Toshiba 500gb external HDD not showing in My Computer or Disk Management.

[kabalaay]

I hav a Toshiba 500gb external HDD. It was working these nowadays. Now it is not showing in My Computer or Disk Management. It

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there, kabalaay.

Do you have any important data which you need to recover from the drive? Do you hear any unusual sounds/noises coming from it? Has the drive been dropped or damaged in any way?
First you should try the drive with a different computer and a different USB cable (preferably shorter than 12") to see if the same thing happens. If you don't need to recover any data from it and you get another computer to recognize the drive, you should download the HDD manufacturer's diagnostic tool and test the drive, to see if there anything out of the ordinary.

Hope that helps. Please let me know how it goes.
Boogieman_WD

 

[kabalaay]

Hey there, kabalaay.

Do you have any important data which you need to recover from the drive? Do you hear any unusual sounds/noises coming from it? Has the drive been dropped or damaged in any way?
First you should try the drive with a different computer and a different USB cable (preferably shorter than 12") to see if the same thing happens. If you don't need to recover any data from it and you get another computer to recognize the drive, you should download the HDD manufacturer's diagnostic tool and test the drive, to see if there anything out of the ordinary.

Hope that helps. Please let me know how it goes.
Boogieman_WD

 

[kabalaay]

yes i have important data within my hard disk , some times i hear unusual sound coming from it
i used different computers and different cables(USB) so still there is no solution

dear Boogieman_WD said:
thank you so much for your information

 

[Boogieman_WD]

In that case you should not test the drive before you recover your data. This is because if the drive has physical damage, it might get even worse with a full scan.
For data recovery you could try to access the HDD via Ubuntu Live USB/DVD (this is basically a bootable, freeware, portable version of Linux), to see if the drive is properly recognized and if you can get to your files. Another option would be to try out different data recovery software options like the ones suggested in those links: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1644496/lost-data-recovery.html & http://pcsupport.about.com/od/filerecovery/tp/free-file-recovery-programs.htm. And last, but not least, if your data is really valuable, perhaps you should consider the most reliable option of all - a professional solution, such as a data recovery company.

I really hope you're able to get your files back. Please keep me updated.