TrekStor External HDD

So I was moving my room around, and long story short, my hdd ended up getting dropped 3-4 feet multiple times.

I normally have it connected and it's recognized as "Local Disk ( E: )"

After having it smashed against the ground, it's only recognized as "Removable Disk ( E: )"

Since it has been recognized as a Removable Disk, instead of a local, I have been unable to access any files saved on the HDD.




I've been wondering if I should simply open it up, and see if there is a lose connection between the HDD and anything inside, or what-have-you.


Any advise on the matter?

Thanks in advance,
James

Since it's been dropped, your best bet is to remove the drive from the enclosure and attach it directly to your computer via either SATA or PATA interface. This will allow you to see whether the drive is recognized in BIOS and Windows. It will also allow you to run daignostics if necessary.

The proper order of operations would be this:
Remove from case
Attach to system
Boot and check BIOS detection
If detection succeeds, then allow to boot to Windows
Once booted, Start > Run > diskmgmt.msc
Check to make sure that the drive is recognized
If recognized and the file system is valid, immediately copy any data to another disk.
If not, you could try recovery using a variety of tools. My preference is R-Studio from r-studio.com, but others work well. Get Data Back is another well recommended program.

The important thing to remember is that if the drive spins up, it may have a very limited lifetime for operation. Work quickly, but carefully to get data off in a prioritized and orderly fashion.

Only after data is recovered should you use diagnostics to determine the state of the drive.