Windows 10: External drive not seen - best way forward?

Hi I've had a few external USB drives die on me lately. One of them wasn't fully backed-up, so I'm looking for the best way to try and recover the data. The disk is a 5TB Seagate Backup-plus (2.5 inch) USB3-connected drive. The data on it isn't really all _that_ important (I certainly don't want to spend hundreds of dollars having it professionally recovered), but as I have nothing to lose (I am just going to throw it in the trash anyway), what is the best way of tryin to recover the data, please? Windows plays a "dum-dubby-dum" sound when it is plugged into a USB port (same as when other PnP devices are plugged into a USB port). But after that, nada. (Actually, Windows gives a "USB Device not recognised" toaster-notification). It is not seen in 'This PC' or Disk Management. It doesn't seem to be spinning. There is a light on the case which is solid-on. I have tried it in several PCs. It initially died when I was verifying a Macrium backup (of my PC's C: drive) that I had put on it. It started giving cyclic redundancy checks, then just couldn't be seen when it was plugged-in again. There were a few 'tinkling' noises later when it span, which I understand to be a bad sign. - I have a new disk arriving in the mail today to take the data, so just want to know I'm doing the right thing before I start. So far, I'm looking at How to recover files from a dead external drive | PCWorld How to Fix 'Hard Drive Not Showing Up' in Windows [Solved] How to recover files from a dead external drive | PCWorld The people recommending the tools are the manufacturers of the tools, so.... is that the best advice? I've also heard that using linux might help. Is that right ? If so, how? I also saw a youtube video, where the guy just opened the case and manually swung the (stuck) arm back-to-base and everything was fine and dandy. I got me a big hammer and a chisel and I'm a-ready to do me some fixin'... Any pointers? Thanks p.s. I dont have a desktop PC to mount the physical disk in, only laptops. Win 10 Home.

:)

 

External drive

Hi Richard,

There are several factors that can cause your external drive to not read DVDs even though the system is recognizing the device. This could be caused by a driver that needs to updated or corrupted files. For us to resolve your concern, kindly answer the questions
below:

• Just to confirm, the device that is not working properly is a external DVD optical drive?
• Were there any recent changes or updates installed on your computer?
• Have you tried to plug the external drive to a different port on your computer?

As a initial recommendation, we suggest that your run the built in troubleshooter in Windows 10. Kindly refer to the steps below:

• Type “Troubleshooting” in the Search bar and press Enter.
• Click on “View All” in the top left corner.
• This will display the list of troubleshooters which are built-in in the computer. You can click on
  Hardware and Devices from the list and you can run the troubleshooter.

This will check for common errors that affect hardware on your computer and attempts to correct them.

We look forward to your response after completing the steps.

 

Loss of External drives

Hi,

For better assistance, kindly verify the queries below:

• What is the make and model of the external drives?
• Have you checked if both drivers are recognized on the BIOS settings?
• Are you connecting the external hard drives via USB?
• What are the troubleshooting steps have you done so far for this issue?

Looking forward to your response.

Regards.

 

Seagate External Hard Drive

Hi Barbara,

Hardware failure or corruption within your system files are some of the possible reasons why you are experiencing an issue with accessing your external hard drive. For us to provide an accurate solution, we would need you to answer the following questions:

• Which build, version and edition of Windows 10?
• Are you experiencing the same issue when you are trying to access the external hard drive using another PC?
• What troubleshooting steps have you done so far?

In the meantime, we suggest running the automated troubleshooter for hardware. Follow these steps to do so:

• Open the Control Panel.
• Using the search box at the upper right corner of the window, type troubleshooting.
  
• From the search results, click on Troubleshooting.
• Click on Hardware and Sound and then choose Hardware and Devices.
• Once done, restart your computer and then check if the same issue persists.

We are looking forward to your response.