Solved External hard drive shell broke, salvaged internal drive

AiO

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I have a 2TB Western Digital My Book Essentials, it's filled with tons of old photos, movies, docs, games, and I'm scared to think of what else. The SATA to USB connector broke on it, so I took the drive apart and put it inside my computer. I opened up device manager because it wasn't showing up automatically and the 2TB is showing up as unallocated, I'm freaking out now because I'm scared the data was somehow deleted.

What do I do?

edit: I realize also this isn't directly related to Windows 8 (besides the fact it's the OS I'm on), but I don't know where else to post it. I'd also like to say that I had a really deep feeling the drive was going to break continually for about two weeks before it happened, so if you have a similar feeling about something, don't ignore it!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
As long as your hard disk is still spinning & recognized by Windows, the data in your hard disk is still there, just the File Allocation Table got corrupted, You'll have a good chance to recover your data. What you need is a data recovery program, I use this program in the past:

Data Recovery Software Products - Runtime Software Products

In the mean time, leave this hard disk alone, do not initialize or format it when Windows offers to do so.
 
Last edited:

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That is scary crap, as long as the drive is spinning and isn't clicking, data is recoverable. I'd check
out the data recovery tools others posted. You'll need a hard drive to copy over the recovered data. It's not too difficult, just time consuming.

I just recently lost my 500 gig hard drive that I'm still realizing what I lost...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
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    Crosshair V Formula-Z
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    16 gig DDR3
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    ASUS R9 270
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    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
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    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
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Thanks guys, I tried a different tool with no success, I'll try the ones posted here and report back. I have two 1TB HDD's that I'll be migrating my files over to, and I will then immediately get another 2TB HDD and use a RAID level, I'll never let this happen again.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Thanks guys, I tried a different tool with no success, I'll try the ones posted here and report back. I have two 1TB HDD's that I'll be migrating my files over to, and I will then immediately get another 2TB HDD and use a RAID level, I'll never let this happen again.

I would look into Storage Spaces if you're on Windows 8. It's like a RAID, but easier and better to use, as you can use external hard drives with it versus needing to have the exact same type of hard drive. Makes upgrading storage pools better.
 

My Computer

System One

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    Windows 8.1 Pro
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    PC/Desktop
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    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
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    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
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    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
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    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
I'm using MiniTools, so far it's 7% done (took 2 hours, says 29 hours remaining, not a problem though) but what worries me is it says so far it's only found 21 files... now I had thousands of pictures, hundreds of movies, games, documents, etc.. And after 7% only finding 21 files..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
I'm using MiniTools, so far it's 7% done (took 2 hours, says 29 hours remaining, not a problem though) but what worries me is it says so far it's only found 21 files... now I had thousands of pictures, hundreds of movies, games, documents, etc.. And after 7% only finding 21 files..

It'll take a LLOOONNNGG time for it to find everything. Just because it's at 7% and found 21 files, doesn't mean everything's lost.

Seeing as it's 2 TBs and it was pretty full, it'll take a good while to scan it all.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
I'm using MiniTools, so far it's 7% done (took 2 hours, says 29 hours remaining, not a problem though) but what worries me is it says so far it's only found 21 files... now I had thousands of pictures, hundreds of movies, games, documents, etc.. And after 7% only finding 21 files..

It'll take a LLOOONNNGG time for it to find everything. Just because it's at 7% and found 21 files, doesn't mean everything's lost.

Seeing as it's 2 TBs and it was pretty full, it'll take a good while to scan it all.

Thank you for the reassurance, here's a screenshot I just took : imgur: the simple image sharer

I noticed it's saying it scanned FAT folders/files, my HDD was NTFS formatted, will this make a difference?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
I'm using MiniTools, so far it's 7% done (took 2 hours, says 29 hours remaining, not a problem though) but what worries me is it says so far it's only found 21 files... now I had thousands of pictures, hundreds of movies, games, documents, etc.. And after 7% only finding 21 files..

It'll take a LLOOONNNGG time for it to find everything. Just because it's at 7% and found 21 files, doesn't mean everything's lost.

Seeing as it's 2 TBs and it was pretty full, it'll take a good while to scan it all.

Thank you for the reassurance, here's a screenshot I just took : imgur: the simple image sharer

I noticed it's saying it scanned FAT folders/files, my HDD was NTFS formatted, will this make a difference?

No, it's not something to be concerned about. If you checked something like Scan Entire Drive or partition, it'll check EVERYTHING, there may be a small partition that is used up for something that is in the FAT system. So far, it's still at the outer edges of the disk and hasn't moved inwards yet.

Try to be patient. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
It'll take a LLOOONNNGG time for it to find everything. Just because it's at 7% and found 21 files, doesn't mean everything's lost.

Seeing as it's 2 TBs and it was pretty full, it'll take a good while to scan it all.

Thank you for the reassurance, here's a screenshot I just took : imgur: the simple image sharer

I noticed it's saying it scanned FAT folders/files, my HDD was NTFS formatted, will this make a difference?

No, it's not something to be concerned about. If you checked something like Scan Entire Drive or partition, it'll check EVERYTHING, there may be a small partition that is used up for something that is in the FAT system. So far, it's still at the outer edges of the disk and hasn't moved inwards yet.

Try to be patient. :)

Just finished scanning, It discovered a whopping 271 files, and I've never even seen half of them, others are just stock windows photos (such as: http://i.imgur.com/5J9Aq.png ), please, you have no idea how much this is bothering me, I have irreplaceable files on that hard drive.. I know I should of made a backup, and I intend to as soon as I recover them, but what do I do now?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
I have a 2TB Western Digital My Book Essentials, it's filled with tons of old photos, movies, docs, games, and I'm scared to think of what else. The SATA to USB connector broke on it, so I took the drive apart and put it inside my computer. I opened up device manager because it wasn't showing up automatically and the 2TB is showing up as unallocated, I'm freaking out now because I'm scared the data was somehow deleted.

What do I do?

edit: I realize also this isn't directly related to Windows 8 (besides the fact it's the OS I'm on), but I don't know where else to post it. I'd also like to say that I had a really deep feeling the drive was going to break continually for about two weeks before it happened, so if you have a similar feeling about something, don't ignore it!

Your best bet is to repair the old cable or purchase a new one if it is still made and install the drive in the new one. Recover the files to a different drive.
 

My Computer

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    intell i7
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    Around 13 million employes
I'm gonna try one last scan, if that fails then I'm gonna take apart another WD drive and put this one in it.

this is nuts, there was nothing wrong with the drive,just the SATA to USB adapter.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
I'm gonna try one last scan, if that fails then I'm gonna take apart another WD drive and put this one in it.

this is nuts, there was nothing wrong with the drive,just the SATA to USB adapter.
Have you tried putting a new enclosure for that hard drive? And did you use a freeware version of the data recovery tool, I noticed it only will allow 1 gig of free to recovery.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
No, I the paid version, and I'm going to use an enclosure from another drive after I try one other method (a guide from sevenforums).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
I would suggest then to use a different program for such.

I personally use EASEUS data recovery, haven't had really any problems with it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
I would suggest then to use a different program for such.

I personally use EASEUS data recovery, haven't had really any problems with it.
Well good old Windows updated and restarted during my scan, so I went ahead and tried repairing the sata to usb connector, I couldn't but I cracked open another wd drive and borrowed that part, it still showed up as unallocated.

What does that mean exactly? Unallocated I mean, does it mean there's not even a file system in place?

Now I'm running EaseUS partition scan and am going to bed. Goodnight!

Try Recuva from Piriform. I've used it with great success on drives that Windows says need to be formatted and in situations like yours. Plus it's FREE. It searches the entire drive for lost files and will even recreate the complete directory structure.

Recuva - Undelete, Unerase, File and Disk Recovery - Free Download
As a last resort, I'll try formatting the drive and I'll definitely give it a try, I've used it as well to recover some small important swf files that Ccleaner (ironically another of piriforms products (makers of recuva)) deleted.thanks!

Sent via tapatalk
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
I would suggest then to use a different program for such.

I personally use EASEUS data recovery, haven't had really any problems with it.
Well good old Windows updated and restarted during my scan, so I went ahead and tried repairing the sata to usb connector, I couldn't but I cracked open another wd drive and borrowed that part, it still showed up as unallocated.

What does that mean exactly? Unallocated I mean, does it mean there's not even a file system in place?

Now I'm running EaseUS partition scan and am going to bed. Goodnight!

Try Recuva from Piriform. I've used it with great success on drives that Windows says need to be formatted and in situations like yours. Plus it's FREE. It searches the entire drive for lost files and will even recreate the complete directory structure.

Recuva - Undelete, Unerase, File and Disk Recovery - Free Download
As a last resort, I'll try formatting the drive and I'll definitely give it a try, I've used it as well to recover some small important swf files that Ccleaner (ironically another of piriforms products (makers of recuva)) deleted.thanks!

Sent via tapatalk

Unallocated... Huh. Usually if the file system got messed up, Windows detects the partition as RAW, not unallocated. Can you post a screenshot of Computer and from Disk Management?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
STOP!

Sorry for shouting, but if you want to have a chance to get your data back, please stop what you are doing. I hate to say it, but most of the advice given here so far is dangerously clueless/wrong. Also, formatting your drive will NOT improve your situation, don't do it!

And whatever you do, never ever just randomly use "tools" on your original drive that you want to rescue, especially if you don't know exactly what you are doing. ALWAYS make a sector image (i.e. DD) of the HDD and only work on that copy!


In regards to your problem: Have a look here (which is a better place for data recovery question), this seems to adress exactly your problem:

Western Digital MyBook essential data recovery : Hard Disk Drives: data recovery and repair


Good luck!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64
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