External hard drive not being recognized and no longer being read.

[njavier]

My Seagate External Hard Drive is no longer being read by my Mac or Windows PC. My best guess of what's causing it is recently, I used my external HD to backup files on my Windows PC before reformatting my Windows PC. Is the Windows files causing all of this? I'm at a point where I'm willing to pay for someone experienced enough to recover files for External HD for iOS.

 

[krs]

No, just backing up files from your Windows PC would not make the drive unreadable, but...
I have a couple of questions:
1. When you say it is "unreadable", does that mean it mounts on the Mac desktop but you can't access any files on the drive or does the drive not even mount?
2. Was the external formatted for both Macs and Windows?
3. What interface is used to connect the external? USB? Have you tried a different port on the Mac or PC
4. If it is a spinner drive can you hear the disk spinning up?
5. What is the model of the Seagate drive? If the drive is defective it may just be the SATA-USB bridge (if there is one)

 

[njavier]

No, just backing up files from your Windows PC would not make the drive unreadable, but...
I have a couple of questions:
1. When you say it is "unreadable", does that mean it mounts on the Mac desktop but you can't access any files on the drive or does the drive not even mount?
2. Was the external formatted for both Macs and Windows?
3. What interface is used to connect the external? USB? Have you tried a different port on the Mac or PC
4. If it is a spinner drive can you hear the disk spinning up?
5. What is the model of the Seagate drive? If the drive is defective it may just be the SATA-USB bridge (if there is one)

ANSWERS:
1. It doesn't even mount at all, both for MAC and Windows PC.
2. Yes, the external is formatted both for Macs and Windows.
3. Yes, I'm only using USB and I'll definitely try a different port on Mac now but I already tried all the ports for PC.
4. It is a spinner drive and I can hear it spinning.
5. Model: Seagate Backup Plus Hub. Didn't really say anything specific on the box but I can provide the Serial Number if that helps.

 

[chscag]

Which backup program did you use when you backed up the files from your Windows PC?

You stated that the drive was formatted for both Mac and Windows. That should be exFAT?

And, were you using the Paragon Driver?

 

[krs]

Sounds as if you have this one

Backup Plus Hub: Best external hard drive with a USB hub | Seagate US

Seagate Backup Plus Desktop Drive offers massive capacity and a simple, one-click way to protect your entire digital life. Learn more specs and features.

www.seagate.com

Di you actually reformat the external or use it "as is"
It sounds as if it comes formatted for NTFS

 

[njavier]

Which backup program did you use when you backed up the files from your Windows PC?

You stated that the drive was formatted for both Mac and Windows. That should be exFAT?

And, were you using the Paragon Driver?

I'm sorry, I'm not aware of Paragon Driver. Can you please enlighten me?

The only reason why I said that the drive was formatted for both Mac and Windows is because it always mounts when I try to connect it to either of them, and it says on the box that the drive is compatible for both Mac and Windows.

 

[njavier]

Sounds as if you have this one

Backup Plus Hub: Best external hard drive with a USB hub | Seagate US

Seagate Backup Plus Desktop Drive offers massive capacity and a simple, one-click way to protect your entire digital life. Learn more specs and features.

www.seagate.com

Di you actually reformat the external or use it "as is"
It sounds as if it comes formatted for NTFS

I used it "as is". Just plug and play. I really appreciate you guys. Thanks for the help.

 

[chscag]

The only reason why I said that the drive was formatted for both Mac and Windows is because it always mounts when I try to connect it to either of them, and it says on the box that the drive is compatible for both Mac and Windows.

Okay. I went to the site and read the manual for that drive. It's formatted as NTFS which means it was intended for Windows use. Seagate also makes that same drive for a Mac but it is formatted HFS+. The Paragon driver allows you to use the drive for both Windows and Mac without having to reformat it. And it's the driver recommended by Seagate.

The drive will of course mount on a Windows PC and a Mac. macOS can read a drive formatted to NTFS but can not write to it.

 

[njavier]

Okay. I went to the site and read the manual for that drive. It's formatted as NTFS which means it was intended for Windows use. Seagate also makes that same drive for a Mac but it is formatted HFS+. The Paragon driver allows you to use the drive for both Windows and Mac without having to reformat it. And it's the driver recommended by Seagate.

The drive will of course mount on a Windows PC and a Mac. macOS can read a drive formatted to NTFS but can not write to it.

A little bit of background. Our graphics designer ALWAYS use this drive on his Mac. The only reason why we used it on a Windows PC is because our manager requested to reformat 2 of our Windows PC. That's why we used "that" external drive to create a backup for our Windows files. That's why it's confusing me too. I know from myself that having a Windows file on a external drive doesn't necessarily make the drive unreadable.

Thanks for helping me sort this out. I'll provide as much information as I can.

 

[chscag]

If you used that drive to backup your Windows files and the backup program was a Windows one, then the Seagate was formatted to NTFS during the backup process. If you used any other method of backing up those Windows files, let us know.

It may be that the drive is damaged since it will no longer mount either on a PC or a Mac. It should mount regardless of how it was formatted. Many of our users have external hard drives that they share between their Mac and PC.

 

[njavier]

If you used that drive to backup your Windows files and the backup program was a Windows one, then the Seagate was formatted to NTFS during the backup process. If you used any other method of backing up those Windows files, let us know.

It may be that the drive is damaged since it will no longer mount either on a PC or a Mac. It should mount regardless of how it was formatted. Many of our users have external hard drives that they share between their Mac and PC.

I didn't use any other method of backing up those Windows files. I only used the usual way of backing it up. Should I seek assistance from an experienced technician who can repair the hardware of this external drive?

 

[chscag]

Should I seek assistance from an experienced technician who can repair the hardware of this external drive?

How valuable is the data that is on the drive? If it's something that you really need and your company is willing to pay, you can send the drive to Seagate. But you need to be aware that repairing the drive may also result in the loss of data.

It could be that the electronics in that drive has failed and the drive itself is okay. The enclosure for that drive contains the electronics and power supply. The actual drive within may be okay.