Need help with external HD

Fellow fishing friends…

I have a BIG HUGE problem.

I refer to my EXT HD as my Life

If anyone can help I’d be forever in debt. I need not want the data off of the HD.
Here’s what I got:
– 2TB Verbatim HD-purchased approx 1 year ago
– HD dropped less than 12″ resulting in clicking & doesn’t show up on desktop
– Went to microCenter this morning. Assuming I could get it repaired. On the spot, and for a respectable price…. Nothing of the sort. Quoted up to $1,400 with NO guarantee and I’d have to send it out to hear from them via email in a week at best.
– got a suggestion to get a new case for it, which I did and swapped it. Now less ticking. Or non. But still no access.
– spent $100+ on disk warrior, to my knowledge, should have watched the $ go down the toilet.

I’ve spent the past 2 days trying to do this on my own or getting help from “techies” with absolute no success.
My kids photos, special events, all my artwork from the past 11 years, are on this. And I need it to produce urgent jobs I have to have out by the end of the week.

Yes I know. I know I should have backed up my back up. Ill never do this again.

Any help or service anyone could provide ill pay, come to you, do whatever needed. Just need someone to give me hope. (This is a combo of my faces of devastation )

Ps: apologize for this not being fish related. But my fish pics are on their…
Here’s a screenshot of further info.
Thank you.

Been there, and know how bad it feels.

Hoping you good luck and a solution!!!

Have you contacted the disc manufacturer? Being it isn’t a typical problem, they may have a source for truly rebuilding it by mounting the actual (disc into a new drive. Expensive, but?

I haven’t broke a smile all day. It’s like loosing a piece of me. Ill probably have dreams of my teeth falling out tonight.

Thank you cycle guy. It does feel better that I’m not alone.

You don’t need a typical data recovery service (they do suck with no guarantee and huge up front). Sounds like you actually damaged something… and someone has to be able to “fix” it. It went together once.

I need a human that can fix. A fixer

Have you tried plugging it into another machine. Possibly a windows based machine? It’s unlikely it’ll work, but you never know.

Clarify, you pulled the actual drive from the chasis and put it into another chasis?

I’m assuming ext stands for external is it possible to pull it and access it by another means? Long story short my PC got virus, shut down, went to microcenter got this thing where you take harddrive out of machine and hook it to that then to other PC to access files. Not sure if that helps but do know 5 yrs ago was big into PC gaming and talked to many guys who worked there about nerdy PC stuff and back then they all were extremely knowledgeable. If they say its jacked then…….

Yep swapped chassis. (Less ticking, LED like seemed to react after swap)

I’ve only tried connecting to my laptop but still Mac. Same result.

No i haven’t had any access to a pc but I saw that come up a lot, in my researches….

You gave me hope!!! thank you!!!
ill be able to get to one early early tomorrow.

Thank you.

My wife might be right on me glancing over stuff at times
” assuming ext means external”

Have you tried freezing it? Double bag and place in freezer for 12 hours, then immediately plug directly into the computer as the main drive. If that does not work, “GetDataBack” can find invisible hard drives unless you have physically destroyed some internal item. Good luck.

Oh for the love god do not freeze it!! That really is a last minute hail Mary that only should be attempted as last resort. Condensation could form on the one of many tiny delicate cheaply made Chinese parts within it and destroy it forever, or the disks themselves.

Sounds like a head crash to me. there are only two moving parts in a Hard Drive. The Disc Platters than spin and the heads that are little arms that go across the disks as the spin and read the data from the dics. The clicking sound is the heads trying to move. Likely a bad actuater that moves the heads. Years back I used to rebuild them when it took two men to lift them.

About your only option is sending it to a recovery service. You could buy an identical drive and swap the Discs but that should be done in a clean room and is by no means an easy job. If you have the proper tools to take it apart it can be done. I can take pictures of one tomorrow and show you what your in for.

Is it a 3.5″ or 2.5″ drive? 3.5 would be easier to work on.

Your main data should always be on your PCs hard drive and a copy should be on the external. The external should be kept in a fireproof safe when not being used to backup the system.

There are many good free programs that making backing up your data or an exact image of your PC only take a few clicks to do. Please feel free to call me with any questions 715-379-2376

Charlie

I know your pain
been there also – it’s like a piece of your life just disappeared

I had some luck with a recovery program – I will say took took away – mainly because the disk would lock up and you had no way of knowing it

I now backup my whole system once a year on another harddrive and put it in fireproof safe

My files are backup every two – four weeks

at least if it happens again I do not loose everything

program I used I got off the web

Wish ya luck

update:
After many ups and downs. IT WORKED! It was a last step(on accident) I have 31,680 files, approx. 72.7gbs of data I was able to recover. From a very young dude. Got a new 3TB drive and what did I pay? 150$ + doing their business cards. Whew!
Thank you everyone for all your help and care.

That had to feel SO GOOD!! What did you do to recover it if you don’t mind me asking.

Quote:

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That had to feel SO GOOD!! What did you do to recover it if you don’t mind me asking.

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X2 We need to know for future reference.

Charge these guys $75 for the info and you got yours done for free.

Matt Malwitz

Co-founder/COO
Dream A Tech LLC
Where Technology Meets Ambition

http://www.dreamatech.com

Do it quick before they start charging the typical data recovery price. I think I was their first data recover customer. But it was a family / friend referral.

It’s free to have consultation. And he said if it doesn’t work I (we) don’t pay.

Freezer.

Now that you have your data back go out and by a second HD and BACKUP YOUR DATA! Those ext HDs go bad with no warning many times. Hope you also learned that if the drive is “ticking” at all it is time to back it up/transfer data immediately, do a DOD data wipe and throw it away.