how to repair my hard drive external

Repair an external hard drive connected to Windows 10.

• Plug in your external hard disk.
• Open File Explorer by pressing the Windows keys button + E.
• Go to This PC.
• Right-click your external hard disk under Devices and drives.
• Select Properties.
• 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.

Full Answer

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 to fix your computer harddrive in under 5 min.?

Tidy up computer space with Disk Cleanup

• Choose Start→My Computer or Start→My Computer. ...
• Right-click the drive you want to check and choose Properties from the shortcut menu. ...
• Click the General tab, if it isn’t already open. ...
• 4. ...
• Clear the check boxes next to any files that you want to keep; check the check boxes next to any additional files that you want to clear off the disk. ...
• Click OK. ...

More items...

How to repair corrupted external hard drive without losing data?

Run CMD to Repair Corrupted External Hard Drive Without Formatting

• Press Win+R, type: cmd and click Enter;
• Type: diskpart and hit Enter;
• Type: list disk and hit Enter;
• Type: select disk 0 and hit Enter; (0 stands for the drive letter of your corrupted external hard drive.)
• Type: clean and hit Enter; (This will wipe all data on the drive.)
• Type: create partition primary and hit Enter;

More items...

How to fix external hard drive not working?

How to Fix "External Hard Drive Is Not Working/Responding" Error

• Method 1. Check and Fix Disk Errors on External Hard Drive. ...
• Method 2. Formatting an External Hard Drive to NTFS to Repair the Fault. ...
• Method 3. Create A New Partition in External Hard Drive. ...
• Method 4. Assign a New Drive Letter to External Disk. ...
• Method 5. Initialize External Disk and Create a New Volume. ...
• Method 6. Update Disk Driver. ...
• Method 7. ...
• Method 8. ...
• Method 9. ...

How do I fix my external hard drive not working?

External Drive Not Showing Up or Detected? 6 Fixes to TryMake Sure Your External Drive Turns On.Check the Drive in Disk Management. ... Try Another USB Port and Computer. ... Troubleshoot Device Driver Issues. ... Create a New Drive Volume. ... Format the External Drive.

How can I repair my external hard drive without formatting?

How to fix an external hard drive without formatting?Press Windows Key + S and search for Command Prompt. ... Type CHKDSK E: /F /R /X and press Enter (replace “E:” with your own drive letter).When the scan is finished, you'll see a screen that details how many issues were found and resolved.

How do I check and repair my external hard drive?

Run Disk Error CheckingPlug in your external hard disk.Open File Explorer by pressing the Windows keys button + E.Go to This PC.Right-click your external hard disk under Devices and drives.Select Properties.Go to Tools tab.Under Error checking, click Check.More items...•

How do I fix a corrupted hard drive?

Methods to Fix Corrupted Hard DriveGo to Computer/This PC >> Select Hard Drive >> Choose Properties.Select Tools >> Error checking >> Check now >> Check local disk >> Start.Shut down all open and running programs >> wait for the system to check upon the next boot >> restart the PC.

Can a hard drive be repaired?

Hard drive repair is possible, but they should NOT be reused after a recovery! Of course, HDDs can be repaired! However, a repaired HDD should not be reused, but rather, have its contents recovered immediately and then be discarded as it cannot be trusted to work into the future.

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

If you repeatedly see one of these symptoms, chances are your hard drive is gradually failing:Scrambled file or folder names.Random error messages when opening, moving, or saving files.Files that fail to open.Corrupted data within your files.Disappearing files or folders.

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 do I check the health of my hard drive?

Go to Windows “Start” Type “cmd” to open the command prompt app. Now type “CHKDSK” on the command prompt window and hit enter. This will run a scan and show you the status of your HDD.

How do I check my hard drive for problems?

ResolutionRight-click the Start Windows icon.In the shortcut menu, click Open Windows Explorer.In the navigation pane, click Computer so that your drives appear in the right pane.Right-click the drive that you want to check.Click Properties.Click the Tools tab.Click the Check now button.More items...

How do I scan my hard drive for errors?

Press "Windows-E" on your keyboard to launch the Computer window.Right-click the hard disk you want to scan and choose "Properties" from the menu that appears.Click the "Tools" tab.Click the "Check" button located beneath the Error Checking heading to have Windows perform a scan of your drive.More items...

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.

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.

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.

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:

Why is my hard drive corrupted?

It can happen because of multiple reasons. Out of the many, there can be malware infection, an increasing number of bad sectors on the hard disk, or errors in system files.

How to stop a computer from being slow?

To prevent it, use a small piece of cloth and a dip of spirit cleaner to clean your PC.

What to do if your external hard drive doesn't work?

Mostly, when your external hard drive suddenly doesn't work or fails to show up on your computer, you should first check the device connection between your external disk and your computer. Now, follow to make the not working external hard drive detectable and show up on your PC again: #1.

How to recover data from external hard drive?

Since you're going to recover data from an external hard drive, you need to correctly connect the drive to your Windows computer. Run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and choose the exact external drive where you lost data. Click Scan.

Why is my external hard drive not working?

Applies to: Fix external hard drive not working due to unknown disk error or corrupted file system. Mostly, when an internal or external hard drive contains an unknown error or corrupted file system, the Windows computer will not be able to detect or open the drive.

What to do if USB cable is broken?

If the USB connection cable is not broken, try to reconnect the external drive to your PC via a new USB port and check if the computer detects your disk.

What is an external hard drive?

An external hard drive is a device that used to back up your most important files and data, but if it suddenly stops working or responding, don't worry. On this page, we'll focus on the external hard drive not working issue and you'll learn：. Part 1. Make Not Working External Hard Drive Detectable.

Can chkdsk fix external hard drive?

Running chkdsk can hopefully fix the external hard drive errors, however, it can also result in total data loss. So, perform data recovery in advance, and then continue with the CMD method.

Why is my portable hard drive prone to damage?

As mentioned earlier, your portable hard drive is prone to damage daily since it is used with such doggedness that one can forget how delicate the gadget is . Because of this scenario, many problems may occur with the drive, and the standard most error that typically happens is the "External Drive or its directory becoming corrupt or unreadable.".

What happens if you accidentally drop a USB drive?

Physical damages to the external hard drive should also be considered because the external drive is becoming unreadable. If you have accidentally dropped the device, it may cause some internal damage ...

Why is my computer infected with viruses?

Virus infection: Virus infection or malware attack occurs due to casual and unsafe browsing on the internet. If you happen to download a suspicious or pirated file from a shady website and open through the file explorer, it might infect your computer and all the devices connected to it, as well.

Can you use command prompt to scan disk?

The command will take some time to scan the disk and fix the detected issue immediately. It would be best if you were careful while using "Command Prompt" as it can get pretty technical; entering a wrong command could lead to severe damage to the computer. 2.

Can you recover data from an unreadable hard drive?

Data from an unreadable hard disk is recoverable with the help of a third-party data recovery application. Recoverit - Data Recovery will help you recover items that are under threat of getting deleted. Before performing the recovery operation, it is best to understand the features of the program, which are mentioned below:

What to do if your computer cannot read your external hard drive?

If your computer cannot read your external hard drive, you can connect it to another PC to see if the drive can be read and work normally. If it works, you can make external hard drive repair by reinstalling the device drivers on your computer. Here are detailed steps for you to reinstall your hard drive's drivers.

How to uninstall hard drive?

Right-click the hard disk with hard drive failure and then click Uninstall device to uninstall the drive. Step 4. Restart the computer and connect the hard drive. The drivers will start installing automatically in most cases. After restarting, you can check if your external hard drive can be read.

Why is my hard drive corrupted?

Hard drive can become damaged or corrupted due to various hard drive errors like bad sectors on hard drive, file system corruptions. So you must learn these basic tips. After reading this article, you may find that hard drive repair is not so complicated.

Can a hard bad sector be repaired?

Formatting the drive will almost always fix this. But, if it's a hard bad sector, this indicates physical damage , which cannot be repaired.

Can a hard drive run into problems?

Hard drives can run into problems sometimes. This article will show you how to make hard drive repair and recover data from a hard drive. When your hard drive needs to be repaired, you can try the top 4 solutions in this article to fix the hard drive.

What happens if the command doesn't repair your hard drive?

If the above command doesn’t repair your hard drive, there’s a huge probability that it contains bad sectors, which also means that you might have already lost valuable data from the hard drive as well. Fortunately, you can also use the CHKDSK utility to look for bad sectors and recover deleted files.

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.

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 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 ...