Data recovery tools for external hard drive

The important thing is to stop using the drive until you have recovered. File system corruption may result in a crashed drive not allowing you to boot your computer.

Data recovery software can work this type of problem out. If your system cannot recognize the drive, you will have to restore your data with a recovery service. It seems the drive is dead after being exposed to an intense power spike. If your external hard drive is logically damaged or corrupted, there are methods to help you to get data back.

However, if it is caused by mechanical or physical damage, it may work to send the disk to the nearest tech support company. Let's talk about what to do if your external hard device isn't detected by Windows before going into the details of data recovery. You can take several actions to solve the problem of an external hard drive not showing up on the computer.

Whatever the causes result in the corrupted external hard drive, you need to fix the external drive first and recover lost data. When you lost external hard drive files, the most important thing is to stop using the external hard drive immediately. Because continuous operation will make the lost files overwritten or covered by new data.

Then you need to distinguish your external hard disk issues, logical damage, or physical damage. Follow the methods to recover lost data from an external hard drive. A corrupted external hard disk can be fixed by formatting, but there will always be data loss. If your data is lost and you merely want to repair your corrupted external hard drive. You can follow the steps to recover files from the external hard drive by using CMD. System File Checker is a helpful tool offered by Microsoft to scan the disk and repair missing or corrupted system files.

For Windows 10, Windows 8. It may take minutes to complete the process. Step 2: Run CMD. Type the following command, and then press Enter:. You can click here for more details about this tool. A corrupted or faulty hard drive driver can cause unused or inaccessible HDD, but it only takes a few minutes to reinstall:. Step 3: Right-click the external hard drive and select Uninstall device.

Step 4: Reboot your computer. Connect your external hard drive and computer again, and wait for the right external hard drive driver to be reinstalled automatically.

Sometimes, users may set to hide some files on an external hard drive to protect confidential data. Using this method to recover the hidden files on the external hard disk. After a while, you'll see the hidden files on the external hard drive. Windows File Recovery is a command-line app released by Microsoft. It requires users to input accordingly commands based on the File System and lost scenarios. It has invoked the function of Windows File Recovery to recover deleted files with a user-friendly interface.

Step 2. Select the external hard drive to scan and set a destination path to save the recovered files. Step 3. It offers assistance in identifying the undeleted content and partitions from an external drive connected to the computer. The free-to-use program is simple in nature and offers all the features that a major recovery tool possesses.

Puran File Recovery is a new entrant into the world of free file recovery program. However, it does have the capability to retrieve deleted content, and that made it add to the list. The major factor that pushes a user to use the program is its fast scanning technology. You can even navigate and learn options within the program with ease and at a faster pace even though you do not have a clue about recovery programs.

It will offer complete assistance in identifying and recovery deleted partitions and data from any external hard drives. Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery software, which works on different versions of the Windows OS has successfully passed various recovery tests, making it a viable solution to enter the top five list.

It recovers a variety of file types, partitions, and archives from deleted or formatted disks. It even functions efficiently in recognizing external hard drives and performs well. With the 10 best free data recovery software for external hard drive and process, you can easily get the data back.

Try Free Try Free. Ivan Cook updated on Free Download Free Download. Product-related questions? People Also Ask. What's Wondershare ID?

Wondershare ID is an easy way to access Filmora's resources, keep track of your product's activation status, and manage your purchases. More products and services will be connected in the future. Filmstock is an amazing source of effects resources for Filmora users to use in their videos! Outdated drivers can impact the ability of your computer to detect attached devices. This can potentially destroy some of the data on the disk so should be done with caution.

The key is to stop using the external hard drive as soon as you suspect you have lost data. You need to prevent the operating system from overwriting the deleted items with new information.

Download and install Download and install Disk Drill for Windows on your computer. Provide system level credentials during the installation and grant the program permission to make system changes if prompted. Connect and launch Connect the external hard drive to your machine and launch Disk Drill.

You will be presented with a disk list displaying all available devices. Select the external drive from the list. Scan for deleted files Click the Search for lost data button to start the scanning process.

You can choose the type of scan to be performed, although the best recovery results will be achieved by allowing Disk Drill to run all of its scanning procedures automatically in the optimal order. You will see a status bar indicating the progress of the scan which can be paused and restarted at any time. Data can be recovered before the scan completes when the process is paused.

Scan results can also be mounted as a virtual disk to make recovery even easier. The recovered data will be nicely organized in folders for Pictures, Video, Audio, Documents, and Archive files.

Select the files you want to restore as well as a safe location to store them. Do not use the original external disk to avoid overwriting data you want to recover. Perform the recovery Click the Recover button to restore the selected files to your designated storage location. When the process completes you files will be available to your operating system and their original applications. Device support Filesystem support File type support Virtually all disk-based storage devices including external hard drives, memory cards , and flash drives.

This is less safe than saving the restored files to a new storage location as you can do with recovery software. See the FAQs at the end of this article for a full description of how to use this command. Once the computer is virus-free, you can run data recovery software to get back the files that may have been deleted by the attack. When the process completes, you will receive messages detailing its ability to find and fix your files.

Data recovery software can restore deleted files that were not included in the backup. A critical point to remember is to immediately stop using the external storage device as soon as you suspect data loss has occurred. Failure to follow this guidance can lead to the deleted data being overwritten before you have a chance to recover it. Put the drive to the side and fire up your data recovery software.

Mac users can take advantage of Time Machine which comes installed on macOS systems. Many cloud backup offerings are available that can be used with any or multiple operating systems. Did you know? Is it possible to recover files from an external hard drive using the command prompt? Yes, it is. Follow these steps on a Windows 10 machine. Connect the External drive to your computer.

Press Y until the command line starts again. Type the drive letter again and hit Enter. This restarts the command line. This command will recover the file from the storage drive. It creates a new folder on the external drive with all the recovered files. How do I format an external hard drive and why would I need to do it? To format an external hard drive in Windows 10 follow these steps: Connect the external hard drive to your computer.

Open File Explorer. Right-click on the external drive and select Format.