My external hard drive no longer works with Windows 11

HENSCORE

My external hard drive has stopped working. The disc is no longer readable . When I connect the disc to my computer, the system asks me to format it.

There are very important files on the disc.

Does anyone know how to help me?

emersonk

It sounds like your external hard drive may be experiencing a file system corruption or some other issue that is preventing your computer from reading it properly. Before attempting to format the drive, which could potentially result in data loss, I would recommend trying the following steps to see if you can recover your important files:

Try Different Ports/Cables: Sometimes, the issue may be with the port or cable you're using to connect the hard drive to your computer. Try connecting the drive to different USB ports or using a different USB cable to see if that resolves the issue.
Use Data Recovery Software: There are various data recovery software programs available that may be able to recover files from a corrupted or unreadable hard drive. You can try using programs like Recuva, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, or TestDisk to scan the drive and attempt to recover your important files.
Boot From a Live CD/USB: If you're unable to access the files on the external hard drive from your regular operating system, you can try booting your computer from a live CD or USB drive with a Linux-based operating system like Ubuntu. Once booted into the live environment, you may be able to access the files on the external hard drive and copy them to another storage device.
Seek Professional Help: If you're unable to recover the files using the above methods, it may be worth seeking help from a professional data recovery service. These services specialize in recovering data from damaged or corrupted storage devices and may be able to recover your important files even in more severe cases.

It's important to avoid formatting the drive until you've exhausted all other options for data recovery, as formatting will likely result in the permanent loss of your files. If none of the above methods are successful, you may need to consider formatting the drive and starting anew, but be sure to back up any important files from other sources before doing so.

HENSCORE

pat The disc was in FAT format. I connected it to other PCs. I even took it out of the PC and connected it directly to the PC via the SATA interface. The disc looked like "RAW".

[https://prnt.sc/v7LGll3uBpXB]

emersonk
I did manage to solve this problem.

First, I managed to make a copy of the damaged drive using HDD Raw Copy Tool.

True, it cost me $97.95, but that's nothing compared to taking the disc to a technician. I risked losing my files forever. But I can't afford to pay a lot of money.
Let me tell you a little bit about how I did it.
I downloaded Hetman Partition Recovery , the program displayed my RAW drive, which used to be FAT, and started a full scan. It found most of my files and successfully recovered them. Yes, it couldn't recover all the files, but I was lucky: I recovered the most important ones .

And yes, make copies of important files (discs) for the future.

Also, thanks to everyone who tried to help me)

pat

Happened to me as well with a couple of drives... Might want to try to plug it in a Mac. Sometimes it reads it better