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29 June 2024  John Weaver  Senior Program Developer
 

Summary
Master how to recover data from damaged external hard disk with our expert guide. Preserve your valuable information effortlessly.



Table of contents

table iconI. Symptoms and causes of external hard disk damage
table iconII. How to recover data from external hard disk?
table iconIII. How to repair the failure of the external hard disk?
how to recover data from damaged external hard disk

I. Symptoms and causes of external hard disk damage

Symptoms of external hard disk failure generally manifest as:
● The hard disk does not respond or makes abnormal noises.
● The hard disk prompts that it needs to be formatted before use.
● The system prompts that the file or directory is damaged.
● The data in the hard disk is lost.
● The computer does not recognize the hard drive, or the file system becomes RAW.
● The hard disk partition suddenly disappears and becomes unallocated.
location is not available windows
Several factors can cause your external hard drive to malfunction. Possible causes include:
● Improper operation, directly unplug the connected external hard disk from the computer, but fail to eject it safely.
● Virus or malware infection.
● There are too many bad sectors on the hard disk.
● File system error. You can try to format the hard drive to fix this issue.
● Outdated/corrupted drivers. It is recommended to update the driver to solve it.
After understanding the reasons for the failure or damage of a external hard disk, you may wonder, “Can the external hard disk be damaged and the data still be recovered?” If the damage is not severe and new data storage is halted immediately upon detecting the issue, recovery is possible. You can use professional data recovery software to scan and retrieve the data, followed by hard disk repair. However, data recovery is a remedial measure and may fail due to component damage or data overwriting. It’s best to regularly back up hard disk data to avoid losing important information.

II. How to recover data from external hard disk?

1. What is Renee Undeleter?

Renee Undeleter is designed to restore various data files. Whether you’ve accidentally deleted important files, emptied the recycle bin, or formatted the disk/storage, this tool can retrieve your lost data. It includes four functional modules: Fast Partition Scan, Whole Partition Scan, Whole Disk Scan, and Image Creation, addressing all data loss issues comprehensively.
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Image creation Create a partition image to read and back up data;

Supported devices SD card, SDHC, SDXC, USB flash drive, hard disk and computer.

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Multiple scan modes Fast partition/whole partition/whole disk scan;

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2. How to use Renee Undeleter to recover the data in the external hard disk?

Step 1: Connect the external hard disk to the computer, install and run Renee Undeleter. Select the Whole Disk Scan option on the main interface.
Note: Do not install on the disk that needs to restore data, so as not to cause data overwriting.
select whole disk scan in renee undeleter
Data Recovery Function:

  • Fast Partition Scan – Quickly retrieve files lost due to accidental deletion or emptying the recycle bin.
  • Whole Partition Scan – Recover files from inaccessible or formatted partitions.
  • Whole Disk Scan – Analyze partition information and fully scan the entire disk.
  • Image Creation – Create an image of a partition to back up its current state.
Step 2: Select the hard drive and click (Next).
select a disk to recover in renee undeleter
Step 3: Wait patiently for the scan to identify all existing partitions on the hard disk. The “Select the partition you want to scan” window will appear, allowing you to choose a specific partition. If no partition is selected, all partitions will be scanned, taking longer.
recover partition with Renee Undeleter
Step 4: Preview the files during scanning. Once all required files are found, select them and click the Recover button to restore the data to other disks on the computer.
select taget files to recover with renee undeleter

III. How to repair the failure of the external hard disk?

1. Run antivirus software

Viruses and malware can cause external hard drives to fail. Scanning and removing them with antivirus software may repair a damaged drive. Connect the external hard drive to a computer with reliable antivirus software installed and perform a scan.

2. Check and fix hard disk errors in Windows 10/8/7 with Windows built-in tools

You can try to use Windows built-in tools to check and fix external hard drive errors. In Windows 10, 8 or 7 do the following:
Step 1: Connect the external hard disk to the computer. Press Windows icon + R, enter diskmgmt.msc in the pop-up input box, and click OK to access disk management.
run diskmgmt.msc
Step 2: In Disk Management, right-click on the failed hard disk partition and select (Properties).
partition of hard drive
Step 3: Go to the (Tools) tab and click (Check).
check disk
Step 4: For Windows 7 or 8, check (Automatically fix file system errors) and (Scan and attempt recovery of bad sectors). Windows 10 handles all errors automatically. Wait for the inspection and repair to complete.
check disk Windows
Hard disk error scanning marks bad sectors as unusable at the file system level to prevent data from being written to unstable storage spaces. To fully address bad sectors, consider low-level formatting (which may not always work) or replacing the hard disk.

3. Update the hard disk driver

If the external hard disk powers on but cannot be used, try updating its driver. Here are the steps to update the hard disk driver:
Step 1: Start the Windows computer, connect the hard disk, and press Windows+R to open the Run window. Enter devmgmt.msc and click OK to open Device Manager.
open device manager
Step 2: In the “Disk Drive”, right-click on the target hard disk, and select the (Update Driver) option.
update driver disk
Step 3: Select Search automatically for updated driver software and follow the instructions to complete the hard disk driver update. After updating, restart the device to see if the problem is resolved.
update Driver Confirm

4. Re-format the external hard disk in disk management

You can reformat the external hard disk in Disk Management. This will erase all data on the hard disk, so ensure you have backed up your data. Steps are as follows:
Step 1: Right-click the Start menu and click (Disk Management).
open windows disk management
Step 2: Right-click on the failed external hard disk and select (Format).
right click to select format sd card in disk management
Step 3: Choose the file system. Select NTFS, check Perform a quick format, and click OK.
quick Format
Step 4: The formatting operation will prompt you to clear all data on the external hard disk. Click OK and wait for the process to complete. If formatting fails in Disk Management, you can also use the diskpart command.