Disk unknown - not initialized

Hi, thanks for reading this and thanks for your help.

My laptop took a fall and after that it doesnt enter the boot sequence for windows, stops at the laptop manufacturer logo.

I remove my hdd from the laptop and put into a external drive i keep for this purpose, checking hdd´s.

I can´t find the drive in my computer but I can see it in disk managment. It says Disk unknown - not initialized.

I´ve tried using PW but i cant see the drive on there. I would really like to keep my files I have on that drive but it seems to me that it toast.

Regards...

My laptop took a fall and after that it doesnt enter the boot sequence for windows, stops at the laptop manufacturer logo.

That is bad news mate. Usually a mechanical HDD won't survive physical shock like dropping etc. This is because of the microscopical gap between the head and platter. Heads flying height on modern HDDs is about 5-10 nano-meters. For example: an average human's hair is about 25000 nano-meters in diameter. A drop will most likely cause the head to stuck on platter or cause scratches on platter surface.


I would suggest diagnosing the HDD using "Seagate Seatool" and verifying it's health.

SeaTools for Windows | Seagate


Run the tool and select your external HDD for testing. Then choose "Basic Tests --> Shot Generic" and wait for it to finish.





If the test is a pass, run "Basic Tests --> Long Generic". If either of the test fails, the case will be beyond DIY and you should consult a data recovery pro for recovery.