It is recognized by the 'safely remove hardware and eject media' and in device managers but it says 'device is not working properly' and i cant find it under disk management, also the light on the actual external hard drive is on the same way as when it worked.
Most likely there is a serious issue with your drive. The USB bridge is likely still communicating with your computer, thus why you see the device under USB media, however, it appears not to be receiving any information from the drive itself and that is why it is not showing under device manager. Would highly recommend to send to a data recovery service provider if the data is critical. There is a small chance that if you remove the internal drive from your enclosure and remove the USB bridge, connect the drive directly via SATA, it may be accessible. This will void any warranty you may have left on the device. Good luck.
SOURCE: I cannot see my free agent external drive
Thanks for your responses...
I've pretty much decided that it must be a hardware problem within the harddrive itself...Can anyone lead me in the right direction to maybe take out the harddrive to put into another external shell in order to hopefully recover my data? Again I'm using a Seagate Freeagent Desktop 500GB external harddrive.
SOURCE: My Seagate FreeAgent desktop 500GB external
One or more of the hints below will probably sort out most USB problems with most USB portable / external hard drives and OTHER devices (though not always)
A few things to check but assumes USB and Windows for other interfaces / operating systems (mac/ Linux) similar steps may be adapted to suit.
1. Ensure it is connected directly to the computer to a USB 2.0 port not a USB 1.0 port as this can have effects on performance and reliability
2. Use only the cables that came with it NOT one that fits that may have been lying around or is longer. Not all USB cables are equal even though they should be)
3. Do not connect through an external USB HUB unless that hub is USB 2.0 AND has its own power supply.
4. Use ONLY the power supply that came with it if it has an external power supply Don’t use any other unless you know it has both the same voltage and current rating e.g. 12V 500mA anything rated below that would not work properly.
5. Always use the same port for connecting your devices. Some devices do not like being switched about. If switched they may want to install software / drivers again. This can be especially true if you move a HUB to another port
6. For FLASH DRIVES you should ensure that the device is set for "quick removal" using the drive control panel properties or use the USB "Safely Remove Hardware" option. If you don’t do this there is a very strong chance that any files you transfer may not be there when you plug into another computer.
7. It is possible to remove drives from the enclosures in most cases and connect directly inside a PC to fully check it.
You should also do this to check the drives connections are not bad inside the enclosure.
8. If none of the above steps help look at updating the drivers from the manufacturers web site in the support section.
9. If you checked and fixed anything there and still have issues then check your hardware from CONTROL PANEL / SYSTEM / HARDWARE.
Any exclamation marks by hardware need fixing before you investigate any further
10. Ensure that you have set removable drives for "quick removal" or that you use the "Safely Remove Hardware" option often shown on the lower toolbar. It is possible that files my not be fully written to external devices before they are removed. This corrupts the file itself and even on occasion the drive.
SPECIAL NOTES
USB flash drives can fail for no apparent reason.
Sandisk Cruzers are especially bad for this.
USB hard drives should be treated with extreme care.
This is a real hard drive ! And knocks and bumps can quite literally kill them.
Note that if you hear a drive clicking or pinging this could be the worst thing you would hear.
Known as "The Click of Death"
Hope this gives you the information you need
Bob
Moderator
It would be very decent of you to consider the quality of our expert’s answers and judge them accordingly as you pass through FixYa.
Thank you
SOURCE: External Drive not visible
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Hello
Okay , so there are some steps to figure out what is wrong with your external.
Firstly , if your computer makes a sound when you plug in your external , go to Start-Control Panel-Administrative Tools-Computer Management-Disk Management , and see if your external drive is listed here with your local drives. If it is listed , right click on the drive and change the drive letter to make it appear in "my computer".
If your drive does not make a connection sound when connecting to your computer and also does not show up , please follow the next step.
Remove the hard drive from the casing if possible and install it in your computer case or another external case.If the drive works , the problem is with the casing and you can ignore the drive.
Now , if the problem is with the casing , there are still 3 possibilities.
The latter is the easiest to diagnose , does your external light up at all when you plug in the power? If not , then this is probably your problem. On the bottom of the adapter is a label which you will be able to use to have a new adapter made at your local electronics shop and this will cost about $30 max. They will also be able to test the adapter with a clamp meter to see if this is really the problem and this should be free.
The second component you want to test is the USB cable. If you have a printer , swop out the cables and see if your printer functions normally. Most externals use the same connector so you should be able to test it in this manner. If the cable works go on to the last step. If the cable is defective , replace it with a new one which you can find for about $10 at most electronics and chain stores.
The last component to test is the circuit board. This is a bit of a grey zone as you probably won't be able to spot the blown component unless it failed really badly. With the casing already opened , locate the external's circuit board and check to see if you have any blackened components or fluids leaking from some components. If all the other components of the external worked perfectly , then this is the faulty part. It is not really economical to replace the circuit as most of the time it is out of production by the time you need to replace it and it still costs a lot even if it is available so if your drive is working perfectly when connected via sata or IDE on your computer , the best is to buy a new casing and place your old drive in the new casing.
A casing costs about $50 and you could get it at most tech shops and big chain stores like Best Buy.
I hope this solves your problem and please reply if you need more help.
Kind Regards
Andrea
SOURCE: The Samsung Freeagent GoFlex external
This is a good read on what this error actually means:
http://www.softwarepatch.com/tips/cyclic-redundancy.html
What I recommend is reformatting the drive under Computer Management, and seeing if that fixes the problem.
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