How to Recover Data from Damaged External Hard Disk

Theo Lucia

Dec 23, 2022 • Filed to: Answer Hard Drive Problems • Proven solutions

How Can I Recover My External Hard Drive Data?

As one of our readers posted this query last week, it made me realize that lots of external hard drive users face a similar situation: an external hard disk corrupted and data can't be accessed anymore. A corrupted or damaged external hard drive can be caused by the following factors: interruption when transferring files, virus attack or malware infection, read-and-write head crash, corrupted file and file system, etc.

No matter which the causes result in the damaged external hard drive, what you should do is to fix the corrupted drive and recover lost data. For instance, by using a secure external hard disk data recovery application, you can easily recover data from a damaged external hard drive. We will teach you how to do the same in this guide.

Part 1. How to Fix Corrupted External Hard Disk Using CMD

A corrupt external hard disk can be repaired and recovered by formatting, but data loss always ensues. If your data doesn't get lost and you just want to fix your damaged external hard drive, the aforementioned guide is not true of you. Then, you might wonder how to recover files from external hard drive without formatting. Well, these steps may help you a lot.

1. Type CMD in the search box and right-click "Command Prompt" to choose "Run as administrator".
2. Type "chkdsk ‘drive letter’ /f" and press Enter to check and scan errors.
3. More options can be added, such as "C:\WINDOWS\system32>chkdsk F: /F /X /R".
4. Wait until your damaged external hard disk is repaired.

Note: "/X" forces the volume to dismount before the scan. "/R" locates bad sectors and recovers readable files on the damaged external disk.

In this way, you can fix the corrupted external hard disk and recover files from your external hard drive without formatting. Nevertheless, it may further damage your external hard disk and the stored files due to improper operation or careless input. If you experience any unexpected data loss, then you can always give Recoverit Data Recovery a try. It is an exceptional tool that will help you recover data from a damaged external hard drive or any other adverse situation.

Part 2. The Best External Hard Disk Recovery Program

There are numerous external drive recovery tools out there that claim to recover contents from an external hard drive. Surprisingly, only a handful of them can give the desired results. If you are looking for a 100% safe and extremely reliable external disk recovery tool, then try Recoverit. Being one of the oldest data recovery programs, it is already used by millions of people the world over. Not only an internal hard drive, but it can also recover data from corrupted external hard disk, SD card, USB flash drives, and more.

Since Recoverit Data Recovery Software comes with a trial feature, it is one of the best free external hard drive data recovery tools you can use. You can scan your data for free and preview the kind of content which the application can retrieve. Later, you can buy its premium version and recover the data of your choice. Following are some other prominent features that make Recoverit Data Recovery a complete winner:

Your Safe & Reliable Damaged External Hard Disk Recovery Software

• Recover lost or deleted files, photos, audio, music, emails from any storage device effectively, safely and completely.
• Supports data recovery from recycle bin, hard drive, memory card, flash drive, digital camera, and camcorders.
• Supports to recover data for sudden deletion, formatting, hard drive corruption, virus attack, system crash under different situations.

Download | WinDownload | Mac

Part 3. How to Recover Data from Damaged External Hard Disk

1. Video Guide to External Hard Drive Recovery

You can watch this video tutorial on how to recover data from corrupted external hard disk. Also, the following step-by-step guide can help you get the way of retrieving files from a damaged external hard drive.

2. How to Recover Files from Corrupted External Hard Disk

Recoverit Data Recovery can not only be used to recover files from external hard disk, but it also supports dead Mac hard drive recovery. Here, take the Windows version. Free download and install Recoverit on your computer, launch it and follow these steps to recover data from damaged external hard drive:

Connect the corrupt external disk

Before you start the external hard drive recovery, please make sure that you have connected the external hard drive (which is damaged) to your system.

Choose a damaged external hard drive

Launch Recoverit Hard Drive Recovery and opt for a data recovery mode. To recover data from corrupted external hard disk, select the external hard disk where you wish to recover your data. To commence the process, you can click on the "Start" button.

Quick Scan the external drive

Recoverit will have your damaged external hard drive quickly scanned. Wait for a while and your lost data will be displayed and recovered from the corrupted external hard disk.

Deep Scan the hard drive

Additionally, you can choose to perform an "All-Around Recovery" on the external hard drive as well. You have to wait for a longer time than a Quick Scan. Of course, the results of the Deep Scan would also be better.

Get Lost Data Back

You can get a preview of the content retrieved by the Deep Scan. From here, you can select the data files and click on the "Recover" button to restore them.

By following these simple steps, you would be able to recover data from damaged external hard disk. Though, there are a few things that you should take care of while using an external hard drive. For instance, don’t connect it to any public computer or a system that has malware. Make sure that it is not jammed and has enough free space as well. Also, don’t use it in extreme conditions when the surrounding is too hot or cold. Don’t leave it exposed to sunlight or a magnetic field for a long time.

Video: How to Recover Data from Damaged/Failed/Crashed Hard Drive?

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Bottom Line

Getting a damaged external hard drive with inaccessible content is a common problem faced by lots of people who use an external hard disk. Relax! Recoverit Data Recovery can aid you in recovering data from corrupted or damaged external hard disk with simple clicks. No matter what data loss scenarios you encounter, such as system crash, emptied recycle bin, formatted disk, virus attack or accidental deletion, Recoverit External Disk Recovery is your loyal friend to help you out.

Any makes of an external hard drive can be recovered with this external hard drive recovery software, including Seagate, WD, Toshiba, etc.
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