Problem with my Samsung external hard drive

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KennyJo

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Jun 8, 2012
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10,510
Happy New Year!!

Today (1/1/2014) my 2 TB Samsung external hard drive stop working suddenly (a sad start...).
I can hear the sound of connecting something through the usb.
And the tool come with the hard drive (Samsung Driver Manager) loaded after I reconnect my hard drive.

I think it is safe to say my hard drive did connect with my computer and my computer knew a hard drive from Samsung was connected with it.
However, I cannot find the external hard drive in "My Computer" as well as "Disk Management".
And the Samsung Driver Manager could not recognize my hard drive either, although it knew a "Samsung hard drive" was connected.

I have tried the "disconnect and reboot" method but failed.
Basically, I have tried most of the solution I have found online but had no luck....

There is no strange sound coming out from the hard drive and it was functioning perfectly on 12/31/2013.
My hard drive is relatively new as I have owned it no more than 6 months.

Could some expert please tell me what may cause my problem and is that possible for me to fix it?
I have more than 1 TB information in it and some of the information is really important for me.

Thank you very much.

Kenny.

Information that may be needed:
Hard Drive: Samsung D3 Station 2TB (3.0 usb, 2.0 capable)
My usb: 2.0
My OS: Win 7 64 bits
I believe every usb port is functional as my mouse work on both 4 usb ports.
I cannot shut down my computer when my hard drive is connected (the "Window is shutting down" screen keep loading), even I cannot seen it in "My Comupter".

Update:
I can find my hard drive in Device Manager, under Disk Drives. And its status is "working properly".
Just noticed something very strange, I have never had any floppy drive but there is one now in "My Computer"... Does that have anything to do with my problem?
 
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CompGee

CompGee

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Jan 1, 2014
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Did you eject the disk properly? You could have damaged the disk to the point where the Master File Table (MFT) is corrupted. Take it to a data recovery service and see if they can recover the data for you. If it comes back readable, backup and repartition the drive to erase the corrupted MFT and overwrite with a good one.
 
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KennyJo

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Jun 8, 2012
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Thanks for your reply.

Actually I have never unplugged it until the problem happened.
Is data recovery service my only option?
Or is there anything I can try before taking it to the service?

Thanks.

Kenny
 
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CompGee

CompGee

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Data recovery is a expensive last resort. Does the disk even mount? If yes download Recuva and run it. Choose to save the files to a empty folder such as Data from Disk. If that doesn't work, I am afraid that you are going to resort to recovery services.
 
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KennyJo

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Jun 8, 2012
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I am sorry, but I don't understand "does the disk even mount".
But I have just noticed that the hard drive is found under "Device Manager" and "is working properly".
Can I do something under device manager?

Thanks.

Kenny.
 
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KennyJo

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Jun 8, 2012
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10,510


Just noticed something very strange:
I have never had any floppy drive but there is one now in "My Computer"...
At least I cannot remember I had one before...
Does that have anything to do with my problem?

Kenny.
 
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KennyJo

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Jun 8, 2012
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After some unknown thing I have done (sorry but I cannot remember what I have done may cause this) and my hard drive now appears as "Unknown" and "Not Initialized" and "Unallocated" under "Disk Management".
I believe that I should initiate it but I am afraid that I may format the hard drive and loss all my data.
Could you please tell me what should I do?

Thanks.

Kenny.
 
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CompGee

CompGee

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Initialize the drive and DO NOT FORMAT! Run Recuva and let it find everything on the disk. When it is done, Low Level Format the disk and recopy to the disk WITH EXTREME CAUTION! You could have failing sectors so if you don't want to copy, that is good. Get a good disk such as WD Caviar Blue. After that, low level format the new disk and use NTFS filesystems for your partitions. Recopy your data to the NEW disk and you are not comfortable with something, post here.
 
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KennyJo

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Jun 8, 2012
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Sorry for the late reply.

After I chose the "Initialize Disk" option, the words "not ready" appeared and nothing happened.
What can I do now?
I google the situation and some said that my hard drive could be dead....
 
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KennyJo

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Jun 8, 2012
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Just installed Recuva.

The "Floppy Disk Drive" is listed under "Local Disks" but I cannot find my hard drive.
After running a scan, Recuva said the scan failed because the floppy disk drive is not ready.

Is this strange / unusual situation:??:?
 
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K

KennyJo

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Jun 8, 2012
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Could you please tell me how to do that?
Do I need to restart my computer and change the BIO?
 
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K

KennyJo

Honorable
Jun 8, 2012
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Sorry for the late reply.
Something happened and I had to put this aside.

Thanks for the video.
But is this my only option?
I don't feel comfortable opening the hard drive.

What if the floppy drive was there in the first place?
Which means now my computer could see / recognize my hard drive but only I could not see it in "My Computer".
Is there anything I can do?

Thanks.

Kenny.
 
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