How to Recover Files from an External Hard Drive that Won’t Boot?

Whenever a file is opened on a system, some microseconds are consumed to launch that file on the system. During this interval, the MBR sector of the hard disk is identified by the operating system. When the hard disk boots, the desired file opens on the screen. The externally connected hard disk usually gives some indications before they fail completely and cannot be booted. But it has also been noticed frequently that all of a sudden the system crashes and the external hard drive would not boot error occurs. But what if the hard disk does not boot in the computer, laptop, PC, and file cannot be availed? This problem usually occurs due to the corruption in the MBR sector.

Well, the answer is not as daunting as it looks like. All a user needs to do is read till the end of the post. Multiple solutions have been proposed in the post to recover files from an external / internal hard drive that won’t boot.

Reasons to Recover Data from an External Hard Drive that Won’t Boot

Some of the situations when a hard disk refuses to boot in a computer are:

• The external hard disk might fail to boot when the file system is extremely corrupted. This may happen due to a virus attack or using it on different systems frequently.
• If the portable hard disk is not removed safely from the computer port, the external hard drive may get infected and, hence, cannot be booted.
• Scratches present on the hard disk in the region where boot information is present make it difficult to read. It is unable to mount on the system and then users will lose access to all the files on the system.

Read More: Change Format of External Hard Drive Without Deleting Files

Manual Method to Recover Files from an External Hard Drive that Won’t Boot

If an internal or external hard drive won’t boot, there are some manual techniques you can use to recover file from hard drive that won’t boot. Here’s a stepwise way to help you through the process:

Users have to follow this set of instructions to get back the files from the hard disk that cannot boot:

1# Powser off the System

• Turn off the system power, remove the battery and unplug the computer or laptop from the power switch.
• Open the laptop case and search for the hard drive that cannot boot. Disconnect all the cables of the hard disk, detach it and get it out of the case.
• Insert the hard disk into another hard drive case and establish its connection with a new computer. Alternatively, you can insert the drive into another system, which is working in good condition.
• Reboot the new system using the standard operating system on the main disk. Then the data can be read and accessed here.
• In the final step, copy files and extract data from the hard disk that is not booting to another storage device.

2# Check Basic Connections and Power

• Ensure the USB cable is properly connected to your computer and the external hard drive. If you have a different USB cable, try using that.

3# Try a different Port or Computer

• Attach the external hard drive to a different USB port on your PC or computer. Occasionally, the issue can be with the port itself.
• If feasible, connect the hard drive to another computer to see if it’s recognized.

4# Be Aware of Unusual Noises

• If your hard drive or disk is making pressing, grinding or squealing sounds, it could be a sign of a hardware issue, so you need expert data recovery services.

5# Examine the Disk Management (Windows) or Disk Utility (Mac)

On Windows:

• Right-select the start button and choose Disk Management.
• Discover your hard drive in the list.
• If it displays yet does not have a drive letter assigned to it, right-click it and choose the Change Drive Letter and Paths to assign it.
• If it is “RAW” or throws an error, you may need to use a data recovery tool.

On Mac:

• Open Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities).
• Check if your external hard drive is listed.
• If it appears but is not connected, try selecting it and clicking Connect.
• If that does not work, use the First Aid option to try to recover it.

6# Use the Command Line for Further Analysis

On Windows (CHKDSK):

• Open a command prompt (press Windows + R, type cmd, then press Enter).
• Type chkdsk X: /f (replace X with the drive letter assigned to your external drive).
• This direction will attempt to solve file system errors.

On Mac (fsck):

• Open Terminal (Applications > Utilities).
• Type sudo fsck_hfs -fy /dev/diskX (replace X with the drive letter of your external hard drive).
• Press Enter and let the system check and repair the drive.

Other than the automated solution discussed below, users can use manual solutions also.

Also Read: Hard Drive Not Reading

Steps to Recover Files from An External / Internal Hard Drive That Won’t Boot

Users have to follow these steps to recover file from hard drive that won’t boot:

• Navigate to the Start option. Click on All Programs and choose Hard Drive Recovery software
• There are two types of scanning alternatives: Scan and Formatted Scan.

• Choose the desired partition and hit on Scan.

• Once the scanning procedure is done, a complete status report will be generated.

• All the folders will be displayed in the left panel.
• Choose any folder from the left panel and the complete data will be shown in the right panel. Item count will also be shown.

• You can view the overall data of the chosen folder. The deleted files will be highlighted by a red color.

• In the next step, choose those files and folders that you want to recover. Hit on the option Save to recover files from An external / internal Hard Drive that won’t boot

1. To specify the destination location, a Browse for Folder window will launch on the screen. Choose a location and hit save.

• Once the entire procedure is complete, a dialog box will appear on the screen showing the successful completion message. Hit on OK.

• The exported files will be seen at the destination location.

The Bottom Line

At any point, technology can fail us. So, we should always be prepared with backup strategies. A similar problem has been observed in the case of the hard disk. The hard drive is unable to boot and this results in the unavailability of the files. This can be an annoying case because the file cannot be accessed at this stage. So, at this point, users need not worry. The post explains multiple solutions on how to recover files from an external hard drive that won’t boot.