nargles

Q: can't access external hard drive

So I plugged in my external hard drive into my macbook to move some files onto it but it said "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer." I clicked initialise and it says the hard drive is uninitalised and mount and partition are greyed out. I ran the first aid option but it just says the operation was successful. As far as I'm aware my external hard drive is working because it's blue light is on and I used it a few days ago and it worked fine. I also plugged in another usb stick I have and it works perfectly.

 

Is there anyway for me to access my files on the external hard drive? I really don't want to lose my photos and files!

 

The external hard drive is a freecom tough drive 320 GB.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch,Early 2015)

Posted on Sep 26, 2016 9:17 AM

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Q: can't access external hard drive

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  • by JimmyCMPIT,Helpful

    JimmyCMPIT JimmyCMPIT Sep 26, 2016 9:55 AM in response to nargles
    Level 6 (8,075 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 26, 2016 9:55 AM in response to nargles

    the light means power can get to the case, not that the drive passed any integrity check. If the drive is older it may be breaking down or it may have failed, or may require 3rd party software to allow full access if it is NTFS formatted for windows and you are using it on a mac.

    If you don't have backup your data may be gone. If you begin the process of initiation on the drive you have already started deleting the files and the more you attempt to use this drive the less likely anything (if anything) can be recovered.

     

    Freecom offers 3 year warranties on their mechanical hard drives but does not offer any guarantees with reclaiming lost data (no company does)

    http://www.freecom.com/warranty

    if your drive is older than 3 years its not uncommon for it to fail and will need to be replaced with a new unit.

    In the mean time you can try a 3rd party solution like Disk Warrior or Data Rescue for Mac to see if anything can be salvaged, but again no company or data forensics service will ever claim they can do this with any certainty to recover your data.

  • by nargles,

    nargles nargles Sep 26, 2016 9:55 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Sep 26, 2016 9:55 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT

    Well the hard drive is at least 3/4 years old now (it wasn't brand new when I started using it). I also used to unplug the hard drive a lot without safely ejecting it, I assume that may be a reason why the hard drive isn't working?

     

    Looks like I'll be buying a new hard drive then, thanks for the help.