As people living in the 21st century, we have comforts our ancestors didn’t have, and we also have fears and things to worry about that our ancestors didn’t have. One example? The fear of losing all our digital data, all the pictures stored on our smartphones, the videos of our vacation saved on our computer, and so on. We’ve learned to run regular backups on external hard drives, but it can always happen that the hard drive itself gets damaged, and what now?
Let’s discuss everything about external hard drive recovery to ensure you know how to deal with such an unfortunate event!
Part 1: Is It Possible to Recover Files Deleted from an External Hard Drive?
External hard drives are not that different from internal ones. The main difference is their location, but the way they work is the same. This is why, just like it is possible to retrieve lost data from your internal hard disk, it is also possible to recover data from the external hard drive.
Generally speaking, retrieving lost data from hard drives is possible because of the way operating systems handle data deletion. When you delete a file from a Windows computer, for example, the thing that gets canceled is the logical access to the file – but the file itself remains there! By retrieving the logical access, you can have back your access to the file!
From your point of view, you’ll see that a deleted or lost file can be recovered. But how can you do it?
Part 2: How to Recover Data from External Hard Drive with Tenorshare 4DDiG
The absolute easiest and most efficient method for external hard drive data recovery is by using a specific software called Tenorshare 4DDiG.
What is Tenorshare 4DDiG?
Tenorshare 4DDiG is software specifically designed to recover data on the external hard disk. It provides the easiest procedure through a simple and user-friendly interface: with two or three clicks, you’ll be able to recover the external hard drive by 100%.
But what makes Tenorshare so powerful?
- recover files from any type of external hard drive (external hard disk, USB key, SD card, or more
- restore any types of files, including pictures, videos, files, and others
- use it on internal hard drives and partitions
- works on Windows and Mac（users no longer need to disable SIP）
- No virus, advertisement, and 100% safe.
Step-by-step guide for external hard drive recovery with Tenorshare 4DDiG
Step 1: Connect the external hard drive
After you’ve downloaded and installed Tenorshare 4DDiG, you can simply launch the program and then connect your external hard drive to the computer.
In the list of locations, you’ll see the External Drives section: it is where you’ll find your external hard drive. Select it and click Next.
Step 2: Scan the external hard drive
In the window that appears, you can select All files to retrieve all types of files, or select the ones you want and then click Recover.
Step 3: Select and recover data
In step 3 a preview of all deleted files is provided: you can select the ones that you want to recover and then click Recover.
Part 3: How to Recover Data from External Hard Drive without Software
Recovering an external hard drive without Tenorshare 4DDiG is still possible, even though it’s a bit complex. These are the possible solutions.
Solution 1: Use the command “CHKDSK”
The command CHKDSK will run a check on your external hard disk, repairing all the errors on a Windows computer.
To use it, go to File Explorer and find your hard disk. Right-click on it and select Properties. Now go to Tools and click on Check.
Solution 2: Reinstall the Driver
Go to one Device Manager (on the Control Panel). In the provided list, find Disk Drives. Click Updated drivers and wait. If it doesn’t work, try disabling the device and then reboot your computer, it will install the needed drivers.
Solution 3: Use antivirus software
Use your antivirus (or install one) and run a check. If there are viruses detected, delete them.
Solution 4: Use Windows System file checker
Windows File Checker can fix issues with your files. Enter the Command Prompt on your computer and type DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth. Then, click Enter.
Wait for the message “Operation complete,” then type sfc /scannow, and press Enter.
Again, wait for the process to be completed and then type Exit.
Solution 5: From Previous cloud backup
If you’ve run a backup on your external hard drive and a cloud service, you can access your cloud (with your credential), download all the files, and save them again on your external hard drive.
Conclusion
Of all the solutions we provided for recovering external hard drive, the only one that is 100% effective is the one that uses Tenorshare 4DDiG. All the other solutions are attempts you can make; if one doesn’t work, you can move on to the next. When none of them work, you can try Tenorshare 4DDiG. However, the quickest solution is to provide yourself with Tenorshare 4DDiG and recover data from external hard drive with your first attempt!
