External HDD not working properly

[Coulous]

Hello,
I'm having a problem with my Seagate Expansion. When I plug it (tried it with my desktop and 2 laptops, same result) I hear the disk spinning, the light is on, Windows detects the drive, I can see the remaining space on it in the file explorer, BUT I can't access it. It wont let me open it, it "loads" forever. Nothing happens and I ultimately have to unplug it. Is it dead or is there a way to get an access back ?
Thank you guys.

[mockedarche]

5 minutes ago, Coulous said:

Hello,
I'm having a problem with my Seagate Expansion. When I plug it (tried it with my desktop and 2 laptops, same result) I hear the disk spinning, the light is on, Windows detects the drive, I can see the remaining space on it in the file explorer, BUT I can't access it. It wont let me open it, it "loads" forever. Nothing happens and I ultimately have to unplug it. Is it dead or is there a way to get an access back ?
Thank you guys.

Is it new? Are there important files on there? Does it show up when you go to the partition manager?

[Coulous]

Well it's around a year old now, and there is a ton of photos on it I would prefer not to loose.
I can't see it in the partition manager, and not even in the file explorer anymore. Nothing shows up anywhere.

[Windows7ge]

1 hour ago, Coulous said:

Well it's around a year old now, and there is a ton of photos on it I would prefer not to loose.
I can't see it in the partition manager, and not even in the file explorer anymore. Nothing shows up anywhere.

Sounds kind of like the drive is failing or if you're lucky it's just a problem with the USB connection.

 

I would try to pop it out of its enclosure and plug it in directly via SATA if it's not soldered directly to the USB port. 3.5" drives are usually shuck-able. 2.5" are hit-or-miss.

[Coulous]

Update : I was trying to see if I could find a recovery software that could see the drive, and when searching I kept it plugged in. And after several minutes the drive showed up automatically and a new window opened with everything still on it. I guess I should be backing up my stuff then !

 

8 hours ago, Windows7ge said:

Sounds kind of like the drive is failing or if you're lucky it's just a problem with the USB connection.

 

I would try to pop it out of its enclosure and plug it in directly via SATA if it's not soldered directly to the USB port. 3.5" drives are usually shuck-able. 2.5" are hit-or-miss.

Yeah I thought about that too for a moment, but I did not manage to open it. It's a 2,5" too. But hey, I guess I got kind of lucky with that one !
Thanks for your answers guys !