Windows 7 Failing Verbatim Acclaim 1TB Hard Drive

[Carol Andredesz]

CacacacacaVersion:1.0 StartHTML:0000000105 EndHTML:0000003553 StartFragment:0000002296 EndFragment:0000003517 I come to you with a tech problem. I have a Verbatim Acclaim 1TB Portable External hard drive that's failing. I believe it happened because more than once the hard drive was removed without first using the "safely remove USB device" feature. It contains photos, movies and music that I have collected over about a year. I would love to recover these.


[FONT=&quot]I can feel the drive spinning inside its enclosure. Windows used to recognize it and give it a drive number, but didn't recognize any of its contents. Then I started a data recovery process and my daughter pulled the drive out of the usb port during that process. Now when I plug it back in, I can feel it spinning but Windows doesn't recognize that it's connected, I've checked in the Device Manager. I've tried recovery software but it needs to be able to "see" the drive to scan it. Sigh. The worst part is the drive contents aren't really mine, I'm sharing it with a friend and I feel I've really let them down.[/FONT]

 

[Trouble]

Hello Carol and welcome to the forum.
First try replacing the USB interface cable with another one.
Try another USB port, avoid using USB Hubs or front ports on your computer. Test using a USB port directly integrated to your motherboard.
Try another computer.
Failing all the above it is possible that the drive's crossover electronics interface has failed and it may be necessary to separate the drive from the enclosure and obtain an adapter, something similar to this Newegg.com - Vantec 2.5"/3.5"/5.25" SATA/IDE to USB 2.0 Adapter - Model CB-ISATAU2 assuming as you have indicated that the drive seems to be spinning under power and is not producing any noise that is not normal.
Regards
Randy

 

[Saltgrass]

I might add, letting the drive cool may help it being recognized. If you plug it in and it is not recognized, you might try going into Device Manager and Scanning for devices. You also may boot up with it connected. Being ready to start some repair software may be essential.

The drive refers to a Y-cable to supply the drive with external power. If you had access to one, I would try that.

The drive seems to have optional software. Did you install the Turbo USB or Nero or any Norton products?

But as Trouble mentions, at times the controller in the external case could be going out. You might even try to open the case to allow the drive more cooling, but be careful.

You also say Windows was originally able to see the drive but not any of its contents. How did the data get on the drive?