Tripped over My Seagate External Drive USB cable 1

[hairykiore]

Hi I have a Seagate Expansion External drive USB 2.0 Plug and Play model ST320005EXM101-RK.....and I tripped over the cable ??? although the drive then initially worked it now is no longer being seen...So ...Should I first buy a new cable and try that....If the hard drive still fails what would be my options...I still have cellophane wrapped round the bottom although I see what looks like 4 rubber grommets on the top which indicates there may be screws underneath and when removed could allow the top to be taken off so as I can inspect the USB socket for damage inside...I would be sincerely grateful for any advice on this...Thankyou HK

 

[DrB0b]

Usually they are snapped together with either no screws(see new WD externals) or only a couple. What is the model on the sticker on the bottom of the unit?

Sounds to me like you killed the drive and the enclosure should be fine. Easy way to test this theory is open it up and attach the external to a working PC and test it or see if it is recognized by the host OS. If it is, buy a new enclosure.

"You don't know what you got, till its gone..
80's hair band Cinderella or ode to data backups???

 

[hairykiore]

Thanks for your reply ...Its gone back to the retail store and then they have to get permission to remove the cover from the importer/supplier who probably then contacts Seagate?? ?? Its only 5 months old... My Googling has found out that the cover will not come off unless prized off and this breaks special clips inside..There is no sticker on it anywhere..
So now I just have to wait and see what the retail store comes up with..I know its not the cable so I think there is a good chance that the USB mini socket on the external case has broken a solder joint inside...Well thats what I am hoping...
Of course the service guy at the retail store has less knowledge than me so I just have to wait...and see how he handles the situation...
as I understand there is the interior socket on the hard drive and one will be able to use it connected to a host OS..and this will determine if the drive itself has a problem..
If its in the case ..well buying another external case would be the best way to go..I think...Cheers HK

 

[DrB0b]

With the prices of Hard drives(the good ones anyway) still way too high, yea replacing the unit will be the most cost effective method.

If you have very important data on the drive, I would definitely ask what will happen to the drive if it or the enclosure are found bad. Usually the manufacturer will not pay anything to retrieve the data onboard and just replace the whole unit and you are out your data. If it is valuable, I would try and see what my options are for getting your data off without breaking the warranty.(there may be none)

"You don't know what you got, till its gone..
80's hair band Cinderella or ode to data backups???

 

[hairykiore]

Yes you are absolutely right...In my discussion with the retailer ...it seems to me that in order to get my data off the disk I have zero options..the Warrantry therefore is a waste of time but I decided to let the retailer go through the process with strict instructions not to actually do anything to the drive itself without my permission...It surprises me that in my research nobody has found a way of getting the cover off without breaking the inside clips unless that is a deliberate ploy by Seagate in ensuring it being "tamper" proof..HK

 

[hairykiore]

Hi.I have now had the drive opened by the retailer who had obtained permission from the supplier and sadly when he pluged the hard drive into his computer via its sata socket ..as he put it ...The drive did not boot up..I presume thats it ..my data is gone because its simply not worth getting it forensicly tested...So this is a final posting just in case there is something else i can try ...Thanks HK

 

[DrB0b]

Do you have the drive? If so you could try some of the software data recovery programs like GetDataBack or the free Recuva.

Note that GetDataBack has your best chance of retrieving any data and has a trial version which allows you to scan your drive to see if it can find anything, then you buy the retail version and can retrieve said data. Recuva will only work if Windows can see the drive and has assigned it a drive letter.

Outside of software data recovery, your only other real option is a recovery center which will run close to $1000.

GetDataBack:

http://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm

Recuva:

http://www.piriform.com/recuva/download

"You don't know what you got, till its gone..
80's hair band Cinderella or ode to data backups???

 

[hairykiore]

Thanks..I have used GetBackData a few years ago .. I thought there might be a method to try to see if Windows will see the drive and assign a letter to it ..The retailer still has the drive ..he said it did not "bootup" on his PC ...I was there at the time but I could not actually understand the method he used in his evaluation ... I could go back and make a request to be able to bring the drive home and hook it up to my PC ....there is no way I would pay $1000 to get it forensicly retrieved..Does GetBackVideo actually sometimes work on a Drive that is not being seen assigned a drive letter?? If so it could be worth a try.... Thanks HK

 

[DrB0b]

GetDataBack will work on drives not "seen" by Windows depending on what the failure was, as with any software method. If the read/write head is seized, it is possible that nothing outside of a data recovery center will be able to retrieve. Always worth a shot though, as its free to at least see what it can get.

"You don't know what you got, till its gone..
80's hair band Cinderella or ode to data backups???

 

[hairykiore]

Thankyou for your Prompt reply...I did send an enquiry re a program to try by email to Getbackdata using the email address on their website ....it bounced...so tryed again with same result.HK

 

[DrB0b]

Maybe Im reading the reply wrong but you can download the trial from that link I posted a couple posts ago. Just click the download for NTFS one and unzip and install it.

Should be good to go.

"You don't know what you got, till its gone..
80's hair band Cinderella or ode to data backups???

 

[hairykiore]

Ok..I have downloaded Getdataback and will be going to get the Hard Drive from the retailer later today so will let you know how I get on ...Happy New year and thanks..HK

 

[hairykiore]

Hi .I have installed Getdataback demo..I have the Hard Drive and hooked it up..and booted up PC..Now it did hang on to the Windows Startup for quite sometime which indicated to me that it was having a problem seeing the 2TB drive but finally it fully booted and to my amazement it was seeing new hardware ST_M13FQBL...which I found out was a code for the 2TB drive but when I checked My Computer it was not listed..
So I Started Getdataback and I have taken a screengrab and hopefully I can attach it for you to see..Its showing 7.87GB so obviously there is still a problem..I will just hold at this point and maybe via the screengrab you can advise me on whether I should go to the next step of Getdataback..Thanks HK
PS..Could you please advise on how I can attach the GIF screengrab

 

[hairykiore]

Hi ..I failed to mention I used the NTFS version of Getdataback..HK

 

[DrB0b]

Yea the HDD sounds like it is on its last leg. Basically you have two choices: leave it alone and send it to a data recovery place or attempt to recover data. The more you play with this drive, the more likely a chance it will fail completely. If you want to try and get data back via GetDataBack, you will probably get some of it back.

"You don't know what you got, till its gone..
80's hair band Cinderella or ode to data backups???

 

[hairykiore]

DrBOb...Yes I have now accepted the inevitable ..The drive is beyond recovery unless sent to a data recovery firm at huge cost and the data lost is just not worth it..I have learnt some valuable lessons here like having an external drive in a safe position where one cannot trip over cables .At this point of time I cannot recall all what was on the drive ...I know I backed up other drives on it and I still have those drives...My old VHS tapes which I captured in extremely large avi files and which I was intending too reformat for DVD were on it so I will have to redo the capture so again that is not a disaster..No doubt sometime in the future I will be looking for something and realise that it was on the drive with no backup ..I did try the Getdataback recovery process (it was only seeing 7.87GB ) but it failed in both the NTFS and Fat process.. I also tryed another program demo that I had used years ago successfully which again saw a 7.87GB 2nd drive and did go through a search process but could not see any folder,file etc...
Once again I would like to thankyou for your help...Cheers HK

 

[DrB0b]

Yea it is always a hassle when you lose a drive.

http://www.powerdatarecovery.com/

is another one I used a while ago but I cant remember how effective it was. Worth a shot though.

"You don't know what you got, till its gone..
80's hair band Cinderella or ode to data backups???