how to repair a external hard drive

by Mariah Reilly Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago

[Solution] How to Repair Corrupted External Hard Drive without Formatting

Follow below step by step guide with professional partition manager software - EaseUS Partition Master Free to find out how to repair corrupted external hard drive without formatting now:

Check and repair the corrupted external hard drive You can directly follow Method 1 in Part 3 with EaseUS Partition Master Free to check and repair errors in ...
Wipe data on the corrupted external hard drive and make it unallocated Launch EaseUS Partition Master Free and right-click the corrupted device by selecting Wipe data; then it ...
Create a new partition to repair the corrupted external hard drive

Full Answer

How do you fix an external hard drive?

Repair Corrupted External Hard Drive with Manual Repair

Fix HDD, SSD, external hard drive, USB flash drive errors, and restore data from all RAID levels
Recover lost partition that cannot be restored by data recovery software
Fix disks that cannot be read or accessed because of bad sectors
Fix disks that become GPT protected partitions

More items...

How do I reformat my external hard drive?

Reformat hard drive using Command Prompt

Connect the external disk to your computer and make sure it can be detected by Windows.
Press Windows + R key combo to start Run box. Type “ diskpart ” and hit Enter. ...
In Command Prompt, type below commands in order and press Enter to execute after each input.

Why is my external hard drive not connecting?

Why External Hard Drive Recognized But Not Accessible?

Presence of bad sectors caused by inappropriately removing the drive from PC without following the removal protocol.
Mechanical failure is caused by dropping the drive on the ground.
Virus or Malware is caused by opening an ill-conceived website or file.
Driver issue caused by some software glitch.

How do you wipe an external hard drive?

Secure Erase External SSD without Hurting

Right click external SSD in AOMEI Partition Assistant and select “SSD Secure Erase”.
At this page, choose the SSD and click “Next”.
Usually, SSD would encounter a frozen state which can be unfrozen by a hot swap. Follow the instruction to learn how to perform a hot swap.
After that, you should be able to erase external SSD securely. ...

Can a damaged external hard drive be fixed?

Generally speaking, the external hard drive errors can be repaired using CMD. What you should note is that regarding "chkdsk f: /f ", the first f should be replaced with the drive letter of the external hard drive.

How can I repair my external hard drive without losing data?

How to Restore Data from External Hard Drive Without Formatting?Scan Your Computer for Viruses.Use CHKDSK to Fix File System Errors.Replace Corrupted Files with SFC.Recover Your Files with Data Recovery Software.

How do I fix a malfunctioning external hard drive?

How Do I Fix My External Hard Drive That is Not Reading?Examine the Physical Connection between Your PC, Hard Drive, and External Power Source. ... Disable the USB Selective Suspend in Your Computer's Power Options. ... Format and Create a New Partition on the Drive. ... Update or Reinstall Drivers.

How do I know if my external hard drive is damaged?

Common symptoms of external hard drive failure include:Failure to Mount or Recognize.Excessively Loud Operation.Clicking, Whirring or Grinding Sounds.Disappearing Files or Folders.File Corruption Error Messages.Extremely Slow Drive Access Times.

Why do external hard drives stop working?

Firstly, quite often an external hard drive may be damaged by a virus or other kind of malicious program that you installed completely by accident. Secondly, an external hard drive can simply have mechanical damage to the components. Third, bad sectors can cause a disk to fail.

How to recover data from external hard drive?

To start external hard drive recovery, you should firstly get Recoverit Data Recovery free downloaded and installed on your computer. After the installation, connect the external hard drive to your Windows computer and then follow the next steps to regain the lost data from an external hard drive.

How to tell if your hard drive is spinning?

Listen up to the sound that your connected hard drive is making. Are you able to hear it? If it is spinning you'll possibly know the sound.

What does 0 mean on a hard drive?

Notes: 0 means the drive letter of the external hard disk to be repaired. It can be also 1 or 2. As we can see, to learn how to repair an external hard drive is handy as it helps in avoiding unprecedented circumstances about your data.

Can you use diskpart.exe to repair an external hard drive?

You can also directly use the diskpart.exe to repair external hard drive not detected. Here are the steps:

Can you repair an external hard drive?

What are the problems with external hard drives?

There are two types of problems: hardware and software. Hardware problems are physical flaws that prevent the discs from spinning and accessing data. Software problems are digital mixups that make retrieving data more difficult.

How to know if external hard drive is bent?

If you have recently dropped it or traveled with it, it is possible that something came loose. Also check that all the arms and platters are straight and do not appear bent in any way. If they are bent, straighten them with your hands or pliers .

How to tell if your hard drive is timing out?

Look for grinding sounds from your drive or humming that starts or stops. These are signs that the actuator arm and discs are no longer in alignment and your drive is timing out. If it seems as though nothing is wrong with your hard drive, it's probably time for a software fix.

How to repair a hard drive on a laptop?

Go to Tools tab. Under Error checking, click Check. If prompted, click Yes or enter the administrator password. Click Scan drive > Repair drive. Wait for the process to finish. The scanning process may take a while depending on the size of your external hard disk and the specifications of your PC.

How to get chkdsk to work on external hard drive?

Click the Start button. Type Command Prompt. Right-click Command Prompt and then select Run as administrator. On the Command Prompt screen, type the command below: chkdsk <drive letter>: /f. <driver letter> would be the letter assigned to your external hard disk. For example: chkdsk E: /f.

How to open file explorer?

Open File Explorer by pressing the Windows keys button + E.

How to repair an unreadable external hard drive?

The process does not require any third-party software and uses the built-in error-checking tool from Windows. It will search the disk for bad sectors and helps in repairing them without the need for format. After completing the process, you can safe ly remove the external drive , reconnect, and see if you can access the contents. If you can access, then copy all the contents to a new folder on the local hard drive. The steps are:

What are some good habits for external hard drives?

The good habits include updating the software, firmware (if required), and practicing the proper removal procedure after using the drive.

How to open disk management in Windows 10?

a. Open the disk management by typing the same in the search bar in Windows 10 or right-click on the Windows symbol and select the "Disk Management" option.

How to Repair Hard Drive Using Command (CMD)?

To repair any corrupt hard drive, you’ll have to use CHKDSK, also known as CheckDisk, an official Windows utility that’s designed to check the integrity of a hard drive and repair it in case of damage. CHKDSK is executed within CMD and can be used to repair both internal and external hard drives, irrespective of their storage space.

How to recover deleted files from a hard drive?

Now, launch the software and choose the hard drive as the target location. It’ll be listed under the “External Devices” tab. Step 2 Click the “Next” button and Recoverit will start scanning the hard drive for all the deleted files.

What is the best recovery tool for hard drive?

If you’re facing the same situation, we recommend using a professional data recovery tool, i.e., Wondershare Recoverit to retrieve the lost data. Since Recoverit is dedicated recovery software, it has a 98% success rate. So, irrespective of the type of hard drive error, Wondershare Recoverit will help you recover the deleted files all the time. It works with different types of storage devices such as hard drives, pen drives, SD cards, etc. The tool also supports 1000+ file types, which means you’ll be able to recover everything using Recoverit.

Can you repair a corrupted hard drive with a command prompt?

Nevertheless, every problem comes with a solution, and a corrupted hard drive is no exception. You can use Windows build-in Command Prompt to repair a hard disk in different types of scenarios. For example, suppose you are a Windows 7 user and are not inclined towards downloading extra third-party software to get the hard drive repaired, then using the command prompt will the best option to go for.

Is an external hard drive a good tool?

No doubt external hard drives are a pretty useful tool for people who often find it challenging to organize their data. But facing data corruption or errors with the hard drive can lead to great disappointment. Nevertheless, every problem comes with a solution, and a corrupted hard drive is no exception.

Can you fix data loss from a hard drive?

Data Loss: To some extent, data loss from the hard drive can also be fixed using the command prompt.

Can you recover files from a damaged external hard drive?

In fact, the recovery rate for Command Prompt is so low that you might never be able to retrieve all the files from a damaged external hard drive. If you’re facing the same situation, we recommend using a professional data recovery ...

How to fix external hard drive not opening?

There are two useful methods for fixing the external hard drive detected but not opening error: run CHKDSK and format the drive.

What to do if Toshiba external hard drive is not showing up?

If you find your Toshiba external hard drive not showing up on PC (showing as unrecognized), you can open Device Manager to uninstall (or delete) the driver. Then, open My Computer or This PC to check whether the external hard drive shows up now or not. If it doesn’t show up, please restart your computer and check again.

How to uninstall a device from the context menu?

Right click on a device and choose Uninstall device from the context menu.

What to do if WD external drive doesn't show up?

As said before, if the WD external drive doesn’t show up on your PC, you should first open Disk Management to have a look. If the WD external disk shows as unallocated/not initialized/offline, you can make it appear easily by formatting, creating a volume, initializing to mbr / gpt, or setting online.

Why does my USB drive disappear?

According to study, the USB drive could disappear due to a lot of reason. The root reason for causing that is the driver of USB is tool old, missing, or corrupted somehow. You’d better make use of the Device Manager to check the status of USB driver.

Why is my hard drive not detected in BIOS?

Sometimes, you may find your hard disk not detected in BIOS. This may be caused by the disabled Legacy USB Support.

Why won't my WD drive recognize my external hard drive?

It’s possible that the USB port you use is failed so your computer won't recognize the external hard drive. Please try a USB 2.0 port if you're using USB 3.0 and connect the drive directly to the Windows PC instead if you’re using a USB hub.

Repairing Guides