Knowing how do I fix a corrupted external hard drive could be the difference between spending money on a new one and the ability to reuse what you have. External hard drives will fail eventually, knowing when there is nothing you can do makes the difference.
That is why its crucial to know the ins and outs about external hard drives and their uses. If you want to know how do I fix a corrupted external hard drive and any other information related to it, keep reading. We will answer this question in detail and share great insights on how to fix these issues.
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How Do I Fix A Corrupted External Hard Drive? – The Facts
If your external hard drive has become uncooperative and refuses to work, you may find that it’s been corrupted. A corrupted external hard drive can sometimes be fixed by running a few simple commands or using a software program.
The best way to fix a corrupted external hard disk is by using data recovery software. The biggest challenge with external hard drives is that they are not permanently connected to the computer, so if the drive isn’t connecting or you get an error message, it could be that something happened within the device itself. Here are some steps to help:
1. Connect your USB drive to the computer and make sure that it is not in use, then open Windows explorer;
2.Find the external drive’s icon on your computer and right-click on it; Choose “Properties” option from the drop-down menu of “Properties”. If you do not find this option on your context menu then press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC keys at once to open the task manager.
3. In task manager look for the program that is using the disk space and then end it using administrator privileges; After ending all programs that are using disk space, click on “OK” button of properties window and then immediately click on “scan for errors” check box.
4. When scanning process completes, check if there is any error listed or not; If there are no errors reported in Disk Cleanup utility then do remember to check if “Volume Shadow Copy service” status is turned off or not because if this service is running it refuses any kind of copying permission to write data on the hard drive.
How To Fix External Hard Drive Not Detected
Fixing your external hard drive seems like a complicated task. but you can fix it by following these simple steps:
1. Shut down your computer and disconnect the power source of both your laptop and the external hard drive and wait a few minutes.
2. Remove all messy cables from both devices and make sure that there are no remaining programs installed on either your laptop or the external hard drive.
3. plug in only one end of USB cable into the top slot on your laptop, now plug in a different end into the back of your external hard drive.
4. Then turn on your computer while simultaneously plugging in another end of USB cable into the side slot of your PC.
Once you have done all of the above, you can check to see if the computer picks up the external hard drive. In some cases it could be a driver issue which cause the PC not to recognize the device. After learning this process how do I fix a corrupted external hard drive becomes a no-brainer.
How To Fix External Hard Drive Not Detected Mac
Your external hard drive not showing on Mac can be a problem. There are some quick solutions for you to get your external hard drive detected by your Mac by following these simple steps:
1. Turn on your Mac computer and connect the external hard drive to the USB port.
2. If the external drive is connected correctly, it should mount automatically on your desktop. If it doesn’t, go to Finder and click on Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility and select the disk you want to unmount. Then click on File > Eject button to eject it safely.
3. Now that the disk is disconnected from your Mac computer, press Command + R keys and hold for a few seconds or until you see the Apple logo (white screen with black horizontal bars).
4. Your Mac should now boot up into recovery mode screen with options to play music or update macOS from an internet connection as well as restore from backup.
5. Select Utilities > Terminal when presented with recovery mode choices
6. Type diskutil list.
Unless something is terribly wrong with your Mac or external hard drive, the above should solve the problem.
How To Fix External Hard Drive Not Detected Windows 10
If you get external hard drive not detected Windows 10 message, you are not alone. We have a solution for you. The first step to fix this problem is to check what the message means. In most cases, it pops up because your computer has no idea how to find the external drive when you connect it with a cable or wire.
If that’s the case and it’s happened twice in a row, then all you need to do is restart your computer for starters. Other than that the process is the same where you disconnect everything for a brief period and then try again. If that doesn’t work, something could be wrong with the external or the computer driver/connection port.
Why Is My External Hard Drive Not Detected?
If your external hard drive isn’t detected by a computer, there could be a number of reasons that this is happening. Some of the reasons include the external hard drive may be no good or faulty or the PC is having issues with the USB port or a compatible driver may not be installed.
In most cases if none of the above is the issue, it could be a faulty cable that is used to connect the external to the computer. To eliminate the cable being the issue, use it with another device or try a different cable.
How Do I Fix An External Hard Drive Being Detected But Not Accessible?
The first thing to do is ensure that you are connected to the right port by checking the side of the device. Make sure that any additional cables are properly plugged in and seated. If all else fails, try a different hard drive and see if there’s a problem with your computer. Follow these steps to help resolve the problem:
1. Start by clicking on your computer and then go to “Manage”.
2. Click on Disk Management. If you are using Windows, you will see a window similar to the one below.
3. Go to Action and select Rescan devices .
Disk Management allows you to view a list of storage drives. By clicking Rescan devices, it allows for hardware changes to be detected. This way you now now how do I fix a corrupted external hard drive.
Final Thoughts On How Do I Fix A Corrupted External Hard Drive
So, how do I fix a corrupted external hard drive? The best way to fix a corrupted external hard drive is to use a data recovery tool. This will allow you to recover lost data while maintaining the security of your personal information. There are many data recovery tool software out there, so be sure to read reviews before purchasing.