jon,
You can use our Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Windows software and can select ‘can’t find drive’ option to locate the partitions of the drive.
Please scan the partition and can check the recoverable files in the preview section.
Download Link: https://cloud.stellarinfo.com/StellarDataRecoveryProfessional-B.exe
Hello,
May you help me please?
I own some dead HD e and there is a message saying :couldn’ t open drive multi(o) disk(o) rdisk(o) partition(o) rdisk(o) partition(1).
I gave a Computer tecnicician, He recovered my files but a dawn China made extern hd is not open the files só. I have tô start over again, if this term is correct.
What are my chances to try Re-do it once More?
How many times after formatting or not can a dead hd recover files again?
I am looking forward for your reply.
Sincerely,
Mr.Santos
Hi Luiz,
Data Recovery is dependent upon a lot of factors like data loss reason, the severity of corruption, overwritten activities, status or condition of the drive etc. Logical recovery is only possible through the Stellar software if the drive is mounted and getting detected by the software.
We recommend availing Data Recovery Services for the dead hard drives. We have class 100 clean room labs where the data is recovered physically from the drive by expert technicians.
hi my seagate external hard disc is not detecting and blinking led light only. no sound.. i tried to check with other computers and cables. but no use. the led light is blinking only. i also tried the different instructions showing in this site.
once it will connect to system led light is stable and after some seconds light blinking.
We recommend going for data recovery services, in which you need to send a hard drive to our lab. We will analyze it and let you know whether recovery is possible or not.
Similarly mine Seagate hard drive is not detecting by Acer Windows 10 laptop couple of weeks back. With so much important official files. I need to retrieve the files in any case and having no backup makes the situation got tenser. But Thanks to Stellar Data Recovery Professional version I recover all my data using Deep Scan mode.
Hello Lisa,
Thanks for trusting Stellar Data Recovery Pro version.
Hi
I have a lenovo external harddisk of 500GB. I was browsing through the files on it, but all of a sudden it made few clicks and stopped responding. I restarted the PC but the disk is not getting listed. though it is detected in the device manager. I tried the Stellar Phonix windows data recovery software but that too doesnt detect the drive. Please suggest how can i recover the data, I tried on other system too but still the same problem.
Unfortunately, recovery by using the application is not possible as the drive is not getting listed inside the application. We recommend you to submit your drive to our lab for Data Recovery Service.
kindly let us know your contact number and convenient time so that we can call you. You can also email to our support team on their below email address:
support@stellarinfo.com
Your reply is awaited.
Great info. It helped in our research. We are working on a similar article, would you like to take a look when it’s published? Thanks.
My Toshiba SSD was earlier not detected in the File explorer section. It contains all important official as well personal documents. Stellar’s phoenix software makes my work easy without going anywhere. Deep Scan feature really impressed me.
Hello Kane,
Thanks for using Stellar Windows Data Recovery software.
Hello,
My computer isn’t booting because the hdd cant b detected. I have removed it and cased it as an external drive, on connecting it to another computer, Windows is able to see the partitions, but they are not readable. It hacks when you try to chkdsk it. Is there a way I can recover the data in it? I really need your help. Thanks
Hello Nje,
We recommend you to try the demo version of Stellar Windows Data Recovery Professional from the below mentioned link:
https://cloud.stellarinfo.com/StellarDataRecoveryProfessional-B.exe
After installing the software, please perform the ‘Deep Scan’ on your drive and check whether you are able to find the data or not.
If you do not find the desired results then please perform scan with ‘Can’t Find Drive’ option to search the lost volume and to check the possibility of recovery.
All the Best
Hi there, my hard disk was faulty due to a faulty connection point. I changed the casing and the HDD could not be recognized. Then I installed the Stella recovery software after reading the post here. Now I managed to recover the files but when I tried opening the files, I get a message that my file is damaged. Any idea why this is so?
Hello Chandra,
This might happen due to the bad sectors in hard drive. I would recommend that after recovering the files use the Stellar file repair software.
hello expert, please help me. i have seagate one tb backup plus external hard disk. but it is suddenly not recognising in my laptop. i tryed with other computer and also change the cable. but no use. it is not appearing in diskmanagement also. but only appearing in device manager under device drivers. when i try to trubbleshoot this, it is showing driver working fine. also updated. so what can i do? also tryed uninstalling the driver. but same problem. some noice also comming from this hard disk. i have importent data on it. please help me soon. i need salution to recognise or data recovery.
Hello Manju,
Sorry to hear about your hard drive.
As informed by you about a noise from hard disk which is a most common symptom of a physical error in a drive. Please immediately stop using this drive.
We respect your data and understand its importance, we recommend contacting our support team at support[@]stellarinfodotcom to better assist you and help you in data recovery.
Hi
My seagate external hard disk which was working fine suddenly when connected prompted me to format first ! I tried running chkdsk for error and it did appear in disk management as RAW healthy primary partition !
I tried recovering files by using a software and I saw all my data being scanned ! But suddenly after some time the laptop became unresponsive and shut down ! Then I tried switching on laptop and connecting again ! It does make the sound while connecting but does not appear in yeh my computer ! It’s not visible in device management but in devices and printers shows as drivers need to be updated ! I tried updating the drivers but says installation failed !
Help have I lost all my data because of using the software and destroyed my hard disk further ! I haven’t over written or formatted the drive ever ! Can I still recover data !??
Please suggest !
Hello Neha,
Please perform the below common fixes.
1) Try to reassign a drive letter to the hard drive.
Go to Start -> My Computer.
In the window that opens, take a note of all the letters already assigned to drives.
Now click on “Map a network drive” and in the window that opens, click on the “Drive” button.
From the drop-down, choose a drive letter that’s not in use.
Browse and navigate to the unrecognized external hard drive and then click on “OK”.
Click on the “Finish” button to close the window.
Restart the computer and then reconnect the drive and see if it works
2) Try to connect the external hard drive with some other working PC/Laptop.
I was transferring files from my phone to my laptop one morning when all the sudden there was a ticking sound under the keyboard. I couldn’t tell if it was the HDD or fan with a wire stuck in the blades. It was working fine until I turned it off due to the noise becoming annoying. When I turned it back on it began to boot but the screen went blue with a recovery page and an error code. After 10 seconds of not touching anything the computer shuts itself off. The error code is stating the bios can’t be found. When I tried plugging it USB into another computer nothing shows but in the original laptop it states the drive is readable just won’t boot. What on the HDD could it be? I sent it out to a professional what will take it apart and look at it.
Hello Brent,
It might happen due to the physical damage to a hard drive. To confirm results, you can run CHKDSK command. If this command doesn’t run, then there is a sure shot reason that your hard drive is physical damage and you have to consult with a data recovery Service Centre.
hello ,I am using Toshiba 1TB external hard disk , all of sudden it stop working . I use this device everyday , It is not detecting in any of the computer , and all my data is in device . please help me I tried all way ,device manager ,device management , recovery tool etc etc . I am just worried about my data that is very important . please help me
Hello Jaidul,
I recommend not to use this drive again and immediately disconnect with the system.
Also, as mentioned by you, that you already use recovery tool and it doesn’t help you. So its best to contact our data recovery service.
Please mail on support[@]stellarinfo.com
Hello,
My hard disk can’t be read. Then I had tried to click show hidden devices at device manager and my hard disk appear on device manager but it not appear on ‘My Computer’. Why????? Please help me!!!
Hello Fadzil,
Sorry to hear your issue!
Possible Reasons may be
1) USB Port Issue
2) Drivers are not updated
3) Windows sometimes named the drive to a letter that is already in use.
4) At times the unpartitioned drive is also a reason for becoming invisible or inaccessible external drive
If the above common fixes can’t help to provide the data. We recommend to download the below-mentioned software and try to see the lost files in the preview section.
If you wish to recover the files so we recommend you to try the demo version of Stellar Data Recovery Professional from the below-mentioned link:
https://cloud.stellarinfo.com/StellarDataRecoveryProfessional-B.exe
After installing the software, please follow the below mentioned steps to create an image of the drive as your drive contains bad sectors:
1. Run Stellar Windows Data Recovery software.
2. From Select What to Recover screen, select the type of data i.e. Everything, Documents, Folders & Emails or Multimedia Files, you want to recover. Click on Next.
3. On Select Location screen, select Recover from Disk Images from Other Locations and click on Scan button.
4. Now select Create Image option and click Next.
5. From Create Image screen, select the drive or partition for which you wish to create an image.
6. To create an image of the entire drive or partition click on Start Imaging.
7. In ‘Create Media Image to Save’ dialog box, locate the destination where image file should be saved. In the File Name text box, type name. Click on Save.
8. Click on Scan to start the recovery process.
Hi team,
I have an internal HDD, Im using it external HDD using external casing. I connected HDD to friends laptop and it got affected by .lnk virus. Now it is not detecting in any systems. I have already formatted HDD one year ago and recovered the data but if I format it again I’ll get the old data also. And I don’t want that to happen. I want only the data which is present it right now. Help to get rid of .lnk and get the data. Thanks
Hello Vishal,
Sorry to hear about your problem.
In a current scenario, the old data of yours will not be recovered ( which you don’t wish to get back) since it was overwritten by new data (during the period of 1 year).
We recommend to download the below-mentioned software and try to see the lost files in the preview section.
As you wish to recover the files so we recommend you to try the demo version of Stellar Data Recovery Professional from the below-mentioned link:
https://cloud.stellarinfo.com/StellarDataRecoveryProfessional-B.exe
After installing the software, please follow the below-mentioned steps to create an image of the drive as your drive contains bad sectors:
1. Run Stellar Windows Data Recovery software.
2. From Select What to Recover screen, select the type of data i.e. Everything, Documents, Folders & Emails or Multimedia Files, you want to recover. Click on Next.
3. On Select Location screen, select Recover from Disk Images from Other Locations and click on Scan button.
4. Now select Create Image option and click Next.
5. From Create Image screen, select the drive or partition for which you wish to create an image.
6. To create an image of the entire drive or partition click on Start Imaging.
7. In ‘Create Media Image to Save’ dialog box, locate the destination where image file should be saved. In the File Name text box, type name. Click on Save.
8. Click on Scan to start the recovery process.
My device light is being on and making a little noise and beep on startup but not showing on the computer .Device Manager is giving code 10 error on USB universal hub.How I Can recover my data now ? is there any hardware tool or method to recover data?
Hello Aamir,
We would like to know whether there is any clicking or grinding noise coming from your hard drive. If yes then your drive is physically damaged and we recommend you not to connect the drive to the system as it may get further damaged.
You can avail our data recovery services to recover the data from the physically damaged drive. Please write to support[@]stellarinfo.com so that our support team can assist you further.
If there is no clicking or grinding noise coming from your drive then you can download the demo version of Stellar Data Recovery Professional from the below mentioned link:
https://cloud.stellarinfo.com/StellarDataRecoveryProfessional-B.exe
After installing the software, kindly follow the below-mentioned steps to perform the scan on your drive:
1. Run Stellar Windows Data Recovery.
2. From ‘Select What to Recover screen’, select the type of data i.e. Everything, Documents, Folders & Emails or Multimedia Files, you want to recover.
3. Click on Next.
4. On ‘Select Location’ screen, select Can’t Find Drive from Other Locations.
5. Click on ‘Scan’ button.
6. In the ‘Select Drive’ section all the hard drives connected to the system are listed with their details. From this section, choose a hard drive you want to scan for lost partitions and click Search. A scan for lost or deleted partitions will be performed in the selected disk or drive.
7. Any ‘lost partition’ detected, will be listed in the ‘Partition Found’ section.
8. From the list of partitions found, select any desired partition and click on ‘Scan’ to continue with the recovery process.
Note: If you can’t find your desired partition in the Partition Found section, you can choose Deep Scan option to perform a comprehensive scan of the selected drive for deleted or lost partition.
Sir, need your help.
Yesterday after Desktop restart, a black screen is coming with big mesage “Try to load boot scanner and then press any key.
Can I get my old data? Plz suggest..
Hello Dipankar,
Sorry to hear about your PC machine.
Assuming you have Windows system, I recommend reading this informative post – https://www.stellarinfo.com/blog/how-to-copy-and-move-data-from-unbootable-pc/
It definitely solves all your queries and recovers your data back.
Best Regards
Jyoti Prakash
hello my hdd is not detecting.. what should i do now??/
Hello Shibam,
Please try these common fixes
1) Try plugging in the hard drive into another USB port. If it works that means the problem is with your system’s USB port.
2) Try connecting the hard drive to another computer.
3) Reassign drive letter to the hard drive. For this:
Go to Start -> My Computer.
In the window that opens, take a note of all the letters already assigned to drives.
Now click on “Map a network drive” and in the window that opens, click on the “Drive” button.
From the drop-down, choose a drive letter that’s not in use.
Browse and navigate to the unrecognized external hard drive and then click on “OK”.
Click on the “Finish” button to close the window.
Restart the computer and then reconnect the drive and see if it works
Sir my HD is not detecting,there is most important data in it. When I went to my near computer centre they said that its mbar is not working. Can I get my old data? Plz suggest me..
HI Jyoti Mam
i am using seagate 2TB external Hard drive but now not detected & not showing in Device Manager also.
I want recover all data. please suggest me what should i do.
Regards
Hemant
Hi Hemant,
Please follow the procedure mentioned in this article: https://www.stellarinfo.com/support/kb/index.php/article/recover-data-after-lost-inaccessible-partitions
Hi,
My problem is that from one day to another my desktop PC didn’t start, a black screen appears mentioning that no bootable device found. I turned off and then turning it on and off then Windows 10 started normally. Sadly the next day the same thing, but after a lot of tries turning it on and off several times, the PC didn’t start.
Because of the error message, I assumed that it was obviously a problem with the Hard Disk, so I proceeded to extract the Disk and putting in an external 3.5 HD case, connected to my laptop via USB and then the power cable to the power outlet and I was really sad finding that the disk doesn’t show up in My Computer in Windows explorer as normally all external data devices appear.
In the Windows Disk Management interface, the Disk shows up but as this:
In the Disk name column:
Disk3
Unknown
232.89 GB
Uninitialized
And in the Space column:
232.89 GB
Unallocated
Can your Software help me dealing with this, to recover all my data?………. In the event that the answer is yes, do I need the Home or PRO version?..by the way , what is the important differences between them?
It is worth mentioning that I want to recover not only photos, music and videos, but also, .EXE, .AI, .CDR, .JSP files among others.
Thanks in advance
Best Regards….
Hello,
We recommend you to try the demo version of Stellar Windows Data Recovery Professional from the below-mentioned link:
https://cloud.stellarinfo.com/StellarDataRecoveryProfessional-B.exe
Please follow the below-mentioned steps to perform the scan on your drive:
1. Run Stellar Windows Data Recovery.
2. From Select What to Recover screen, select the type of data i.e. Everything, Documents, Folders & Emails or Multimedia Files, you want to recover.
3. Click on Next.
4. On Select Location screen, select Can’t Find Drive from Other Locations.
5. Click on Scan button.
6. In the Select Drive section, all the hard drives connected to the system are listed with their details. From this section, choose a hard drive you want to scan for lost partitions and click on Search. A scan for lost or deleted partitions will be performed in the selected disk or drive.
7. Any ‘lost partition’ detected, will be listed in the Partition Found section.
8. From the list of partitions found, select any desired partition and click Scan to continue with the recovery process.
Note: If you can’t find your desired partition in the Partition Found section, you can choose Deep Scan option to perform a comprehensive scan of the selected drive for deleted or lost partition.
Once the scanning is completed then you can check the preview of the files to know the possibility of recovery.
The Professional version of the software contains ‘Create Image’ & ‘Add Header’ features which are not included in the Home version. ‘Create Image’ option will allow you to create an image of your drive which contains bad sectors. You can add a header or hex value of a file by using the ‘Add Header’ option.
The common fixes mentioned in the post are really helpful. They are well written and informative. Most of my queries are solved by reading this blog.
Hello Renars,
Thanks for your motivational words.
Hello my external hard disk is not showing anything not even a format option . When i plug it into pc my computer says device connected but when i see in my computer there is nothing. And drive is working i am able to listen sound of cd rotating in it. Please tell me a solution for this i have lotssss of important data in it.
Hello Venkata,
Feel bad to heard about your issue
Please try to connect with some other working PC and check for accessibility.
Also, try to check connecting cable and ports.
If the issue still remains, you need to take help of third party data recovery software.
Before connecting my hard drive to the laptop the software is running in my laptop without any issue but after connecting my WDElements 2TB external hard drive the software is not opening. It shows loading…loading….
The hard drive is not working. It only shows that something is connected . The name of the hard drive is not showing in My Computer too.
Please help.
Hello Soham,
Please try to install the software on some other PC/laptop. Then connect the hard drive externally (from which you want to recover data)
This is actually helpful, thanks.
Hello Galen,
Thanks for your feedback
Best Regards
Team Stellar Data Recovery
I want to only recover specific files from Stellar data recovery software? Please help.
Hello David,
Yes, you can easily recover your desired files from the main interface after installing the software. It was clearly mentioned their “Select What to Recover”. If you require any further assistance, please don’t hesitate to reply.
HI I am using 1TB Segate external hard drive to back up my data but all of sudden it stops working.The light is still blinking, but the drive not responding, i am also trying to another computer but same here, how can i backup my all data, the hard drive that i have purchasing 2 month back . Is there any other solution which can help me to access my data.
please help me…
Hello Madhav,
Please read this helpful post – https://www.stellarinfo.com/blog/seagate-hard-drive-recovery-software/
With the help of Stellar data recovery software, I recovered all deleted info.
Hi Henry,
Thanks for your good words!
Hi Jyothi,
My WD passport ultra external hard disk suddenly not detected by the pc and laptop. It is not there in disk management but I can able to see the drive in control panel. I have downloaded the WD life diagnostics tool but it shows my disk is not available. Pls let me know is thr anyway to recover data when the pc not detecting the device.
Hello Mohamed,
Feel bad about the mishappening. Please try Stellar Windows Data Recovery software
Link – https://www.stellarinfo.com/windows-data-recovery-professional.php
It was a kind of funny experience during data loss problem about a couple of months back. My 2 TB WD hard drive was not detecting with my PC machine, so in the hurry, I blindly try for searching data recovery services and software. But, actually, it was a data cable fault which was creating the problems. Changed the cable and access all my data. But it was good to know about various data recovery software currently available in the market.
my external HDD not detected to the my laptop, but i want to backup my external HDD. please give some solution to me.
Hlo… my laptop internal hdd is showing in the BIOS but when I boot the system… only windows starting logo comes.. and after somtimes black screen with mouse arrow comes… how can I solve that problm.. can I solve the problm with that software…?? if yes, thn plz suggest me the steps.
Hello Sam,
Please reinstall your windows, it may be possible your OS is corrupted.
Note – You might lose your data by this way, please create an image of your hard disk. So, later on, you can retrieve your data from the image.
A similar issue happened to me in past. One of my external hard drives is not detecting in Windows My PC section, it makes me tensed due to the importance of data in the drive. But the drive was showing in Disk Management. After using certain common fixes, I give a try for using Stellar hard drive recovery software. The tool generated all my lost data back.
Hi Stella my hard drive doesn’t make a noise but I my hard disk file that was inside the drive was corrupted. Does your software do a recovery on all the file that is inside the drive. Will I be able to view my picture after recovering it.
Hello Phelia,
Yes, your file can be recovered with the help of our file recovery software (which you can download from https://www.stellarinfo.com/file-recovery-software.php). If you find your data corrupted, then you can use our File Repair Software to repair your corrupted file.
I have tried the manual steps but was unsuccessful in finding my hard drive for data recovery. So, I planned to purchase the above-recommended software, and fortunately, I have found my hard drive detected in my system. I immediately recovered my data from it and created a backup all my valuable data after learning a deep lesson from it.
SUBJECT: “WD My Passport Ultra 1TB Portable External Hard drive” HAS STOPPED DETECTING in My Computer/Disk Management/Device Manager
I NEED HELP URGENTLY…
I am using “WD My Passport Ultra 1TB Portable External Hard drive”.
It was working fine. Suddenly it stopped detecting in my computer as well as in disk management or device manager. The light is ON and stable when plugged in with the laptop/PC. And there is normal vibration too (normally which is felt when the drive is plugged in) which indicates it is not dead and still working which means there is still a good hope.
It got detected twice after this problem. In first case, when I tried copying something, it stopped detecting and the light became stable and while opening the hard drive it showed folder is empty. Next time when it got detected, it showed all the files and folders which means data is not lost(What a relief..!!). When I tried copying(when it was detected again), only one file was copied and the light was stable again (which should blink in normal case) and the external drive stopped showing up(detecting).
NOTE: There is no history of fall or any such thing which can damage the external HDD.
I have tried all the possible ways.
Tried using a different data cable.
Plugged the hard drive in another laptop/PC but still it did not show up in My Computer/Disk Management/Device Manager.
I have contacted WD customer support (as it is still under warranty) and informed about the same. They told me that WD does not provide data recovery service. But I got mail from WD that I can show this Hard drive for data recovery/repair and still it will be under warranty.
The executive told me that they can replace the product as it is still under warranty. But the question is not about replacement it is about the DATA. The data is VERY IMPORTANT as it has all my study related data, my research, photographs, work related data, etc.
And I know you can never rely on one storage. This was my backup as one of my laptop stopped working. And now this hard drive is causing problem and so even my backup or say now the only data I had is not at all accessible. 🙁
Can anyone help me or suggest something??
It would be really very helpful.
Thanks in advance.
Hello Vishakha
Stop using your infected hard drive immediately as it minimizes the chances of data recovery. You may try your luck by using Stellar Window data recovery software – Free Edition available at (https://www.stellarinfo.com/free-data-recovery.php) for detecting your hard drive and recovering all your data.
If, anyhow it doesn’t work in your case, then I advise you to opt for a Data Recovery Services and after getting your data back, just replace your hard drive which is under warranty.
Hey, thanks for sharing common fixes. All the points are highly informative, which are written with deep expertise. I always refer these points, in case of any HDD detecting issue.
With the help of this software, I happily recovered all the images and videos which are accidentally deleted from my system. In past, I use a couple of other data recovery software, but the interface of this software is really easy to use. Happily recovered all data at the nominal cost which I really don’t mind for priceless images and videos.
I feel happy with the working of this software. This software saves my 3 years of research work which I save in my drive. I really like cloning feature of this tool. Thanks for this post.
I have a laptop which has a capacity of 750GB HDD. I have some important files & I am not able to open the drives as it says that ” the drive is not accessible & needs to format it”. Then I found that my hard drive has become RAW. After that I found from my friends regarding your Stellar recovery software & I had bought a software called STELLAR PHOENIX WINDOWS DATA RECOVERY 6 PROFESSIONAL & started the process for Raw recovery using the software and after completing the process for recovery, I couldn’t find any file in the classic tree. Is there any other way to recover the files from the hard drive which has become RAW?
Hello Jignesh,
I advise you that instead of using a RAW Recovery option on your hard drive, you can go for a ‘Search for Lost Volumes’ option. Once, you get the lost volume listed there in the software; then you can perform ‘Advance Scan’ option on the listed volumes to recover your data.
Hi, my seagate external hard drive won’t detected in any PCs nor any other operating systems. Can this software helps to recover the data since it’s not detected anyway?
Hi Vivienne,
Thanks for asking a question.
I think you must go the Disk Management (you can get it by doing a right click on My Computer and selecting the Manage option listed there) and check whether your hard drive is appearing there or not. If it is listed there, then you will be able to recognize your hard drive with the help of this software.
Kindly acknowledge.
Thanks!
This is the major issue faced by many tech users. But, I had easily resolved it using the software mentioned above. Thanks Stellar!
The similar thing happened to me as it happens with Mr Patrick. But, I had successfully made this task positive by following the instructions given by you. Thanks for sharing the post with us and for the fantastic solution too.
My Seagate external hard drive was once not detected with my Windows even after doing basic troubleshooting it was not detected. Since the importance of data is crucial, I immediately searched for a best possible solution which I can perform at that point in time. On many forums and blogs, I get to know about Stellar products, so, I immediately made my decision to go for it. After using this software, I got all my important data back in very lesser time. Thanks, Stellar!!!
External hard drives are considered as the best device of data backups. Using this portable device data can be moved anywhere globally. But even this data can be lost, reasons may be many, its recovery is most important for us. Any method which retrieves our complete data is best for us. Data Recovery software is the best solution for it, with the simple feature of downloading and installing software at your home, your data can be recovered without any pain. Interface are designed in such a manner that even a non-technical person can easily perform the task.
I am in a great trouble and helping your suggestion. I have a 1 TB external hard disk almost new as it’s never formatted. Unfortunately One of my DVR (CCTV) internal hard disk has been crashed and i have came up with a idea that it might save the dvr footage in the external hard disk s I connect the external drive to the DVR usb. I tried the option usb update and it’s taking long time. So I out from usb after just 15-20 min. After that I am totally mad when connect and see name of the drive (Fφ¢æ¿├Y1) all data unreadable folder name changes to ñö]╩s╛.Σ^ , #┤j{╘φ≈.┼╒- »8Γù)fk└.!≈ etc.etc.
I manually delete nothing on that. Can u plz help me. Is there any chances to recover data?
Hello Arijit,
First of all, I would suggest you to check your external hard drive status in disk management. It might be possible that the drive has lost file system and that’s why it is showing encrypted drive name.
Now, coming to your next question, is data recovery possible or not? The answer is “Yes”. You can download the above recommended professional data recovery software to recover your data from the unallocated hard drive. This software is fully efficient to recover data from RAW or Unallocated hard drive.
This is one of the major issues which a computer or a laptop user can face. I too had faced a similar problem but has resolved this with the help of software mentioned above. Thanks for this fantastic product and a blog.
Hi,
I have connected my external hard drive into my Windows 10 system, but the drive is not visible in the system. I believe the drive is compatible with Windows and I need to update it. Can you please tell me how can I update my external hard drive?
Hi,
To update your external hard drive, please follow the below steps:
• Just insert your hard drive into the computer system
• Go to the device manager Windows
• Do a right click on the drive listed in the device manager, and click on update driver software.
After updating the driver software, just reconnect your hard drive and check the status whether it starts appearing in the Windows or not.
Thanks!!
Hi, Yesterday, I was transferring my old system data to my new HP laptop. I successfully transferred all my audios and videos to the laptop. Later, I realised that some of my pictures was still left in the old system which I need to transfer. So, I reconnected my external hard drive with my system; but, it stopped detected by the system. I don’t know what happen to my external hard drive. I also noted that I didn’t eject it safely when I removed it from the system.
Hello Mr. Patrick,
First of all, I would suggest you to check your drive in the device manager. If your system is still able to read the drive, then it will be listed in device manager under disk drives. If you find your drive there, then do a right click on the drive and click on “update driver software”. After updating the driver software, reconnect your drive and check whether it starts detecting by your system or not.
I have an external 2TB hard disk. It was working fine till last night but, now today, when I connect it to my new Lenovo laptop, it didn’t recognized by it. I don’t know what’s wrong with my hard drive. Can you please help me to detect the issue?
Hi Lewis,
It seems that the drive’s driver software is outdated and not compatible with your new laptop. I would advise you to go to the device manager and update the driver software and then reconnect your hard drive to see whether it starts detecting in the system or not.
Thanks, Stellar team for sharing possible reasons about the external hard drive which is not detecting within our machine. It was a common myth among the people that, if a system stops working, then hard drive is the cause of the same. But, this is not a truth, as there are several other reasons also such as damaged port, connectors etc. These all other factors need to be closely monitored before saying that a HDD is only responsible for system non – working situation. I hope this blog post create a sense of awareness to laptop or desktop users about their hard drive’s importance. Useful Content!!!
HI, My seagate freeagent go 1 tb external hard drive fallen down on floor from lap. I try to connect with different computer, it is not detected. MY office system engineers opened the panel of it and connect it with computer but not working. How can i get all my data? Please help me to get all my data.
Hi Rishi,
Sorry to hear about this. I advise you to connect your hard drive to any working system and check the status of your hard drive in the Disk Management. If it is working then download our software and run it on your system to recover your data back.
Kindly acknowledge the status.
Good Luck!!!
I have an external hard drive which is now not visible in windows explorer and has crucial documents. However, it is appearing in device manager and disk management. Is it possible to recover those documents with the software you have recommended here? I am little afraid whether the software is secure or not, please tell me sir is the software is safe for my HP external hard drive. Thanks!!
Yes, sure you can use this tool to recover data from HP external hard drive. This software supports almost all companies hard drive so don’t worry about your hard drive and used this tool without any fear of damage. Good Luck!!
Hi there! I downloaded Windows media creation tool to My extern HD, thought IT just unpacked a installationfile, but IT wiped the HD and turned it to a bootable USB, used the Phoenix program to recover the files, but i dont find everything, still alot of textfiles and photos missing, is there anything else i can do? Or are the missing files gone forever, or can i give My HD to a tech company so they can try to recover? Plz help
Sorry for miss spells, autocorrection to swedish ??
Hello David, first of all, I would like to know whether you have used the drive after wiping? If yes, then might be possible that some your data is overwritten, and that’s why the software was unable to recover all your data. And the answer to your another question is yes, you can try your luck by sending the hard drive to repairing centre for recovery. You can check https://www.stellarinfo.com/services/data-recovery-capabilities.php for data recovery services.
The content is purely well formulated and informative too. Apart from the content, talking about the software is a very interesting point as I want to share my experience about this software. The software mentioned in a blog is impressive and is quite easy to use. My personal advice for everyone is – to install this software on their system and try to recover their data if needed. My point of view of writing the last line is that my personal experience says that this software is as ‘Big things come in small packages’ and everyone (if needed) should go for this software to recover their data if their hard drive is not detected. Thanks for the post.
You have very well explained that what will be the reason of external hard drive not detecting in the system. Also, what steps should we take to recover our data from the same external hard drive? Thanks for the post.
I have 2 TB external hard drive which was working fine till yesterday night, I copied some of my files from that drive and disconnected it from the system. But now when I connect it to transfer some data I found it inaccessible. I tried to access it many times but whenever I click on it to open it shows an error message that “do you want to format it?” I don’t know why this thing happens to me. Please help.
Hi, usually this error message appears when your hard drive is logically damaged. I suggest you to check your hard drive in the Disk Management, might be it turned into RAW. And to troubleshoot this issue, you need to download data recovery software to recover your data first then format your hard drive for reuse. Thanks!!
Can you please tell me how long this software will take to recover my deleted files?