Need to rescue data from my external hard drive

[Otilio]

Hi guyz, I have a Maxtor 2tb external HDD which used to work fine when i bought it.The HDD has a external power source and has firewire capability.From few days the HDD is not detected by my PC if i plug it in using the external supply.Sometimes it gets detected if i plug it in using USB only (without the power supply) and sometimes it just makes the sound of found new hardware but the drive is not seen.Following is the configuration of my pc Intel core2 duo 1.8 ghz,Intel 965 motherboard,2 gb ram and an ATI graphic card.Can this be a virus problem also i need to get the data out of the portable hard disk which is very important.Is is possible to rescue data from a corrupted hard drive by using any software?Also need to know about the firewire connectivity.

[Simond]

Try connecting the drive using firewire.to do that your pc should have a firewire port which i suppose is not present on your current motherboard.So my suggestion would to get the hard drive checked using a firewire port before consider it to be damaged.You can also get the firewire port installed to your PC by installing the FireWire port PC card but to add this card your pc should support USB 2.0 atleast.

[Pugsly]

There are many software's available for rescuing data from the corrupt drives.Norton ghost, Pro data doctor, Easeus etc are the different trusted data recovery software's but are not available for free.There are also many free software's which work but for limited amount of data.But to make any data recovery software run it is necessary that the hard drive gets detected which is not in your case.I don't think any data recovery software will help you recover the data but still you can try using a free software.

[Gonzo]

Are you sure that the drive was not physically damaged? As the hard drive is not getting detected using external source it may be possible that the power input socket in the hard drive case must be damaged.Check if the power input socket on the hard drive case is damaged and if it is in warranty then try and get it replaced.They might not replace the entire hard drive but you can get the casing changed.Before the checking the power input socket check the Power adaptor using a Multimeter it may be faulty too.

[Regina]

There are many vendors who provide with data recovery solutions and I am sure that Maxtor which is now Seagate must be providing it.You need to submit your hard drive at there service center and they try and recover the data as much as possible.Data recovery is free if the hard drive is in warranty and there is no physical damage to it.If the warranty period is over then you can give the hard disk to local vendors who provide data recovery solutions.

[Bon-Z]

Clearly from your description it seems to be the power issue.The external power unit to the HDD must be faulty that explains the HDD not getting detected when plugged in using the external power.When you plug in the HDD using USB alone you get the sound but the HDD is not shown this is because USB cannot power up the HDD completely hence it is not getting detected.Changing the casing and/or the power unit will solve the problem.