Updated on July 5th, 2023
How to recover files from corrupted external hard drive without formatting? It is a common occurrence that an external hard drive may turn to corrupted and lose access of files. No worries! Files in the corrupted external hard drive can be recovered with the help of an effective external HDD data recovery program. Let’s see how to recover corrupted external hard via 5 simple steps.
About corrupted external hard drive recovery
External hard drive gains popularity these days, attributing to its great features such as large capacity, rapid read and write speed, portability, affordable price, etc. It is referred by users to store large amount of data like videos, photos, songs, backups for system and files. However, an external hard drive is not the perfect storage device when compared to internal hard drives and no-removable devices (e.g., SSDs). An external hard drive is more likely to get corrupted, for example, external hard drive shows as RAW, cannot open and prompts to format it.
A corrupted external hard drive is usually the result of a logical issue, for instance, you remove it from computer without clicking the Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media, there is a sudden power cut, etc. Clicking the safe eject option provided by Windows operating system helps to inform system to get prepared for the physical removal of USB drives. Such action makes sure there is not reading or writing operations in progress while removing the disk. If you just roughly disconnect external HDD, ignoring whether Windows is accessing the disk, the file system of the external hard drive will be damaged. The outcome is corrupted partition and inaccessible external hard drive. With a corrupted file system, Windows will not be able to recognize the partition nor access its files. In this case, double click the external hard drive, you will get an error message such as “You need to forma the disk in drive before you can use it” “The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable”.
Is it possible to recover files from corrupted external hard drive? Yes! The corrupted file system does not mean files on external hard drive get erased. Files are not visible to the operating system, but they can be recovered by external hard drive recovery software. Just remember that formatting or disk checking should not be performed before all files are recovered correctly.
DiskGenius Professional Edition is effective data recovery software, and it is able to find out files from RAW, corrupted, unformatted partition. In many cases, DiskGenius shows your files without any scanning when the file system part is not damaged that bad. As to disks with few bad sectors, you can use the software to create an image and them recover files from disk image. The follow guide will show you how to recover files from corrupted external hard drive quickly and easily.
How to recover files from corrupted external hard drive without formatting?
Note: steps in this section presumes that your external hard drive is corrupted due to logical errors. If your disk appears to be physically damaged, it is recommended to seek help from professional data recovery centers.
Step 1: Start DiskGenius, locate the corrupted partition and click Files tab to see if wanted files are listed.
There is possibility that lost files are listed by the software directly after launching the software.
Step 2: Select the corrupted partition, click Tools > Load Current Partition Intelligently.
The ‘Load Current Partition Intelligently’ function can load files with original names from the corrupted / RAW partition rapidly. If this function works on your external hard drive, you can view files and copy them to another partition. Then you do not need to carry out rest steps.
If this function cannot find out your files, then move to Step 3.
Step 3: Select the corrupted partition and click File Recovery button. Click Start button to run a complete scan for the partition.
Step 4: Preview files listed in scanning result.
Step 5: Select files and folders you want to restore, and copy them to a safe place.
Tips to recovering data from corrupted external hard drive
- It is suggested to use the fastest interface to increase the recovery speed. For example, try to connect external hard drive via USB3.0 or eSATA. Also, you can remove the enclosure and connect the disk to motherboard, which is faster than USB3.0.
- Do not copy recovered files onto the same external hard drive. Thus, you need to make sure there is enough extra space to store recovered files.
- You do not have to buy DiskGenius before you make sure files can be recovered correctly. You can start with the trial edition which can search for and preview lost data, by which you can accurately estimate the chances of a successful external HDD recovery before purchase. Purchase a DiskGenius license code only when you are satisfied with the recovery result.
- View recovered files to check if all wanted files are recovered correctly. After that, you can try fix the corrupted external HDD: How to fix RAW/corrupted external hard drive without formatting?
FAQs on recovering corrupted external hard drive
1. How can I recover my external hard drive data?
It is easy to recover lost data from external hard drive, and here are the recovery process:
Step 1: Connect the external hard drive to computer.
Step 2: Launch DiskGenius and use “File Recovery” function to search for lost data.
Step 3: Preview recoverable files and copy them to anther partition.
2. How can I recover deleted files from my external hard drive for free?
You can try free external hard drive recovery software CuteRecovery Free (formerly known as Eassos Recovery Free) to get back deleted files:
Step 1: Start CuteRecovery Free (formerly known as Eassos Recovery Free) edition and choose ‘Recover Deleted Files’ option.
Step 2: Select the external hard drive and click Next button to search for deleted files.
Step 3: Preview files and copy them to another partition.
3. How do I recover files from RAW external hard drive?
Recovering files from RAW external hard drive can be done by DiskGenius. This software provides a specialized function to deal with RAW partition recovery, making the recovery effective and easy. Here is a detailed guide you can refer to: How to recover files from RAW external hard drive?
Conclusion
It is common that the partition on your external hard drive gets corrupted, and there is no need to be panic, as in most cases lost files can be recovered. DiskGenius can aid you in recovering files from corrupted external hard drive as long as it is not physically damaged. If you feel this guide useful, feel free to share it on your social communities help more people.