Must Recover Files in external Hard drive

[Pipino Kalabasa]

Hi guys. Sorry if I posted this question in the wrong place. I tried looking but I couldn't find a solved question like mine. or maybe I just couldn't understand the techy stuff.🙁

I bought an external terabyte hard drive four years ago. I got to use it a lot for two years and then one day I plugged it in and I couldn't see the image. when I unplug the USB, or turn it off the image appears for like a second and a warning comes out that I didn't eject properly. Now, I tried to use a different firewire and a different power cord, and the image appears on my finder but I can't see any of my files inside. I know it's there cause it says that it has 129.5Gb of space left. It's imperative that I get to my files. I'm a filmmaking student living in the Philippines, so I really need to get to my files for school.😱

Our apple store doesn't have any of the Data Rescue software stuff that I would've bought. And I don't have that much money anyway. So I was hoping if you guys know of any other way?😕

My Stuff:
MacBook Pro (bought 2007) 10.6.7
Ovation (WD terabyte) external Hard drive

Please bear with me, I'm not a techy. so I may not understand everything easily. Thanks tons!😱

Pipino😀

 

[8CoreWhore]

It's possible the problem does not lie with the actual HDD inside, but with the USB port and/or controller for it. If that's the situation, you can remove the drive and install it inside a different external enclosure or install it inside a computer tower.

When you hooked up the FW, you also switched power cables. Use FW with the original cable.

If You can finally mount it in a PC, and it still has problems, I'd run SpinRite on it. Can you install it inside a friends PC?

If so, check to see if has a jumper, if it does, put it on "slave" when you install it as a second drive. Not sure if that is still required nowadays.

My guess is it's not the drive, just the case I/O. Check WD support forums as well.

 

[Pipino Kalabasa]

Hi 8CoreWhore. Thanks for your relpy..^^ I asked my brother if I could try it on his PC. But the PC can't seem to read it? are we doing anything wrong? He thinks we need to format the drive to windows. is that necessary? cause that might erase my files..🙁

Thanks for all your help!😱

 

[movieboy23]

Drive is probably formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). DON'T FORMAT IT to something else cause you'll lose your files. Try finding a friend with a Mac and seeing if they can see any of the files.

 

[Pipino Kalabasa]

Thanks MovieBoy. 🙂

I'll have to wait until my dad comes home.

He's using a white MacBook (bought 2009). Is that going to cause complications (like when I tried reformatting my mac with his OS installer)? Sorry if I just asked a stupid question.😉 I just want to know in case I need to meet up with a friend with a MacBook Pro..🙁

Thanks!😛

 

[movieboy23]

Doesn't matter if he's using a MacBook or a MacBook Pro if you're just trying to see the files on the drive. Only matters if the drive is the one you boot off of and the one that stores your operating system and applications.

If you still can't see the drive when you plug it into those machines, trying repairing the drive and disk permissions using Disk Utility.

MacRumors Guide - Hard Drives

 

[movieboy23]

And if that doesn't work, then there are some other options that involve cloning the drive's files using the Terminal, but you may want to have a more tech-savvy friend guide you through the steps mentioned here

 

[Pipino Kalabasa]

Thanks so much MovieBoy!^^ I tried the disk utility but it says "Cannot unmount disk". I guess I'll update you guys when I get to try it on my dad's mac.

You're all such angels! Thanks thanks!!😀