HELP MY EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE HAS DIED!! (i think lol)

[aznmunda8889]

Okay I have an external hard drive and every time I plug it in, my computer freezes and the icon does not show, but the second I disconnect it the computer starts working, I have tried to put it in all the usb ports and still the same old problem, I tried on my brothers laptop and my sisters computer as well and still the same thing persists. Is there anything I can do to save it?? because i have all of my lifetimes worth of pictures in it. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!

Thanks in advanced

[MarkRae]

This sounds very strange, especially the fact that it does the same thing on more than one computer. If an external hard drive is corrupt, it will be inaccessible to the computer it's plugged into, but it should not cause the computer itself to freeze.

If it contains data which you cannot live without, you'll need to use the services of a data recovery company. Be prepared for a hefty bill...
http://www.google.co....K+%22data+recovery%22

[snags]

Could it be the USB connection? Could you try another cable?

[ChuckFickens]

That is strange, I also wouldn't expect a external HDD to freeze the computer.

You could try removing the drive and plugging the bare caddy in with no drive fitted, if it still freezes the computer it may be the caddy gone faulty and the drive is fine.

If thats the case a new caddy will cost about £15 and then you simply fit the drive into it and hopefully would be able to gain access to all your files again.

[deggers316]

as i have said before on here you cant beat a regular back up of all your most important files on cd / dvd discs,
hard drives can fail.

[rojash]

Strange it may be, but not uncommon. I've had the same thing happen with two different models of WD external drives.

If you shut down the machine, ensure that the drive is connected, restart, then go and have lunch, you may well find that when you get back, the drive drive is working. As chuck says, you could replace the caddy. What I did was (during one of the working phases) duplicate the contents to a new Toshiba drive.

[society]

...and I thought Western Digital is the best. appears not.