Question Older Toshiba External HDD stopped reading, how can I fix or open?

[MrMessyFace]

I have a Toshiba Canvio External HDD 1.5 TB HDTC615XK3B1 and I've had it for many years. It always worked great and then one day it just didn't light up and it didn't read. I can hear/feel it spinning inside. I tried on multiple computers, multiple USB ports, switched out the cords, used other External HDD, pretty much everything you could think of to trouble shoot and I am convinced that the problem is the port inside the device. I tried to ask Geek Squad for help and they said it would most likely take hundreds of dollars and I am trying to avoid that. So I am looking to see if anyone knows a trick to fix it on my computer or the best way to open it because it does not have tabs, screws, or a clear break in the plastic. Every file for my business is on this device and I need it back.

 

[DSzymborski]

Unfortunately, hundreds of dollars is probably the low end of the scale, and not something I'd trust Geek Squad for. If you cannot get the hard drive to read normally, then it could be the interface that's the problem. You'll have to remove it and either put it in a dock, another enclosure, or directly into a PC.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyVegSrmwaI


If the drive doesn't read at all at that point, your options become far more expensive. If this data is that crucial, you need a proper data recovery lab, and that's going to cost a pretty penny, and can easily go into four figures.

Sadly, the only time to dependably save your data is by protecting yourself before you lose the data. Maintaining proper, ideally multiple, backups, is a very basic part of PC ownership, no different than changing the oil in your car or the filter in your furnace. Ignoring these types of things can be very expensive.

 

[MrMessyFace]

Took me a while to figure out how to open it but I was able to get it out and plug it into a drive deck I had bought a couple months ago and everything came up just fine. I was correct that it was the port that was damaged somehow. I am now moving my content back to my laptop and then making a duplicate on another external drive that I have. Thank you.

 

[DSzymborski]

Took me a while to figure out how to open it but I was able to get it out and plug it into a drive deck I had bought a couple months ago and everything came up just fine. I was correct that it was the port that was damaged somehow. I am now moving my content back to my laptop and then making a duplicate on another external drive that I have. Thank you.

Excellent! I'm glad to hear that this lesson about the importance of backups turned out to not be a cruel one.