06-23-2010, 09:43 AM

Hi,

I have a 1TB Seagate FreeAgent Go external hard drive, which as of today, does not show up on my Desktop anymore. When I had originally turned on the computer, it popped up with a message that I can't remember the exact wording, but it said something about how I needed to move my files somewhere else because the drive needs to be reformatted due to some sort of failure. Well, I didn't understand why that was happening, so I tried to eject it from my computer and replug it to see if it would still show up. The newbie that I am, didn't realize that after replugging it into my Macbook, that it would not show up again on my Desktop.

When I plug it in, it still lights up but nothing shows up. I wonder if it is maybe because of overheating? Previously, when connected to my computer, I have it plugged in all the time.

Is there anything I can do? All I want to know is if there is any way at all to retrieve all my data. It is crucial that I get the data back.

06-23-2010, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by msluckygurli

Is there anything I can do? All I want to know is if there is any way at all to retrieve all my data. It is crucial that I get the data back.

Sounds to me that your hard drive may have failed in some way. If the hard drive is not mounting on your desktop...it's hard to do any diagnosis on it.

As far as your data...it's always a good ides to have your important irreplaceable files backed up. I'm sure that you know this...but a lot of people don't do it!

It's possible that if you reformat your hard drive, and fresh drivers are installed, that your hard drive may be ok...but your files will be lost.

My only suggestion is...with this bad external hard drive plugged into your MacBook...even though it is not showing up on your desktop...if you open "Disk Utility"...does it show up there? If not...I'm afraid that your options are few.

Good luck,

- Nick

06-23-2010, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by pigoo3

Sounds to me that your hard drive may have failed in some way. If the hard drive is not mounting on your desktop...it's hard to do any diagnosis on it.

As far as your data...it's always a good ides to have your important irreplaceable files backed up. I'm sure that you know this...but a lot of people don't do it!

It's possible that if you reformat your hard drive, and fresh drivers are installed, that your hard drive may be ok...but your files will be lost.

My only suggestion is...with this bad external hard drive plugged into your MacBook...even though it is not showing up on your desktop...if you open "Disk Utility"...does it show up there? If not...I'm afraid that your options are few.

Good luck,

- Nick

It doesn't even show up on Disk Utility. Is that a bad thing? You say if this is the case, I have very few options. What are those options, if only a few?

I'm currently studying abroad in Beijing. There's a place near where I live that sells and I think also fixes electronics. Do you recommend going somewhere and seeing if they can open it up and find out the problem? Or is the problem even able to be found if I open the hard drive up?

I'm talking to Seagate Online Tech Support, but they are telling me I need to ship it to them and if they recover it successfully, it will cost me a fortune! Around $1200-1800. I didn't think it would cost that much. What do you think I should do?

Thanks for your help!

[EDIT] On the Seagate website, they have a trial software called "Seagate File Recovery for Mac Demo" and I downloaded that. My external HD shows up on that for some reason. And, according to that, all my files are still there. Just, it still doesn't show up on my computer yet it shows up on their Demo software. I do not understand this logic.

06-23-2010, 11:44 AM

You might want to try to recover those files yourself since the Seagate software shows that they're still there and accessible. You can either buy the Seagate software from Seagate or you can buy a copy of Data Rescue 3 from here. The Data Rescue 3 software is $99.00. Download and try the trial copy first.

Regards.

06-25-2010, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by chscag

You might want to try to recover those files yourself since the Seagate software shows that they're still there and accessible. You can either buy the Seagate software from Seagate or you can buy a copy of Data Rescue 3 from here. The Data Rescue 3 software is $99.00. Download and try the trial copy first.

Regards.

Thank you for the software suggestion. I tried it on my friend's macbook and it shows up fine, however, it took me a good 10 minutes before showing up on my macbook. And it pops up with a message like, "The disc '[insert name]' was not repairable by this mac. You are seeing a very limited view of it. Please transfer files elsewhere and reformat."

Any suggestions as to why that would appear??

06-25-2010, 02:04 PM

Thank you for the software suggestion. I tried it on my friend's macbook and it shows up fine, however, it took me a good 10 minutes before showing up on my macbook. And it pops up with a message like, "The disc '[insert name]' was not repairable by this mac. You are seeing a very limited view of it. Please transfer files elsewhere and reformat."

It took 10 minutes because a 1 TB hard drive is very large and the software had to scan the entire unit. What Data Rescue 3 is telling you is that you should copy those recovered files to another location (another external hard drive or your Mac) and then attempt to reformat the disk. In order to recover those files you first must buy the software though. The demo only shows what can be recovered. The purchase decision is up to you.

As far as the message about the disk not being repairable, it's telling you that the disk in its current state is defective. A reformat may or may not resolve the problem. Personally, I would not trust that disk for any further storage. Contact Seagate again and ask for a RMA. They should replace the drive under their warranty.

Regards.

07-01-2010, 03:25 PM

Has anyone had issues with trying to use Data Rescue X on a 1 tb drive. I can't seem to get it to finish scanning. ;