I have a 250GB USB removable mass storage device. I am using Windows Vista. The device has stopped working for some reason and can no longer be viewed in Explorer. I have tried rescanning the disks in Disk Management to no avail. All data recovery programs I have tried only work with recognized disks. I would really appreciate any advice. I have an awful lot of data on the disk. Free solutions are preferable as I don't have any money at the moment. Thank you for any help offered.
2007-09-05 04:56:26 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Add-ons
The drive does not work in other computers, the same problem occurs.
The spinning noise is repetitive. I.e. it sounds as if it is trying to do the same thing over and over again.
I'm not a tech-head... so I need simple-ish instructions.
Thanks guys.
2007-09-05 05:23:12 · update #1
I have attempted to use "Recover My Files" recovery software, but unfortunately it is reporting errors reading all the sectors on the disc.
It's not looking good... any further help??
Thanks
2007-09-13 04:24:07 · update #2
If it is already noisy, only professionals can retrieve your data. Prepare your wallet.
Moral lesson: Backup, backup, backup. CDs and DVDs are so cheap.
2007-09-13 00:36:03 · answer #1 · answered by Karz 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not a free one but very good:
Connect a second USB device for storage then you will need to boot your PC from a CD containing Acronis True Image Home: This will load into memory and allow you to see all drives attached. Backup from the failed drive onto the new drive.
PS This will only work if the duff drive is spinning.
2007-09-05 05:06:25 · answer #2 · answered by Who Dares Wins 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
(assuming its an external Harddrive)
Do the disks still spin (ie, can you hear them spinning, making noise, etc other than fan sounds)?
Have you tried plugging it into another machine? One running something aside from XP (heck a mac can read a PC formatted drive if you need).
You can also try plugging it in via a different connection (a different USB port, or if you have firewire (or IEEE 1394 as it is often labeled)....or a PCI card that has USB or FW on it (borrow from friend).
2007-09-05 05:04:15 · answer #3 · answered by jared_e42 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have you tried it running under Linux? Once I had a faulty thumb drive (actually virus affected) and no Windows PCs or Mac (mine and my friends') were able to recover data from it. Finally one of my friend came up with the idea to connect it to a machine running under OpenSuse and I was able not only to recover data but also I was able to get rid of Kopa.exe virus and others by deleting some alien files (?) manually.
I hope my experience (?) would help you...LOL..
;)
2007-09-12 23:23:27 · answer #4 · answered by tkm_J 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you mean an exernal hard disk connected via usb port? If you are using Vista then you should need no drivers. Im thinking you have a faulty device and your data is gone, sorry.
2007-09-12 21:27:15 · answer #5 · answered by rmkenterprise 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately it sounds like a mechanical failure. Software isn't going to work in this situation. If your data is really important you need to take it to a data recovery specialist with a clean room. I've had good experiences with CBL with my company. They do a free diagnostic and quote prior to doing any work.
http://www.cbltech.com/quote/evaluation.php
2007-09-13 02:19:03 · answer #6 · answered by JT_8 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hey there,
A software recovery tool you can use is Wondershare data recovery http://bitly.com/1uUrBB1.
It works very well.
Cheers.
2014-08-14 15:42:11 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can rip it out of it's enclosure and install it internally. Most of these are just regular SATA or IDE drives inside. It might just be the USB controller gone bad.
2007-09-05 05:00:32 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
is that recognised in the device manager. if yes.. then you can retrieve the data yourself. if not then you have to contact www.drivesavers.com
2007-09-12 23:51:36 · answer #9 · answered by girish4music 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
make sure you have installed the printer driver !! if it's installed so the printer usb port is the problem change it !!!!
2016-04-03 04:47:15 · answer #10 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋