I have a simpletech 400gb external hard drive that no longer works how can I extract data?

Question

The drive is not making any strange sounds and when it is connected to pc disk management is not recognizing the drive.

Answer 1

Vulcan drive meld.

Failing that, there are many "data recovery" service providers, typically for a reasonable rate.

Answer 2

Hey,

Can you get into your BIOS and see if it recognizes the drive? If it does, that's a good start. Second thing to do, make sure you have the latest drivers installed for your hard drive. You can get them from the manufacturers website.

Now, I don't know how much experience you have with Linux, but you may want to consider downloading a Live CD from them. This can help when you need to troubleshoot problems. A Google search can reveal how to get a Live CD. If this recognizes it, chances are the problem is with Windows. However, try getting the drivers for it first and use the Live CD as a last resort.

If you get Windows to recognize it, get a program called XXClone. It's free and you can use it to make an image of the faulty hard drive. After the image is made, you can extract data as needed.

Regards,

Brandon

Answer 3

If nothing works at all, freeze it into the fridge for 1-2 hours, then connect it as fast as possible when its still very cold.
I recovered 1-2 Gb from a faulty HDD last month, then the hard drive completely broke down.
If that doesn't work, if you ae really desperate to recover some data, well ... drop it from 40 cm to the ground ! NO KIDDING, 2 hdd worked for 10 minutes after this "dropping" and I recovered some data (really only some 10-20 Mb but at least I recovered something)

i'm not joking. this is my standard procedure when everything else fail.

but if the data is really important you can always send the hdd to a company that will open the hdd and recover the data from every single discplate (so without using the faulty mechanincs of the hdd). I warn you: these companies can be rally expensive.