• Happy holidays, folks! Thanks to each and every one of you for being part of the Tom's Hardware community!

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1.5 TB USB 3.0 Not Showing Up

RoshMan

Reputable
Jan 8, 2015
1
0
4,510
Hello,

This is my first post. Sorry if it is in the wrong place.

I purchased a Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1.5 TB USB 3.0 Ultra-Portable from Costco a few years back. It has been running fine with no problems so far. I had not touched my HDD for roughly 3 months, and then about a week ago, I was trying to back up some photos, but my HDD was not showing up.

Status of the HDD:
The drive is spinning (I can feel it running)
Initially, it made a faint benign noise every few seconds, but it does not anymore (explained below)
The drive is formatted NTFS, but was first connected to a mac. (I have a program called Paragon that allows me to read and write to NTFS Drives)

Troubleshooting (What I've Done so far)
Hooked up the drive to 4 computers with no success. (Mac, Windows XP, Windows 8, and Window 7 in that order)
I bought a desktop recently (windows 7) that had an usb 3.0 port. This is what stopped the beeping.

The other computers already had drivers installed for the HDD. The New PC did not; however, that being said, when the HDD was connected to the New PC, the computer showed that it was installing drivers (success). The drive did not show up on Windows Explorer. It did show up under the devices on the Control Panel.

The drive is in its original enclosure. I not opened it. The drive has nearly 18 years worth of childhood pictures, which was the only copy (Yes, I know I should have kept other copies). Spending money to recovery the data is an option, but a last resort, as I do want to spend so much to do so. I have considered opening up the drive and connecting it directly to a pc, but I do not know how valuable that can/will be and do not want to risk compromising the drive. What more can I do to recover the data?

This is what the drive looks like for those that want to know: http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-FreeAgent-Ultra-Portable-External-STAA1500100/dp/B00455MCRA

A little bit about myself: I am most familiar with Mac OS, but can work okay with Windows. I am very much a novice when it comes to dealing with things like this, so please use simplified terminology.

Thank You

 
Solution
Two things to try. One - remove it form the caddy and use another caddy or cable link to connect to a PC to make sure it isn't the caddy that's at fault.

Second - wrap the drive and put it into a freezer for half an hour or so then remove it and immediately connect it to a PC. Sometimes contraction and expansion can free a jammed disk.

Matter of interest - where was the drive stored when not being used?
Two things to try. One - remove it form the caddy and use another caddy or cable link to connect to a PC to make sure it isn't the caddy that's at fault.

Second - wrap the drive and put it into a freezer for half an hour or so then remove it and immediately connect it to a PC. Sometimes contraction and expansion can free a jammed disk.

Matter of interest - where was the drive stored when not being used?
 
Solution

TRENDING THREADS