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how to repair an external hard drive

by Lee Leannon Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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[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:

  1. 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 ...
  2. 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 ...
  3. Create a new partition to repair the corrupted external hard drive

Part of a video titled How to Fix External Hard Drive Not Showing Up - YouTube
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Process go to device manager. Ok the external hard drive from the list go to properties selectMoreProcess go to device manager. Ok the external hard drive from the list go to properties select update driver software and then select search automatically for updated driver. Software.

Full Answer

How do I reformat my external hard drive?

Reformat hard drive using Command Prompt

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

How to fix an external hard drive that keeps disconnecting?

How to Fix External Hard Drive Keeps Disconnecting. Recover Data from an External Hard Drive with Connection Issue. – Use a Different USB Port. – Turn off USB Selective Suspend Setting. – Prevent PC from Turning off Mass Storage Device. – Disable USB legacy support in BIOS. – Install the Newest USB 3.0 Controller Drivers.

Why is my external hard drive not working?

  • Right-click on This PC/My Computer > Select Manage.
  • Go Disk Management > Find your external hard drive and right click it by choosing Change Drive Letter and Path ...
  • Assign the drive with a new letter that doesn't exist in your PC and mark the Partition as Active.
  • Click OK.
  • Restart PC and your External hard drive will show up and work again.

How to properly eject an external hard drive?

  • Open File Explorer . You can do this by holding the Windows key + E, or double clicking This PC.
  • Navigate to then click My PC on the left side of the window.
  • Find your external USB hard drive, right-click it, then select Eject.

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Can a corrupted external hard drive be fixed?

Run CMD to Repair Corrupted External Hard Drive Without Formatting. The Diskpart command will erase all data on your corrupted device. Therefore, recover data from the corrupted external hard drive first and then you can run CMD to repair the drive.

How can I repair a damaged external hard drive?

How to fix a corrupted external hard drive WITHOUT formattingOn the desktop, open This PC (My Computer) and select the desired external hard drive. Right-click it and select Properties -> Tools -> Click on Check. ... Use chkdsk.Use Disk Management. ... Use diskpart.

How do I fix an unreadable external hard drive?

5+ Fixes for "The Disk Structure Is Corrupted and Unreadable" Error#1. Unplug and Re-plug the Corrupted/Unreadable Device.#2. Check and Repair Disk Error via CHKDSK.#3. Reinstall Disk Drivers.#4. Format Drive.#5. Recover Data.

Can you uncorrupt a external hard drive?

Yes, you can. If you don't have a backup of the hard drive's contents, you can recover files from a hard drive using data recovery software. You can attempt recovery of the data in the drive's current corrupted state.

How do I fix a corrupted external hard drive without formatting?

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.

Will formatting fix a corrupted hard drive?

While formatting can repair a damaged hard disk, there's no guarantee that your data can be recovered after the drive is formatted, especially if a Full Format is performed. Right-click Start and click Disk Management. Right-click the corrupted partition and click Format. Check Perform a quick format.

Repair an external hard drive connected to Windows 10

How to Fix a Corrupted External Hard Drive without Losing Data?

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?

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 to repair a corrupted external hard drive?

If you still cannot repair your corrupted external hard drive, let's think from another angle about recovering data from the corrupted disk using Tenorshare 4DDiG. It is a professional and easy to use tool and able to recover all kinds of data from not only corrupted external hard drive, but also raw/formatted/corrupted partition from laptop/PC. Here're how to do use it: 1 Install and launch the Tenorshare 4DDiG software. 2 On the main interface, you will see all the data types that you can recover. In this case, choose "All Data". 3 Choose your corrupted external hard drive in the "Connected Drives" section. 4 Click on the "Scan" button and Tenorshare 4DDiG will find back all the data on your corrupted external hard drive. 5 After the scan, preview and select your wanted files, click on the "Recover" to proceed. 6 Click "Browse" to define a location. Then Click the "Start Saving" button to save the recovered data.

How to repair a hard drive?

Here are the stepwise guide: Step 1: Head to the Windows search bar and type "CMD" to open it. Right-click on CMD and select the "Run as administrator" option from the context menu. Step 2. Now in the cmd, input chkdsk *:/h/r (where * points to the specific drive you want to repair) and hit "Enter".

How to fix a corrupted hard drive?

Here are the few steps you can do to format your external hard drive: Step 1: Connect the corrupted hard drive to the computer. Step 2: Right-click on the device and select the "Format" option from the context menu.

How to uninstall a device driver?

Step 3: You will be able to see all disks on your PC listed here. Right-click on the hard disk with the errors and click on the "Uninstall device" to uninstall the device drivers. Step 4: After doing so, restart your computer and connect the hard drive again.

Why do we need a hard drive?

The hard drives are installed in all computers to store files for the operating system, user data, and software programs. To maintain a healthy hard drive, you just need to know some basic skills to prolong hard drive life. Therefore, you can do these three tasks daily to take good care of your drive.

How to fix external hard drive not readable?

If your external hard drive is not readable on your PC, try to connect it with another computer to check if the drive is working fine. If it is working on the other PC, then you need to repair the external hard drive by reinstalling the device drivers on your PC. To do so, follow the detailed steps below:

What is a backup of your hard drive?

Taking backups of your data is the most authenticated way of attempting all chances of hard drive recovery without losing the data. You can easily take the backup of your hard drive data, a certain partition of it, or the whole operating system. There are windows backup tools available known as "Backup and Restore" in Windows 7/8.1/10. The backup tool in Windows 8 is renamed to "File History".

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.

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 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 ...

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