External Hard Disk, Unknown, Not Initialized ! No Unallocated Space.

Bhautik · 01 Feb 2018

Hi,

I'm new to this forum.

My external hard disk (Seagate) is detected in the task bar after connecting, but not visible in "My Computer".

It is visible in Device manager under Disk Drives but not under USB.

There are few threads in this forum which are similar to mine, except that their Drives are visible in the Disk Management as Unallocated Space, mine is not.

SEE ATTACHMENTS !!!!!!!!!

I've tried all tools, tried in Windows XP still no solution.

Is there any way to atleast recover the data !!!!!!!!!

Your reply is appreciated !!!!!!!!

SEE ATTACHMENTS !!!!!!!!!

Megahertz07 · 01 Feb 2018

Welcom to the Forum.

Did you try another USB port?
If it doesn't show on Disk management it's a bad sign.
I would try to take the disk out of its case and put on a desktop.

mrjimphelps · 01 Feb 2018

Create a Linux Live DVD, then boot with that disk in the drive into Linux. Once you are in Linux, you should be able to see the drive and its contents, and transfer the contents to another drive.

Booting to Linux Live in this way will not make any changes to your hard drive.

To create a Linux Live DVD, go here: (https://linuxmint.com/download.php) and download any of the distros that are listed there (I suggest 32-bit xfce). Then, with a blank, writable DVD in the drive, double click on the ISO file that you downloaded, and it will walk you through creating the Linux Live DVD.

Now make sure that your computer can boot from a DVD, then boot to the DVD.

Bhautik · 02 Feb 2018

I try the all USB port bot doesn't show the hard drive

And when I tried to boot with Windows XP at startup boot ask hard drive password
And when I changed the order of boot and I make pendrive first but it doesn't boot first

Megahertz07 · 02 Feb 2018

Is the drive encrypted?

Barman58 · 02 Feb 2018

It may be that the drive itself has failed, but with an external drive I would initially test by replacement, all the USB hardware, Change the cable. use a different USB port, Try it on another computer. If any of these get the drive working then great, if not it could be the Controller hardware in the external case, you can purchase USB to SATA cables which would allow you to remove the actual HD from the case and check it that way.

If none of this works, or the previous software solutions suggested work then your only option for data recovery would be the very expensive professional recovery route

mrjimphelps · 02 Feb 2018

Barman58 said:

you can purchase USB to SATA cables which would allow you to remove the actual HD from the case and check it that way.

When you remove the external drive from its case and use a USB to SATA converter kit, be aware that the A/C adapters which come with some of these kits are bad. I have read some horror stories about some of these A/C adapters - sometimes the A/C adapter will fry the drive, because it puts out the wrong voltage/amperage/etc.

If you aren't absolutely sure about the quality of the A/C adapter, the only safe way to power up the drive is to get a desktop computer power supply and use it to power the external drive.

You shouldn't have any problem with the USB to SATA data connection; the above refers only to the SATA power connection.

jumanji · 02 Feb 2018

Your Seagate GoFlex drive has an adapter cable like the one below.

External Hard Disk, Unknown, Not Initialized ! No Unallocated Space.-03-02-2018-00-29-53.jpg

The adapter portion houses the SATA to USB bridge circuit. The HDD itself is a standard 2.5" drive with the standard SATA connector just enclosed in a box/case. ( There is no electronics board in it.)

I would believe that the adapter cable - the SATA to USB bridge - has failed.

You may replace the adapter cable and check but it is difficult to get/costly. ( the original Seagate replacement adapter cable is no longer manufactured by Seagate.) . If any of your friends have the same GoFlex drive you may borrow one. ( I have one but you are in Gujarat and me in Karnataka)

Otherwise take the drive to a neighbourhood Computer Service guy. Since the other part is just a normal drive with the standard connector, he may be able to connect it directly to a desktop SATA port ( without taking it out of the box/case)and check whether the drive itself is OK. If it is, ask him to copy all data in it to another drive.

Bhautik · 03 Feb 2018

This drive is an internal hard drive which one I use with encloser and I bought new HDD enclosure but same problem

Bhautik · 03 Feb 2018

When I use Seagate seatools to test with long generatic test which failed and the option of fix all does not show in seatool