How to Recover Data from External Hard Disk Not Detected

Can I Recover Data If Hard Disk is Not Detected?

• Part 1: How to Fix External Hard Ddriv Not Detected in Windows
• Part 2: How to Recover Data from External Hard Disk Not Detected
• Part 3: 3 Steps to Recover Data from External Hard Disk Not Detected
• Part 4: Data Recovery Tips

External hard disks are commonly used by people for backing up data. However, these disks are prone to problems just like any other drive. One of the issues associated with external hard disks is that of External Hard Disk Not Detected. This issue is caused when the external hard drive is not recognized when you plug it into your system. If this problem isn’t resolved quickly, you might face the possibility of losing all the data that has been stored on this external hard drive.

The possible reasons for this issue can be physical damage, outdated Windows driver, bad sectors, etc. If trying another computer can’t solve this problem, you are highly suggested to send your drive to a device repair services. Before recovering data from external hard drive not detected, you need to fix this issue and go on.

Part 1: How to Fix External Hard Ddriv Not Detected in Windows

1. Does the Drive Show Up in Disk Management?

Plug in your external removable disk into the system making sure that its power switch is on. The next order of business is opening a tool called Disk Management. You can do this by typing diskmgmt.msc in the dialog box that appears after pressing R key along with the windows key.

Your external drive can be found in the window of Disk Management even if it doesn’t appear anywhere else. If you are able to locate the external drive in here, format it so it becomes accessible to Windows but if you can’t locate it then try to find out why Windows isn’t recognizing it.

2. Making Windows Recognize the Drive

A dead drive, a Windows driver issue or a malfunctioning USB port can be the reasons if your external drive isn’t recognized anywhere by Windows. Try connecting the external drive into a different USB port on the system. A hardware issue with the USB port might be the reason if the external drive works in the other USB port. Moreover, you should try unplugging the drive from a USB hub and directly into the system if you are using a USB hub for connecting your external drive to the computer.

You might have a driver issue or your drive might be at fault if you can’t locate your external drive into Disk Management after having changed the USB port and eliminating the USB hub. To find this for sure, plug your drive into a different computer system. If it can’t be located there even in the Disk Management window then your drive is probably at fault.

A driver issue is most likely the case if your external drive is recognized by other computers. The Device Manager can be used to test this theory. Open Device Manager by hitting Enter after typing ‘devmgmt.msc’ in the Run dialog box which can be opened by clicking R key with Windows key.

Driver issues can be detected by looking for yellow exclamation marks in front of devices in the Disk drives menu. To see the error message select Properties after right-clicking the devices that have yellow exclamation marks. Search this error message on Google to find out how to fix it.

Running System Restore is an option if the issue is a recent one. Other available options include reinstalling the driver after uninstalling it, revert changes using Roll Back Driver option or updating the driver using the Update Driver option.

The issue of External Hard Disk Not Detected can be fixed using the above-mentioned methods. However, there is the chance that the data in the external drive becomes lost during this process. So, recovering the data is a good option before trying these methods out.

Part 2: How to Recover Data from External Hard Disk Not Detected

If the above-mentioned methods for fixing the issue of external hard disk not detected in Windows doesn’t work then the only solution available to you is of recovering data from the external hard drive. Wondershare Data Recovery is the best software for recovering all types of data from any kind of storage device. You can use it for safe, effective and quick recovery of your data from your external hard drive.

Download a trial version of Wondershare external hard disk data recovery software to recover data from hard disk not detected now!

Part 3: 3 Steps to Recover Data from External Hard Disk Not Detected

Now let’s do the recovery with Windows version of Wondershare external hard disk Data Recovery. Mac users can follow the similar operation to process the recovery.

Step 1. Select the type of files you want to recover back.

After launching Wondershare external hard disk data recovery software on your computer, select the specific file type you lost from External hard disk.

Step 2. Select your external hard drive where you lost file

Now you need to select external hard disk and hit on “Start” button to scan partitions on it.

Step 3. Deep Scan External Hard Disk

The hard disk data recovery software will start a quick scan, if you can't find any file you want to recover after it completed, go to Deep Scan.

With the Deep Scan it will deeply search more files from external hard disk. It will take more time.

Step 4. Recover Data from External Hard Disk not Detected

When the Deep Scan is over, all recoverable data will be listed in program window. You can check how many of your lost files can be recovered by viewing file names.

Then you just need to mark files you need and click “Recover” button to save them on your computer.

Part 4: Data Recovery Tips

The following are some tips that can help you in avoiding the chances of an external hard disk crash.

• Continue to monitor the external hard disk and make sure that it does not have any bad sectors on it.
• Always take care when plugging your external hard drive into and out of your PC.
• Never shut down your PC without safely ejecting the external hard drive from your PC first.
• Invest in a UPS to ensure that accidental power failure does not cause your PC to shut down while you still have the external hard drive plugged into your system.

The following tips can help you when faced with a situation that requires data recovery.

• Always make use of a good antivirus program to ensure that your system remains free from viruses that can corrupt your files.
• Create backups of your data on a regular basis and save them in multiple locations so that if data gets lost from one location, it can be recovered from the other locations.
• Never make use of ordinary data recovery software for recovering data as they can cause more harm than good.