subject: How to recover data from an external hard drive [print this page] How to recover data from an external hard drive
These days, most people use an external hard disk in order to ensure the consistency of their data. But, what if the data that you stored on your external hard drive also disappears? Or you tried to save all your media files from your computer to external drive and the process failed. Well, in both of these circumstances, one thing is sure that you have lost all your data. But, the good news is that with the revolutionary advancement in technology, it is possible to recover data even from an external hard drive.
But, first of all you have to determine the reason behind the malfunctioning of your external hard drive. For instance, make sure whether it is related to hardware or software. With a little bit of knowledge, you can start with software related problem, but a hardware problem requires the assistance of professionals. Now, the question emerges how can you identify this problem? Simple, plug in your external hard drive into the USB port of your computer and see whether the drive activity indicator blinks up. If yes, then you don't need to panic, because you are facing a problem which is related to the software. But in case, the drive makes some unusual noise and even the indicator doesn't blink up, then undoubtedly your external hard drive is caught by a hardware related problem.
Now, when you have come across the problem which has caused data loss, it's time to use data recovery options. In case of hardware failure, it is not advised to opt for data recovery unless the hard drive contains data that is really valuable to you. This is so because hardware failure issues require to be resolved by professionals which mean a significant amount of money to be spent. Here, you should also note that a damaged external hard drive requires specific equipment and a dust free environment to repair, that's why you shouldn't try it on your own.
Well, that was all about the data recovery if the hardware failure is the issue. But, in case you have got some software problem, then additional software can provide a solution for you. It doesn't matter whether you have got your external hard drive partitioned or infected by viruses, data recovery software can assist you in acquiring your files back. And the interesting fact is that such software doesn't require you to be computer savvy. Just attach your external hard drive to your computer, create some free space on your hard drive where you wish to store the data and finally run the software. During this process, you will be asked to go through several steps in order to select the data source to be recovered, destination drive etc. Now, when it comes to obtaining this software, you can easily search for them on the Internet.
However, you must bear in mind that external hard drive data recovery is not a sure approach to acquire all your lost data. Whenever you use software for data recover, you are limited to their capabilities. Usually, most of them can recover some special sort of files such as emails etc. That's why you must pre install data protection and recovery software on your external hard drive, if you really wish to avoid such problems.
