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External hard drive goosed?

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Old 19th August 2013 | 05:27
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External hard drive goosed?

I have a 500gb external hard drive used to store travel photo's on.
It was dropped from a height of two feet onto a laminate wooden floor.

It turns on, but will not show up when attached to my laptop.
There is a clicking noise coming from it, and the blue power light flickers rather than showing a steady colour.

Can the hard drive be removed and put into a caddy... or is all lost?

Any helpful info gratefully received.
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Old 19th August 2013 | 06:43
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It might work, out perhaps not (depending on the nature of the fault and whether it is in the case or drive itself). Doesn't hurt to try.
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Old 19th August 2013 | 10:56
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Sounds to me as though the fall wrecked it, so you can either scrap it if the above does not work or pay for the data to be extracted by one of the companies which offer this service. As I am sure you appreciate, it won't be cheap!

P.P.
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Old 19th August 2013 | 11:36
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Could be the fall shattered a solder joint (if you're lucky) so worth a look.

Otherwise that caddy sound like the best option.
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Old 19th August 2013 | 21:13
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Any helpful info gratefully received.
Yeah, next time don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Some people only learn the had way.
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Old 20th August 2013 | 04:19
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Was the drive running when you dropped it? Should never move them with power on, the gyro effect can cause them to suffer physical damage.

Some stuff can benefit though - I have a Canon digital video camera that wouldn't eject its film. Someone recommended dropping it about 30cm onto a carpeted floor... after the third drop, it finally ejected the cassette and has worked fine since.
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Old 20th August 2013 | 16:40
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Mixture....
were you bullied at school...

does'nt anybody love you...
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Old 20th August 2013 | 18:06
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Dogwatch,

Wasn't intended to be bullying at all, merely relaying the cold hard facts.

It never ceases to amaze me the risks people take with their personal data. They either don't bother backing up, or when they do, they just entrust it all to one cheap external hard drive which doesn't really leave them in any better situation than they were before.

Normally it all ends in tears with events such as yours where the error of their ways is learnt after the event.

I just wanted to make sure you didn't just end back up in square one and simply replace your drive with another one.

That's all I was trying to say.
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