Transcend External Hard Disk Lights up but doesnt open in the drive

[DUdawant]

I have this transcend 1TB External Hard Disk named as Storejet 25M3 USB 3.0. I have uploaded lots of data on it. Whenevr i plug the device in my Dell Laptop the HD which has a small blue indicator on right side top , lights up. The drive starts scanning the HD and eventually finishes it but doesnt open it. When i try to open the drive the message pops up : " The Parameter is Incorrect, Cant open the drive". Please help me regarding this .
The HD doesnt open in any Laptops

 

[DR_Luke]

It is likely an issue with the hard drive inside the enclosure. If you value the data on it, I suggest you contact a trustworthy data recovery vendor and not try to power it on any more.

If you don't value your data, you can start by removing the drive from the USB enclosure and trying to connect the drive directly to a computer via a SATA port.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Welcome to Tom's Hardware, @DUdawant!

I'd second @DR_Luke's suggestion regarding consulting a professional data recovery company for assistance if the files are so important to you. In the future, remember that having a backup means that you have your files stored at least on two different locations/storage drives. Moving the data from an internal to an external drive is not a backup, unless you got a duplicate stored elsewhere! This is how you will avoid any potential data loss in the future. The more copies you have of your files, the safer you will feel about its integrity.

However, I'd still recommend you perform some more troubleshooting. Check how the external HDD will get recognized if you swap its USB cable and use and use a different one in multiple laptops. It's also highly recommended that you check how and if the drive will get detected in Disk management in Windows. Posting some screenshots would be really helpful to us.

I'd also strongly recommend you use the brand-specific diagnostic tool or a third-party alternative to test the HDD's health and SMART status.

Keep us posted with the details & good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Paperdoc]

I would bet the problem is power.

That Transcend unit is sold as a USB3 device. The new USB3 specs included more power at the port - specifically, a USB3 port can provide to a connected device up to 0.9 amps, whereas the older USB2 system was limited to 0.5 amps. Now, VERY few "laptop drives" ever could work on a single USB2 port. Most of them came with a special cable that had TWO USB connectors on one end, and you had to plug both of them into computer USB2 ports to get enough power to run them. The New USB3 system eliminates that problem. So they come with USB3 cables with only ONE plug on the computer end. BUT when you plug that into a USB2 port, the drive cannot get enough power to run. What you describe is typical. It appears to start up and tries, but it gets so many errors trying to read data that it gives up and sends odd error messages. But be thankful that happened! In a few cases such a drive has appeared to work enough that people wrote new files to them, and those new files were written badly, causing corruption for the entire disk! That has not happened to you because it failed before you could try.

There are two things you can try to verify my suspicion. First, check the specs of your laptop - I bet it has only USB2 ports on it. Second, try that Transcend unit back on your desktop computer with its USB3 ports, and I expect it will work just fine.

I know of two possible ways to use that Transcend laptop drive with a machine that has only USB2 ports.
1. Get one of those older odd special cables with two USB2 connectors on one end, and use that to connect the drive to TWO laptop USB2 ports. That may get it working.
2. Buy a powered USB3 Hub. That is, a Hub specifically for USB3 systems that comes with its own "power brick" that plugs into the wall, and gives the Hub all the power it needs to provide that full output to all its ports. A Hub with NO included "power brick" will not do the job. In choosing the Hub system, the power ratings can be a bit confusing. The output at each port is 5 VDC at 0.9 amps max, which works out to 4.5 Watts PER PORT. The confusion is that many of them come with a power brick that outputs 12 VDC, and the Hub changes that. So the input from the brick is best rated in terms of WATTS, and you should have at least 4.5 W (preferably, 5) PER PORT. So, for example, a USB3 Hub that comes with 4 ports should have a power brick included that can supply at least 20 Watts. While you're at it, get a decent USB3 cable for the connection between the Hub and any computer. Now, you connect your Hub to power via its brick, and connect the USB3 laptop drive to the Hub using the USB3 cable that came with the drive. Then you connect the Hub to any computer's USB port using your new cable. This way the drive receives all the power it needs from the Hub's power brick and is not limited by the computer's port power. The speed of the data transfer between the computer and the laptop drive will depend on the computer's USB port. If it is the new USB3 port, the speed will be the new faster speed. If it is an older USB2 port, the data transfer rate will be the older slower USB2 speeds, but it WILL work. I know, because I have done this with a Transcend unit with exactly this "problem".