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Question

Move external USB HDD to new Desktop "unallocated" probs

Sep 19, 2015 3:23AM PDT

I have just built a new desktop tower PC and retired my laptop for the time being. Due to having no space for extra drives on my laptop I have ended up with more than 8 external USB drives, that I can now fit perfectly inside my desktop; for that reason I "opened" three of my external WD USB drives, removed the USB 3.0 to SATA card and plugged them one by one inside my new desktop PC.
The problem is that even though they start up, my Windows 7 64 will not show them on my PC and if I enter disc management they are listed, but as "Unallocated" HDD's....
Worst of all, they are full of important data I cannot lose.
To make things more worrying, I tried reconnecting them to their external USB 3.0 cards and now they still show the "Unallocated" status.
I know I can format them and recover the drives, but that is not an option since they are 3TB HDD's and are full of back-up and other personal documents I dare not lose.
Any ideas why this happened? and what's more important, how to recover them...
Best regards
Spanish Flyer

Discussion is locked

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Answer
I tend to
Sep 19, 2015 6:56AM PDT

Put them back into the USB case where they are then copy them to the new internal drives.

-> You must review your backup plans. It appears you don't have backup copies.

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Move external USB HDD to new Desktop "unallocated" probs
Sep 20, 2015 12:20AM PDT

Hi and thanks for your suggestion, but as I mentioned on my message I did try it (not inside the box, since they were damaged after opening them), but using its own Sata to USB 3.0 card coupler and AC-DC power supply. All three HDD's with their own elements... and again ALL were showing the dreadful "Unallocated" drive on my drive management in Windows 7 64 bits.
"To make things more worrying, I tried reconnecting them to their external USB 3.0 cards and now they still show the "Unallocated" status.

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Re: discs
Sep 20, 2015 2:00AM PDT

I'd send these 3 drives to a data recovery company and pay them to get your valuable data back. DIY is too risky now.

For the other 5: leave them as they are, and copy them to new internal disks on your new PC. You can keep using them for backup.

Kees

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Ouch.
Sep 20, 2015 10:16AM PDT

So it's time to get them to data recovery shops. Yes there are DIY recovery but this is content you can't lose so DIY is not an option.

Here's what most folk learn from this. Backups are cheap.

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you can try this
Sep 21, 2015 5:06PM PDT
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Move external USB HDD to new Desktop "unallocated" probs
Sep 22, 2015 4:57AM PDT

Thanks to all who have tried to help me out with my problem that still haven't managed to sort out.
My main hobby photography is what takes most of their space, but have no clue on what exactly was in them. Still, I did carry out double backups, but that doesn't mean that I will recover everything; 9TB of data (say 7 in total) is a lot of data to be so lucky so as to have a double backup of all, but personally I just can't afford to pay a professional company to "try" and recover the lost data.
What surprises me most is the fact that usb external drive manufacturers encrypt them in such a way that doing something so logical as to install the drives internally, to clean-up the desk, you end up with a bricked drive; it should be illegal, or at least make them in such a way that following their instructions, you could remove them and install them elsewhere.
Some pics of the drives and my setup: http://imageevent.com/wforest/moveexternalusbhddtonewdesktop?rotp=6713&n=0

I haven't formatted any of them yet, since I still have hopes that I can bring them back to life.
Two WD 3TB green and one Seagate 3TB Barracuda still waiting for someone to guide me through the darkness....(TestDisk & EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard have been used, but I either don't know how to use them, or they just need "something stronger")
Best regards,

Spanish Flyer (Charles)

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I have one like that
Sep 22, 2015 10:10PM PDT

hate it, compared to my others. It was a "gift" one birthday. So, grateful for the room, but don't like needing to use it only on a windows computer. I can turn that chip off in the controller board, but that means moving all the data off first, then back.

I usually buy a drive and buy an enclosure separate, preferably the metal ones which shed heat better, not plastic. Some have little fans in them which is good too.