Q: “How do I recover data from an undetectable Seagate external hard drive? Is it possible through some software, or is it advisable to get it done through professionals?” (via Quora)
A: It depends on what you mean by “undetectable.”
For example, there’s physical/electrical undetectability; and undetectability due to logical or software issues. You’ll need to check both kinds.
First, check the cables and power cords. Make sure the drive is using known-good (don’t guess or assume) USB and power cords, connected into known-good USB and electrical sockets. It also never hurts to try plugging into different sockets, with different cords, just to be sure (internal damage to cords, plugs, and sockets may be outwardly invisible).
If you plug the drive into your system (with known-good cords, cables, plugs, and sockets), and File Manager (or whatever you use) can’t show or open the drive, you may need to dig below the high-level functions of the OS.
Try something like Windows’ Disk Management (right-click the start flag, select Disk Management; more info), or whatever low-level disk partition/formatting/repair tool you prefer. Sometimes, a tool like Disk Management can “see” a drive, while the rest of the OS (e.g. Windows File Manager) can’t. If that’s the case, see if you can use Disk Management’s tools to return the drive to visibility and use by the rest of the OS.
If Disk Management can’t see the drive at all, try the drive on a different OS and (ideally) on different hardware. Minimally, use something like a “live” Linux distro, and see if Linux fares better in detecting and accessing the drive. (List of free, self-contained, no-installation-required Linux DVDs.) Similarly, if possible, try plugging the drive into an entirely different PC.
If the disk isn’t detectable in any way, under any circumstances, you only have a few options left.
If the drive spins up — meaning the motor’s OK — then the trouble may lie in the drive’s own, built-in circuitry. Repair shops will often solve this by removing the dead drive’s circuit board(s) and replacing them with known-working boards salvaged from identical drives that suffered failures in other components — such as motor or bearing failure, platter or head problems, etc.
Instead of swapping circuit boards, it’s sometimes possible to swap the platters themselves; removing the platter assembly from your dead drive and swapping it into a working, 100% identical (new or used) drive.
But futzing in the innards of a drive won’t be easy — for example, many drives have a motor/platter assembly simply too complex and delicate for handyman-level skills. If you try a swap, you could well end up with two dead and useless drives, so I’d recommend trying your own hardware repairs only as a desperation move.
For example, it might be worth a shot if the drive contains sensitive material — stuff that probably should have been encrypted, but wasn’t — that you don’t want to be in the hands of others.
Absent that kind of stricture, your best bet probably is to “get it done through professionals.”
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