In this time of age, external hard disk recovery is pretty much an easy thing to do. Do you want to find the data you have accidentally deleted?
Do you want to get rid of your drive of viruses? Then data recovery is the thing for you. Today’s article will discuss how to recover files from an external hard drive. It will be an easy-to-follow step-by-step guide to follow to the heart if you want that sweet data to return to you.
- So, without further ado, let us begin talking about the steps that you need to follow:
- First, ensure your computer can read the external hard drive.
Before you can see how to recover data from an external hard drive, you need to know first about this. It might be a minor problem, but believe it when this is one of the most common reasons people complain about their external hard drives.
You see, thanks to the advent of USB cables, connecting your external hard drive to your computer is as easy as plugging the wires into the port. Do that correctly, and you will have your external hard drive ready to use in no time.
Sadly, things are not always as easy as it seems. While the USB port driver is something that all operating systems (Windows, Mac, Linux) will install the first time they are launched, there are times when the OS goes haywire and forgets to install the USB driver.
If no USB driver is installed in the computer, then said USB port (the place you plug the cables in) will not work. It will give power to the external hard drive, but then there would be no command that ‘drives’ (hence the named driver) said the external hard drive to connect to the PC. This would lead to the USB drive not showing on your computer.
You can devise a manager (on Windows) and find the one marked with an exclamation mark to remedy this. Right-click on it, and you can update the driver from there. As long as you are connected to the internet, Windows will do its thing for you, and your USB port will be fully functional.
Second, check whether your external drive is working as intended or not.
A faulty external hard drive is the second most common complaint in the complaints list. To check if the hard drive is working or not, you can connect the drive to the PC and see its power status.
Usually, an external hard drive has an indicator in the form of a tiny light. If it is lit, it is generally working. If it is not, something might be broken. Replace the connecting cable with other cables sharing the same port types and see whether it is repaired.
If it is, then the cable is the faulty one. If it is not, then your external hard drive is broken. Bring it to a repair center, and they will repair it for you in no time (for a fee, depending on where you take it).
(Optional) clean your computer and the external hard drive from viruses
Viruses can be a bad thing for your external hard disk and your computer in general. Some virus is a mild annoyance, meaning they will only install harmless stuff on your computer and will let you do your something.
However, some viruses can delete your data, and those kinds of viruses are the viruses that you do not want to have. Other viruses can kill your computer, and others can spy on you.
When all is well, the third step is downloading the program.
This guide on recovering data from an external hard disk will be irrelevant if you do not download the data recovery program. There are many options to choose from. Both Windows and Mac have their own best programs, so do a bit of research before downloading a program. A senseless download can lead you to a virus. Only download from a trusted source.
Study the program for a bit and use it to restore the lost data
When you finish the download, please install the program and study it for a bit. Check on each of the prompts and read about what does what.
This part is the most useful because one mistake can cost you a lot here, depending on your downloaded program. When you have understood a bit about it and already know what to do, the only thing left is to recover. Wait for a bit, and your external hard disk recovery process will be finished in no time.
