How I saved files from a damaged Seagate 1 TB hard drive on Mac
I had this 1 TB Seagate External Hard Drive which was FAT formatted so that I could use it on my Windows PC and my MacBook. It had large data containing archive pictures, videos, my favorite movies and Windows backup files. This 1 TB external drive worked quite well before that incident when it accidentally fell from just a six inches of height.
Bang….my heart stopped, and I immediately felt that something terrible is coming to me. I picked it up gently and looked it upside down, sideways and softly plugged it to my MacBook. I already had heard where people lost their drives especially from a fall, and I half-heartedly expected it to fail. So, when plugged into the Mac, the blue light came on. Phew….but then what no drive popping up on my MBP desktop. I restarted my MacBook in despair and hoped that the drive would show up in the Finder.
But I had no luck that day. The devil hit me and my 1 TB external drive just below the belt. The external hard drive didn’t show up on Desktop or Finder. I decided to connect it to my Windows PC and waited for the evening. Sadly, it didn’t appear there. I got myself into Search Mode looking for solutions so that my drive comes back to life. My objective was to extract all the contained files from it and then bid adieu the external media. Amongst many great and foolish ideas I came across such as froze you drive, bury under rice, replace the enclosure, etc. I honestly found replacing the external hard disk connectors and enclosure worth trying.
What did I do?
I went to Amazon and found compatible hard drive enclosure along with a mini tool kit, connectors, etc. Next, I tried opening the drive carefully. Saw many of the DIY videos which proved to be helpful. I placed the damaged external drive carefully to the new enclosure and set back all the screws. Then, with the new cables, I expected my hard drive to show up. My expectations were exactly 80% and guess what it worked. Not fully but it worked let me tell you how. The new cables and the enclosure made the damaged Seagate external hard drive to appear on the Disk Utility. It was there but looked inactive still it was not at all present in the Finder.
But, this was it; the moment where something could have worked. I again went to the web and searched ‘failed hard drive recovery.’ I saw the good amount of information mostly related to data recovery software. After more insights, I decided to run Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery.
How Stellar Worked?
Before running the application, I had the chance to have a word with their support team. I called up them up 877–778–6087 to confirm if their software will do the job. In reply, I got to know an important point. They informed me “if your hard drive is visible under Disk Utility then the software will show the hard drive, and it can be recovered.” I knew that after changing the cables and the enclosure, the drive has somehow come to life. So, I ran their software, and it did list my hard drive. I further scanned my drive; it took almost 8 hours for scan completion. During the scan, I saw the software recovering a huge amount of JPEG, TIFF, BMP, MP4, MOV, and Documents from the external hard drive. This gave me relief.
It cost $100
After the scan, I almost spent 1 hour previewing all the files it got from the damaged hard drive. I was satisfied with the recovery, so now the only thing between me and my files was saving the recovered data. And, this was not free software, so I paid $99 for the software activation. After I got the key and made the tool activated, I was allowed to save all my recovered files to MacBook’s hard drive. Somehow, I managed to keep the data recovery cost between $150-$200. I know some companies can cost up to $2000 for recovering data from a damaged hard drive. I had enough luck that day, and of-course Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery helped me extract all files within my budget.
