How To Use External Hard Drive | Data Recover And Troubleshooting

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What Is External Hard Drive ?

An external hard disk is a device used to store all kinds of documents like files, music, and movies. It is portable, and thus anyone can carry around their digital data wherever they go. Hard drives are mostly plug-and-play devices and can be connected to a computer via USB. Since computers come with limited space, hard drives are the ones to rely up on to expand device storage. We'll explain the types of hard drives and how to use external hard drive, and it's setup properly.

01. Spinning Disk Drive

Spinning disk drives have been around for a long time now but have been superseded by solid state drives (SSD). Spinning disk drives have increased their storage to compete with SSDs. The design of the drive allows increasing the storage capacity of spinning disk drives to a terabyte range.

02. Solid State Drive

The solid state drive (SSD) is a flash memory that acts as a secondary storage device within the computer. SSDs run silently compared to a spinning disk drive and, in particular, have a quicker access time. SSDs are more reliable since they work with less power and the data access is much faster.

01 Why Would You Use An External Hard Drive?

With an hard drive, you get added space for your device. You can also carry your important data with you when stored on an external drive. Whenever you need to access a large file, you can do external hard drive setup on your computer and access it easily. Having large files in your external hard disk can actually help your computer to perform at a much better speed.

02 How To Restore Data From Hard Drive Without Formatting?

There are different ways to restore data from an hard drive without the need to format it. There are antivirus scans, internal computer troubleshooting. You can replace a corrupted file with a System File Check and recover files using data recovery software.

03 Why Do Hard Drives Become Corrupted?

Hard drives are like any other device; they go through some wear and tear. Worst case scenario is your hard drive getting corrupted. Usually, hard drives get corrupted when the computer does not finish writing the data, which can be because of poor operational conditions or mechanical stress. We'll explain how to perform external hard drive setup and to transfer files properly.

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How To Use External Hard Drive On Windows?

A new external hard disk comes with a USB cable. All you need to do is to connect the USB cable to the hard drive and the USB port on your PC. You can take a backup of the documents closest to you by a simple copy-paste function.

How To Use External Hard Drive On Mac?

Performing external hard drive setup on mac is pretty straightforward. Connect the hard drive to your Mac using the USB cable provided. Once connected, you can drag and drop your important documents to the external hard disk to save them.

How To Open External Hard Drive On Pc?

Once you connect the hard drive to the PC, the drive will automatically open in a new window. In case if it doesn’t open, open This PC or My Computer. You will find the hard drive under the external drive section. Do a double-click to open the drive.

Use External Hard Drive As Main Drive

In most cases, computers boot from internal hard drives. That doesn’t mean that you can’t use your external drive to boot the system. If you want to do external hard drive setup as the main drive, you have to make some changes to the BIOS. Perform external hard disk setup on your system and restart it. Enter the BIOS settings while the device restarts and set your external hard disk drive as the main drive to boot from.

TROUBLESHOOTING EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE

external hard disk management on windows

External Hard Disk Not Detected

Is your external hard disk drive not detected on your computer? Check the USB connection at both end ports. It is advised to use the cable supplied along with your hard disk drive. In case you have lost the provided USB cable, get a standard one. To further troubleshoot the hard disk drive, click here.

External Hard Disk Drive Not Working

Usually, external hard disk drives tend to perform well with regard to transferring data. But sometimes, it may not work when there is a virus-infected file. This might also happen if you have installed corrupted drivers for your hard disk drive or using outdated software on your PC. For detailed instructions about external hard drive setup and fixing your hard drive issue, click here.

External Hard Disk Detected But Not Opening

Several factors might be causing issues with your external hard disk. If your external hard disk is detected but not opening, then it is not due to communication breakdown. The problem is with your computer. It is because of some technical glitch in your operating system or internal hardware failure. To identify the actual cause and troubleshoot your hard disk drive, click here.

How Do You Reset An External Hard Disk Drive?

Resetting an external hard disk drive will erase all the important data stored on it. In Windows, formatting the drive erases all the data, including the virus corrupted files. In Macintosh, Disk Utility helps you erase and format the drive you wish to reset. Although you can retrieve the data from a formatted hard drive, it is recommended to back up your data before resetting your hard disk drive. To know more about external hard drive setup, click here.

How To Repair A Dead Hard Disk Drive To Recover Data?

A dead hard drive comes under internal and external damage. A clicking sound is an example of internal damage. The external damage could be a faulty printed circuit board. Check if your computer has recognized your dead hard disk drive. If so, recover the data using a trusted data recovery software. For detailed instructions, click here.

01. How To Use An External Hard Disk Drive For Longer?

An external portable hard drive is one of the main assets for a computer that stores all important data. So it is essential to maintain the hard drive for a more extended period of time. So, how to use an external hard disk for a longer duration? Treat your drive with physical care as these hard drives are built in such as way that any physical damage can really mess things up and have the risk of losing the data too. Hard drives get warm while they are powered on and active, so control the external temperature to minimize the stress on them. Only turn on the drive when you need it the most. Eject your hard drive before physically disconnecting or powering off the enclosure. But don’t unplug the hard drive too often as it may damage the drive.

02. Save Lost Data From An External Hard Drive

The data loss usually occurs due to software and hardware failures. Among the two, software data loss is the most common issue that arises due to some bad software applications or unfortunate user errors. You need not worry as the data loss can be retrieved by using some data recovery software. If you have lost the data due to any reason, stop using the drive immediately as the new data can easily overwrite the lost data. Using professional data recovery software will be an effective solution as it will recover the lost external drive partition along with the data.

03. What Does An External Hard Disk Do?

Every one of us depend on hard drives to store the data starting from files to software. An external drive usually looks like a book that is plugged into your computer. The main advantage of the external drive is its portability. It can be connected to numerous computers regardless of their operating system. Most users use an external drive for these many reasons: Storage, Backup, Data sharing, Digital editing, and Gaming. Most external drives can hold at least one terabyte (1TB ) of data, which is more than sufficient for an average user. We'll provide complete guide on how to do external hard drive setup on your device to store datas securely.

04. How Do I Download A Program To An External Drive?

External hard disk drives are the most inexpensive and convenient devices you can use to expand the storage space on your computer. You can save space on your computer’s internal hard drive by installing the software programs on an external hard disk. This is the most convenient and effective way to save space on your hard drive. You can use your external drive instead of your primary computer drive when running application installers. So, let’s see in detail how to do external hard drive setup and download a program to an hard drive. Connect the external drive to your computer via a USB connection, and then turn on the hard drive. Download the program by following the on-screen installation prompts. Choose a destination to continue the installation process, and the software should be installed on the external drive. Make sure you don’t remove or disconnect the external drive while the programs are running, as this might cause numerous errors.

05. How To Use An External Drive For Internal Storage?

Most external hard disk drive manufacturers try to keep you away from converting their cheaper hard drives into internal storage units. Test the hard drive first before you dismantle it. Tear apart by using the long edge of a knife to prevent scratching the label on the hard drive inside, as this might also void your driver's warranty. Push the drive out sideways to avoid physical damage. Use a screwdriver to remove the USB control board and slide the board off the SATA port of the hard drive. Turn off your PC and plug the hard drive. Check whether the drive is getting recognized in the BIOS settings. If it is recognized, install the hard drive, connect the SATA data and SATA power cables, and boot up the system. You have successfully completed external hard drive setup and now you can use your external drive for internal storage.

06. What Is The Lifespan Of An External Drive?

The lifespan of an external portable hard drive depends on many factors, like size, type, brand, and environment. If you read or write more data on your disk, your hard drive will age faster, So it is always recommended to have an up-to-date backup of your hard drive. To be specific, you can rely on your hard drive for almost three to five years on average. Some data suggests that 90% of hard drives survive for three years and 80% of hard drives survive for four years. Certain precautions can be taken to maximize the lifespan of your external drive. The first step is to have a backup that will help you protect yourself against potential data loss. If you hear some strange clicking or grinding sounds coming out from your hard drive, make sure you power off your drive, else it might lead to further damage.

07. How To Recover Files From A Crashed External Hard Drive?

External Portable hard drives are becoming more prominent, faster, and affordable nowadays. Meanwhile, some of the logical errors on these drives are caused by improper removal and sudden power loss. All major operating systems include an “eject” command, which prepares your device before removal, and also no write operations are in progress when the disk is removed. Use any one of the best data recovery software in the current market, so you can safely recover files from a crashed hard drive. For more details on how to configure external hard drive setup and to recover lost files, reach our experts and get solutions.

Simple & Quick Solution For External Hard Drive Setup

Top Brands In External Hard Drive