Due to several reasons like read/write issues, software bugs, virus/malware attacks, manufacturer faults, and poor operating conditions, your external hard drive may be corrupted . In most instances, it also shows you the message, “You need to format the disk before you can use it”. But, when you handle the right strategy, you can recover your external hard drive without formatting. Read the simple techniques given on this page to know How To Recover Hard Drive Without Format.
Scan Your Computer Using Windows Defender
Due to a virus attack, your external hard drive may start to malfunction. However, when you quarantine the viruses and malware from your computer, your hard drive can function well. Follow these instructions to scan your computer using Windows Defender. Learn, how to fix a corrupted external hard drive without formatting.
- In the Windows search bar, type “windows security” and press Enter.
- From the search results, click on Windows Security.
- In the Windows Security window, click the Virus & threat protection option in the left panel.
- Under the Quick scan section, click on Scan options.
- Click the radio button next to Full scan and click the Scan now button.
- Once the scanning process gets completed, check if your external hard drive functions well.
Fix File System Errors
When you repair the disk errors, you can access your external hard drive without formatting. Here is the procedure for fixing the logical file errors with CHKDSK.
- On the Windows taskbar, type cmd.
- From the search results, click on Command Prompt and select the Run as administrator option.
- Type in chkdsk X: /R and press Enter.
- Depending upon the size of your hard drive, the duration varies for the CHKDSK process. But this process can check your disk for bad sectors and repair your hard drive completely.
Note: Replace X with your hard drive’s letter
Repair The Corrupted Files
- The System File Checker scan can repair the corrupted system files on your Windows computer. This scan can also help you use your external hard drive without formatting.
- Run Command Prompt as administrator.
- Input sfc /scannow and press Enter.
- Wait until the SFC scanning process gets completed, and it usually takes an hour.
- Once done, check if you can external hard drive recovery without format.
Continue reading the given below procedure to know how to recover hard drive without formatting.
Recover Your External Hard Drive With HDD Recovery Software
If none of the above troubleshooting solutions help you to recover your external hard drive, you could try the data recovery software. You can expect guaranteed success with these software applications. Follow these instructions to proceed further.
- On the Internet, you can find several data recovery software applications; choose the one you prefer and download it on your computer. Ensure that you have downloaded the software from the manufacturer’s official website.
- Now, connect your external hard drive to your computer.
- Open the data recovery software and click the Scan button.
- Wait until the scanning process gets completed..
- When it displays the recovered files, preview the ones you want to retrieve and click the Recover button.
- To retrieve all the files, you need to choose the Select All checkbox and click Recover.
- Now, pick a different recovery destination and click OK.
- The chosen files will now be recovered to the selected destination.
- The procedure for recovering the files is almost the same in all software applications, and so, there’s no need to worry about the exact recovery process.
In this manner, you should recover hard drive without formatting. For further questions and clarifications, you can always reach our technical experts for assistance. You can make use of the call option provided on this page for the purpose. If you want to know how to use data recovery software, visit our page.
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