How do you repair external hard disk when it is not detected?

Table of Contents

What are some common reasons an external hard drive is not detected?

There are a few common reasons why an external hard drive may not be detected:

Faulty USB port – If the USB port your external drive is connected to is damaged or faulty, the drive will not be detected.
Drive not receiving sufficient power – Most external hard drives require extra power from an external source. If it’s just drawing power over the USB cable, it may not receive enough power to function.

Outdated drivers – Outdated USB drivers can prevent your system from detecting external drives. Update your USB drivers and chipset drivers.
Damaged drive – If the external enclosure or the drive itself is damaged physically, your computer won’t detect it.
Damaged USB cable – Damaged or faulty USB 3.0 and 2.0 cables can cause detection issues. Try using a different cable.

Drive letter conflict – If your external drive shares the same drive letter as another disk, Windows won’t assign it a new letter, causing detection issues.

So in summary, issues with power delivery, outdated drivers, physical damage, drive letter conflicts, or a damaged USB port or cable can prevent your external hard drive from being detected.

How can you troubleshoot an external hard drive that is not detected?

Here are some steps to troubleshoot an external hard drive that is not detected:

Try connecting the drive to another USB port – Use the rear ports if possible as they have stronger power delivery.
Connect the external drive to another computer – See if it is recognized on a different PC.
Check if the drive shows up in Disk Management – Right-click This PC > Manage > Disk Management. External drives may show up here even if not in Explorer.

Update your USB drivers – Outdated USB drivers can prevent drive detection. Update chipset drivers too.
Change or replace the USB cable – Bad cables account for many failed drive detections.
Use a different USB power cable if the drive came with one.

Check the hard drive enclosure for damage – Look for physical damage to the bridge board or USB connector.
Take the drive out of the enclosure and connect it directly – This isolates the drive from the enclosure electronics.
Update Windows – Especially if you’re on an old OS version, updating Windows may help detection.

Change the drive letter in Disk Management if needed.
Run the Hardware Troubleshooting Wizard – This automated tool checks for USB issues.
Check if the drive shows up in Device Manager – Expand the Disk drives and USB controllers sections.

Following these steps can help determine if the issue is with the enclosure, cable, USB drivers, power delivery, or some other factor. If the bare drive itself is not detected, the hard drive itself has likely failed.

What are some solutions if the external hard drive is not recognized in Disk Management?

If your external hard drive does not show up in Disk Management on your PC, here are some things you can try:

Restart your computer – Completely power down, disconnect the drive, then restart your PC and reconnect the drive.

Connect to another USB port – Try using the rear USB ports if available for better power delivery.
Use a different USB cable – Faulty cables are a common cause of drive detection issues.
Connect the drive to another PC – See if the drive shows up on another computer.

Update USB and chipset drivers – Outdated drivers can prevent Disk Management from seeing drives.
Change or remove drive letter conflicts – If another disk shares the same letter, change it.
Check for physical damage to the enclosure – Damage to the bridge board can prevent detection.

Take the bare drive out and connect it directly – This bypasses any electronics issues in the enclosure.
Look for the drive in Device Manager – Expand the Disk drives section.
Scan for new hardware in Device Manager – This prompts a rescan.

Reseat internal drive connections if possible – For drives removed from PCs.

If the drive shows up in Device Manager but not Disk Management, try partitioning and formatting it through Device Manager or Diskpart in Command Prompt.

If after trying these steps it still does not show up, the drive itself may have failed. As a last resort, attempt data recovery through professional services.

What steps should you take if your external hard drive is detected but not showing files?

Here are some troubleshooting steps if your external hard drive is detected, but not showing files:

Run chkdsk – Open Command Prompt as admin and run “chkdsk x: /f” where x is the drive letter.
Change the drive letter – In Disk Management, assign the drive a new unused letter.

Reset NTFS permissions – In Properties > Security, remove inherited permissions.
Show hidden files – In Folder Options > View, enable “Show hidden files, folders and drives”.
Disable USB selective suspend – Prevents USB drive from powering down.

Update disk drivers – Install the latest chipset and motherboard drivers.
Check if the files are hidden – Files may be marked Hidden by viruses or malware.
Scan for viruses – Use antivirus software to scan the drive for viruses or malware.

Repair file system errors – Use built-in Windows tools like sfc and dism.
Format the drive – As a last resort, quickly format the drive to recover its file system.

Additionally, make sure the drive doesn’t have a working encryption program enabled on it. Encrypted drives require decryption before files can be accessed.

If files are still missing after trying these steps, data recovery software may be required to attempt recovering deleted or lost files from the external drive.

What are some reasons an external hard drive has become corrupted or unreadable?

Here are some potential causes of an external hard drive becoming corrupted or unreadable:

Improper ejection – Forcing external drive removal without properly ejecting can cause corruption.

Bad sectors – Physical bad sectors on the drive platters can render data unreadable.
File system errors – Errors in the FAT or NTFS file systems cause unreadable drives.
Excessive read/write requests – Drives used extensively have higher chances of failure.

Outdated disk drivers – Old disk drivers may have compatibility issues leading to errors.
Viruses or malware – Malicious programs can directly corrupt data on a drive.
Physical damage – Dropping drives or impacts causes physical platters damage.

Power surge or interruption – Sudden power interruptions while writing can corrupt.
Age of the drive – Older drives are more prone to mechanical breakdowns.
Overheating – Excessive drive heat damages internal components over time.

Preventing improper ejections, scanning for bad sectors, monitoring drive health, avoiding malware, and physical damage are key to avoiding corrupted external drives. Proper cooling and surge protection also help extend external hard drive lifespan.

What tools can attempt to fix errors on an external hard drive?

If an external hard drive develops file system errors or corruption, these tools may be able to repair the damage:

CHKDSK – Built-into Windows, CHKDSK scans drives for file system errors and attempts to repair logical bad sectors.

SFC (System File Checker) – SFC scans Windows system files and replaces corrupted files from a cache.
DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) – DISM can repair Windows image files and underlying corruption issues.
Testdisk – Testdisk repairs partition tables, boot sectors, and recovers lost files.

DDRescue – DDRescue clones drives sector-by-sector, isolating bad sectors.
Spinrite – Spinrite defragments and repairs data on drives at the physical level.
HDD Regenerator – Regenerates defective sectors by overwriting them magneticly.

HDAT2 – A DOS-based utility that scans and repairs hard drives.
Victoria – A freeware HDD repair utility that can fix various file system errors.

These tools can restore access to corrupt or inaccessible data on external hard drives. However, severe physical damage may require professional data recovery services.

What recovery methods can repair a corrupted external drive?

If an external hard drive is corrupted and inaccessible, there are a few data recovery methods that may be able to restore access:

Send to a professional data recovery service – They dismantle the drive in a cleanroom and attempt repairing or extracting the platters.
Replace drive PCB (printed circuit board) – The drive PCB can be replaced with one from an identical working drive.

Repair corrupted file system – Utilities like CHKDSK, SFC, and DISM can fix file system errors.
Clone with imaging software – Disk imaging software clones readable sectors ignoring bad sectors.
Low level format – Completely erases and reformats the hard drive from a boot disk.

Repair boot sector and MBR – Fix boot errors using Testdisk utility or Windows installation media.
Reset drive identifiers – Resetting SNR, WWN, etc. can help if drive is not accessible.

The most effective method depends on the extent and type of corruption. While using recovery software is the least invasive, mechanical breakdowns will ultimately require professional data recovery assistance. But weighing the costs vs value of lost data is prudent.

What precautions should be taken to avoid external hard disk failure?

Here are some best practices to avoid failure and extend the life of your external hard disk:

Use the Safely Remove Hardware tool before disconnecting.
Handle drive carefully and avoid physical shocks/impacts.

Keep the drive in a well-ventilated and cool area.
Use a surge protector in case of power spikes.
Perform regular backups to a second drive as redundancy.

Keep your antivirus software updated to avoid malware.
Refrain from overtaxing the drive with high workloads.
Defragment your drive occasionally for optimal performance.

Disconnect when not in use for long durations.
Avoid using the same drive on multiple OS platforms interchangeably.

Additionally, look out for signs of impending failure like slow performance, clicking noises, vibrations, filesystem errors, abnormal temperatures, and frequent bad sectors.

Following these best practices and using enterprise-grade hard disks designed for high reliability will help minimize the chances of external drive failure.

Conclusion

Repairing an external hard disk that is not detected requires methodically troubleshooting the common failure points like connections, drivers, power sources, enclosures, and the drive itself. Trying different PCs, cables, ports, formatting, and direct SATA connections helps isolate the issue. Repair tools like CHKDSK, Spinrite, and TestDisk can fix certain filesystem errors. However, physical damage ultimately requires specialized data recovery services to extract data from the failed drive platters. Careful drive handling and maintenance is key to prolonging disk lifespan and avoiding catastrophic failures. Implementing redundancy and backups provides an added layer of protection against external drive failure.