External Hardrive data recovery software

[manzir]

I have a 1tb WD external harddrive which gave up on me last night. When I plug it in it blinks continuous as usual but doesn't show up under my computer. It does show up in computer management-> disk management and shows in device status- "This device is working properly".But under Storage -> disk management it shows "Disk 4 Not Initialized" I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers; didn't work.

 

I contacted WD customer service and they are saying that the drive is damaged. They suggest to take the hard drive to a professional harddrive recovery company (recommended by WD) and retrieve the data. 

So I contacted one and they gave quote of $850.00 !!!!! $149.00 per hour labor cost.

 

I would rather go with a reputable Hardrive data recovery software but I am also nervous about running too many data recovery cycles which in case corrupt the contents even more.

 

any suggestion on a good software?

[zanthros]

It may or may not be the hard drive. I have had success in recovery of files on external drives by removing them from the case that they are in and hook them up to my motherboard via a SATA cable and using my case power supply to get the thing up and running. Sometimes the interface (USB or ESATA) takes a dump on you. You have look at it like this: What have you got to loose? You will have to remove it from the case to send it to a recovery service anyway.

[xtoolbearx]

I agree with zanthros the only other things i could add would be try on another computer with a different os or even try the freezer trick?

[stconquest]

It may or may not be the hard drive. I have had success in recovery of files on external drives by removing them from the case that they are in and hook them up to my motherboard via a SATA cable and using my case power supply to get the thing up and running. Sometimes the interface (USB or ESATA) takes a dump on you. You have look at it like this: What have you got to loose? You will have to remove it from the case to send it to a recovery service anyway.

 

I have three drives that used to have enclosures... the drives are fine, the enclosures suck.

[manzir]

I agree with zanthros the only other things i could add would be try on another computer with a different os or even try the freezer trick?

I have tried other computers and even swapped the usb cable from my 2tb WD drive, no luck. Could you elaborate the freezer trick?

[stconquest]

I have tried other computers and even swapped the usb cable from my 2tb WD drive, no luck. Could you elaborate the freezer trick?

 

No.  You open the enclosure and take the freakin' drive out.  Connect it directly to your pc via Sata Power/Data (or IDE if it is old).

[Captain_WD]

I have a 1tb WD external harddrive which gave up on me last night. When I plug it in it blinks continuous as usual but doesn't show up under my computer. It does show up in computer management-> disk management and shows in device status- "This device is working properly".But under Storage -> disk management it shows "Disk 4 Not Initialized" I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers; didn't work.

 

I contacted WD customer service and they are saying that the drive is damaged. They suggest to take the hard drive to a professional harddrive recovery company (recommended by WD) and retrieve the data. 

So I contacted one and they gave quote of $850.00 !!!!! $149.00 per hour labor cost.

 

I would rather go with a reputable Hardrive data recovery software but I am also nervous about running too many data recovery cycles which in case corrupt the contents even more.

 

any suggestion on a good software?

 

Hey manzir,

 

I would first check if the drive has hardware encryption before taking it out of the enclosure. What is the exact model of the drive that you have? Do have in mind that removing the drive from the enclosure voids the warranty. Can you run a diagnostic tool on the drive to check what's the exact problem? I would recommend using WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostic tool: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=6fpRBT

The data recovery company is indeed an expensive service, but it is the most reliable way to get your data back.

 

Captain_WD.

[zanthros]

Like Stconquest says, " You open the enclosure and take the freakin' drive out.  Connect it directly to your pc via Sata Power/Data (or IDE if it is old)." I am going under the assumption that the drive is out of warranty because of your post "I contacted WD customer service and they are saying that the drive is damaged. They suggest to take the hard drive to a professional harddrive recovery company (recommended by WD) and retrieve the data. " 

WD does not do data recovery and the warranty only covers the functionality of the drive. I would not waste my time on diagnostic tools as you have already determined that the drive in the enclosure is not functioning and they will tell you that it is not working and possibly damage the drive further if it has an actual malfunction in the drive. 

I would only try the freezer trick if after removing the drive from the enclosure and you are not able to get any data. It is very important that if you are able to access the drive once removed from the housing that you be prepared to get all the data from the drive that you want as there is no way of knowing how good it actually is, so be prepared to copy the data and have enough space on something to copy it to.

The freezer trick works on drives that are just plain mechanically worn out by cooling down the components and "shrinking up the tolerances" of the device. When you cool down materials (except water) they contract. Using the freezer trick is a one or two shot deal, as cooling the drive and then taking it out is problematic as cooling it and letting it get hot again will cause condensation and will probably cause failure on the drive due to moisture intrusion, so do the freezer trick as a last resort. I have also had success with data recovery by replacing the circuit board on the drive, but you must replace it with the exact board from the exact same model and revision of the drive. 

I hope that this has helped you with your problem.