External Hard Drive Not Recognized is a quite common situation faced by many users. People blame the Operating System, scratch own heads but problem persists. It is sad that, the hardware manufacturers actually provides no direct open way to contact them or ask in some way. So, the sufferer with the brick (read External Hard Drive), searches and searches on Google Web Search, few get their External Hard Drive Not Recognized status to External Hard Drive Recognized status, but possibly its not that common as we all are busy, for less important data; the whole thing becomes a huge pain - fighting and killing and evening really do not help that much. There are various technical aspects to solve or throw it away.
External Hard Drive Not Recognized : Understanding the Hardware and Operating System Part
For those who are outside warranty, might want to seek online help from other advanced users. The people on the Forums on this Internet is REALLY helpful. Really many fortunate everyday get rids of their problems for free of cost, be it External Hard Drive related issue or something other. But, if you can not provide a person who physically can not see you, it becomes difficult to get your solution. In any forum, first write your problem in a descriptive format with all possible info.
Now, coming to technical points, an External Hard Drive is practically is a compact thing like we use the Casing for External Hard Drive. Now there are various variables :
The Operating System (OS X / Windows / Linux)
The manufacturer of the HDD. It is usually Western Digital when it about External Hard Drive Not Recognized case. Its difficult to say why. It might be as just because the number of WD users are more or WD actually has some issues.
Physical condition of the hard disk (if its spinning, there is more chance to get it back working)
As there are three major Operating Systems, its practically impossible to describe each method for mounting an External Hard Drive which is normally Not Recognized. I personally think :
Consider to format in some way if the data is not valuable to you
Consider to consult an expert if data recovery is a big need
As the kernal, boot files differs; it might happen, one External Hard Drive that is unrecognized in one operating system. You got the clue - test on various OS and computers.
External Hard Drive Not Recognized : The untold story
External Hard Drive Not Recognized
After using the normal tricks found on various online forums; be it Apple community or something other, when you are understanding that there is possibly no other way other than to mix the master boot record (MBR) or do something which you never heard of, it is always safe to use a non primary computer. The reason is; you might mess up your working hard disk that has operating system on it. It can be pathetic for new MacBooks. For one problem creating thing, you might add more problems.
There are various things that sometime works to get an External Hard Drive working back. All or at least most are destructive ways with any hope for the data to get back.
If you can open the enclosure and get the bare hard disk out, its good. You can buy an External Hard Disk Enclosure and mount it. The last steps are practically in the way we created an moded version of external HDD. It depends on what the HDD it has inside.
The size of the cord; i.e. the USD connector sometimes is more longer ! Try with a smaller lengthy one. Obviously, most of us have to buy this, as spare USB connectors of various sizes are not available at home (usually).
Freezing is an extreme way, it might make the disk usable in case you hear various click like sounds from the hard disk. It will never work if the hard disk is rotating smoothly.
Never do anything that you know at least to some extent, it is better to consult a person who professionally helps.
Trying to get back or mount from OS like Ubuntu is a good idea - Ubuntu has a big support community and there are expert users. The next possibly best forum is the Apple Support Community, but it is only for Mac users plus you might be making your Mac's primary HDD in risk. If you use some software and wrongly unmount your primary one, you will have to cry.
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