Anyone know how to recover a damaged hard drive?

[joe2006]

I took one of my external hard drives on a trip and had it plugged into the laptop with all my pictures on it. I accidentally tripped over the USB cord that connected the hard drive to the computer and must have damaged something. Now when I plug the hard drive into the computer the computer does not recognize it and it does not show up anywhere in the list of my hard drives. The hard drive turns on when I plug it into the computer so it is reading something. Is there some way to access the files of a damaged hard drive and recover them?

 

[Isadoorian]

You could try EaseUS; don't remember if it's paid or not

you could also have a look at r/datarecovery on Reddit, they might have some guides and help; I looked and it's a bit dead but I'm sure you'll get help from there regardless

 

[Mia]

I would begin first by replacing the old USB cord with a new one and checking the internal pins or in this case the plastic tongue and slots. If that does not work, I would check the plastic and metal assembly inside the USB ports both female and male.

If you tripped on the cord, it's highly likely that it's a cord, metal or plastic and metal embedded tongue in the slot. USB ports are easy to break or pull out. You can bend the pins or displace the entire USB assembly.

Which of these looks like your external hard drive's USB port?

Once you do that, we can discuss hard disc recovery if that does not fix the problem.

 

[joe2006]

It was a USB 3.0 cord. I tried using two other USB cords but it still would not work. I then tried to use the cord I tripped over with my other external hard drives and they both worked with it. I think the USB port might have been damaged. I have also tried several different hard drive recovery programs but they could not find the hard drive and were not able to recover anything.

 

[Mia]

So it's likely that the USB port is damaged, from what you've indicated. You could replace it. So that would mean finding another, or ordering it online, or going to a computer parts store in your area. If you don't want to take the case off the hard drive, you could bring it to a local technician who will do it for you and replace the usb port.

Sometimes people go to places like value village and other second hand places and buy used computers and peripherals just for the parts, usually they range from a few dollars to about twenty dollars. What brand of external hard drive is it? If it's older, it will be easier to find parts for.

Can you connect this specific hard drive any other way? Rather than using a usb? Can you hard wire it with a regular computer cable for example?

 

[joe2006]

This is a Seagate external hard drive. The hard drive is about the size of my hand and only uses the USB port as a connection. I do not see a way of taking the case off the hard drive without risking damaging anything else. I check with Seagate about replacing the USB hub but they charge hundreds of dollars to fix it so I will continue looking for other places that repair hard drives for a more reasonable price.

 

[Mia]

There are quite a few videos on repair of this drive and how to open the case without damaging it.

https://www.google.ca/search?ei=kfG..........0i71j0i67j0j0i22i30j33i160.6RWsuXUll6Y

 

[StopDiagnosingPeople]

Your best bet, and the first thing you can try is to put the drive in a new caddy. If it is a true hard drive (as opposed to a flash drive or something) then it's almost surely not a true USB drive. It's a regular PC hard drive (a SATA drive) and it's put inside a USB housing. If you open it up you'll find it's just a sata drive. So, now, you can take that SATA drive and put it in a new USB caddy or reader or something.

Very good chance that will work, because what is likely damaged is the USB host and connector.

If that does not work, it means that there is some more severe damage to the drive itself. But try that first!