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Question

External drive is not visible after formatting

by May 13, 2018 1:09PM PDT

Hello.
My friend formatted my external SEAGATE drive and everything was fine on his PC and laptop. Now I tried to plug it in (I have a MacBook) and it wasn't visible. I tried to access it via Disc Utility device and applied First Aid. An information 'The disc was repaired' popped up but the disc was still not visible. And I tried it on another laptop, this time with Windows. And it cannot be accessed as well.
Is the data on the drive ok? Is the drive crashed? How can I fix it and access my data? Please help

Discussion is locked

6 Posts
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Answer
Re: external drive
by Forum moderator May 13, 2018 1:19PM PDT

The first question: did your friend format it as NTFS or FAT32. Both should be visible on your Mac, but it can't write to or repair NTFS. If you tried that, it's quite well possible it's corrupted.
And you forgot to tell why he formatted it. Most external hard drive already are formatted.

I could tell you about partition utilities and Disk Management in Windows, but better go back to your friend. He's the expert. He can have a look and tell you if the drive is OK, if it can be fixed and if your data is still there.

If your friend formatted it, there's no data on it. So you lost nothing. Ain't that nice? But maybe you didn't tell the whole story, and he did more than formatting, but copied some data to it. The worst that can happen is that he must do that again, either to the same disk (if fixed) or to another one (if unfixable).

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Re
by ksenialke May 13, 2018 1:34PM PDT

Hey,
He formatted it, because Mac would only recognize the drive but would not let me add any new files to it. It was in read only mode. (NTFS) However we found on the internet that formatting will do to fix it.
And he formatted as exFAT.

After formatting, he moved the files from his computer back to the drive and we checked on another PC and everything worked. That's why I am now assuming that after formatting data should be in place. But my external drive isn't visible on neither Mac nor laptop with Windows... and we deleted the back up since it was all right on his PC...

Do you think it is corrupted? Is it possible I lost everything?

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Re: formatted
by Kees_B Forum moderator May 13, 2018 1:40PM PDT

exFAT should be fine, provided your OS on the Mac is Mac OS X 10.6.5 or higher.

I'm afraid that - if you don't have a backup - you lost your files, but surely do try the recovery tools noted by R.Proffitt.
A common thing for people not having a backup, alas. I always wonder why they don't have it.

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This is starting to sound like a mess.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator May 13, 2018 1:41PM PDT

If the files were the last copy they may be gone. Please check my reply below as to recovery apps.

If the drive no longer shows on any PC (Apple or other) then the drive may be gone. Remember I take it you know how to prepare a drive on Apple or Windows.

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Answer
I've kept a top post for such events.
by Forum moderator May 13, 2018 1:23PM PDT
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PS. Just in case you are wondering.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator May 13, 2018 1:58PM PDT

Why I didn't write how to prepare a drive for use it's because it will remove the possibility of getting at those files. It's already pretty slim already.

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