My external hard drive died today. At least thats what I think happened. My computers won't read the data when I turn it on.

Oh and it had pretty much had all my music on it. The funny thing was, I was clearing it up too reorganizing my music and such.

This is going to be a pain in the ass getting all my music back.

Thats the curse of external harddrives... they break very easy

Take the drive out of the case and install it as an internal HD. It could just be something as simple as the controller chip died.

i was so sure this was going to be another "my girlfriend's left me" topic....

this things are normally not as bad as you think. you just need someone who knows what they're doing to have a look at it. hope you've got any *ahem* interesting photos of young ladies (or men, or chickens, etc...) in a safe hidden folder though!

good luck

You may be able to by an HD enclosure and tear apart your external and hook the drive up to your enclosure and get the data off it

I had this happen once, with a drive with 80Gb of stuff, but a friend suggested something I found totally unbelieveable, but actually worked.

First up, a warning:

DO THIS ONLY IF YOU'RE *REALLY* 100% SURE THAT THE DRIVE CAN'T BE RECOVERED. THIS PROCESS IS TOTALLY OUTSIDE WHAT THE DRIVE WAS DESIGNED TO DO, AND THE WAY IT WAS DESIGNED TO WORK. DON'T HOLD ME RESPONSIBLE IF IT DOESN'T AND TOTALLY KILLS THE DRIVE WITHOUT ANY RESULT. THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!

Ok, got that? Then we'll begin:

Get a plastic ziplock bag big enough to hold the drive itself (not the leads), seal it AIRTIGHT (IMPORTANT!!) and put it in your freezer. Yes, I really did say that:

PUT IT IN YOUR FREEZER.

Leave it there a few hours, then take it out of the bag and plug it in as you usually would. With a bit of luck you should be able to read some of the data and transfer as much as you can off onto another drive in about 20 minutes, before the drive warms up again. Then let the drive cool down for a couple of days to room temperature again, and repeat. Don't put in in the freezer if it's even slightly warm, moisture will freeze on the disc surface and totally destroy it.

Bear in mind the cold will *really* damage the drive eventually, and you can only really do this 2-3 times. In other words, grab the most important stuff first.

I can't really explain how and why it works, but it does. Something to do with the fine tolerances of parts in the drive shrinking with the cold, reducing friction and allowing the drive to work again.

I eventually managed to recover about 25Gb before the drive totally died. Not great, but it's better than nothing. If you're sure the drive's dead, what have you got to lose?

yeah same here jugo lol


but what jetsonik said i disagree with because as u said, don't put it back in the freezer once its been left a couple days because of mosture, but if the external hd has been sitting there for months it would have already built moisture, causing the hd to fuck up and freeze


my advice is, take it to some pc guy also known to me as the "Cunt" and see what he can do

Is it a physical damage or only the files are deleted ?

I heard some days ago a new virus is all over the world, wich delete ALL YOUR FILES on your HD.

A lot of people posted this via bulletion in myspace.

These virus you automaticaly install if you accept a download of a screensaver with the BUD-WEI-SER Frogs an this advertise reaches you via E-Mail

So to all: Don´t open those mails with that screensaver in it !!!!

Not quite Coggles me old chum. The moisture comes from the condensation forming on the disc surface when it's cold, after the freezing process, as it warms up again.
If you leave a freezing cold hard drive in a room temperature environment for a couple of days it will return to room temperature naturally, and all the moisture will evaporate. That's why you're not meant to switch on your PC for a while if you've just brought it in from the car on Xmas Eve. Read the manual if you don't believe me.

As you say, the disc could have been sitting there for a couple of years, but it's at a constant room temperature. You won't get any abnormal moisture, unless it's next to something like a radiator or a heater, or in direct sunlight. In which case you should let it stand for a while in a cooler place. If it's been turned off for a while it should be fine to go ahead straight away.

As I stated, freezing it is an extreme measure for which the drive wasn't designed. You will fuck it up big time, eventually. But if the drive is already not working, it's worth considering as a final resort.

i still say look into getting a hard drive enclosure unit to hook the bad drive up to

but then think of the excitement of the freezer varient. what to copy first? how much more will you manage to get? could be a real nail biter....

The cunt hahaha

You talked to him already bout your new PC?

and back up all your important data to dvd...saves a lot of headaches...ive got about 40 dvds with stuff i dont want to lose

me too