We understand that your problem is: hello i was using my buffalo ministation 320 gb external hard drive about a week ago, it was working fine but I left it on my bed when I was done. About 2 days later I went to change my bed sheets and the external hard drive feel on the floor. Now when I connect it to my computer it makes a connected sound but it does not show up on my computer but it is recognized when I safely disconnect it from my computer. I tried it on my laptop, it installs but its the same, it is not detected under my computer so therefore I am not able to access my files. Please tell me what I can do to retrieve my data. Thank you
Computers & Internet - Buffalo Technology - MiniStation - 320GB Ministation Cobalt Portable USB 20 5400 Rpm Blue Onyx...
Answers & Comments
The external storage device has several major components:
* USB cable
* external power-supply
* disk-drive inside the enclosure
* USB-to-disk-drive adapter inside the enclosure.
Try a different USB cable.
Try a different USB port on your computer.
Try a USB port on a different computer.
Take a multi-meter, and measure the output voltage/amperage of the power-supply,
and compare with the specifications on the label of the power-supply.
Open the enclosure, and remove the disk-drive, and attach it as a "slave" drive in a desktop computer, to see if bypassing the USB-to-disk-drive adapter bypasses the problem.
Look at the label on the disk-drive, for manufacturer, product-number, serial-number, and manufacture date. Access the manufacturer's web-site, and use "check warranty status" to see if the warranty still is valid. If so, the drive can be replaced, at minimal cost to you.
Buy a new, compatible, disk-drive, and install it in the enclosure, to "revive" your external storage device.
Search online for a professional "data recovery service". For a significant fee, they can repair your disk-drive, just long-enough to copy your files to a new disk-drive.