Posted 13 December 2023

Recovering data from a Hitachi Touro 2TB desktop HDD

I know this is a long shot but I'm looking for some assistance or software to facilitate recovery of a myriad of sentimental photographs and videos from the above-named HDD.

Whilst it powers up using a general power supply, the various laptops/PCs I've tried to connect it to are not reading the data (but they can identify the existence of the HDD).

Hope this isn't too vague but any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

🙏

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13th Dec 2023
I used a professional company to rescue a 4Tb drive where a head had detached, they sent an estimate, and pics.of.the repair process, then finally a list of files they could recover (by the end of was like 99.9% files undamaged, the rest with damage). You only chose whether to pay at that point.

Beware of companies that want your money then keep asking for more, I can PM you the one I used if you want.
Author
13th Dec 2023
Thank you for your response and advice. Please do PM with the company details.
13th Dec 2023
Absolute basics before considering any data recovery approach:

• use an alternative known-good power supply,
or check the existing power supply functions for at least 5 minutes on another device that consumes similar amount of current

• use an alternative known-good data cable,
or check the existing data cable functions with another device and is capable of consistently transferring data.

If both PSU & datacable OK and multiple computers
"can identify the existence of the HDD" but "not reading the data",
it implies interface or disk issue.

If PSU&datacable def OK you could attempt to remain optimistic and attempt access via software such as:
free version of Recuva ccleaner.com/recuva
or hardcore UFS Explorer ufsexplorer.com/pro…ts/

Otherwise the Touro can be shucked to bypass any issues with the USB interface,
but if the ultimate issue is busted disk then its typically potentially big bucks or abandon.
Plus shucking the Touro external DT drive is not for the fainthearted due to multiple dull technicalities:
forums.tomshardware.com/thr…23/
13th Dec 2023
I've done it on my mac without a backup in place. Can't remember the software I used but was very easy. I would get on google tbh..
14th Dec 2023
Highly recommend EADR - eadr.co.uk/
14th Dec 2023
Although not the cheapest option, but I'd recommend using r-studio.com/ software. It recovers data at a low-level and can even recover data from previous formatting (as long as it's not a SSD). Any bad blocks on the disk will be skipped.
It's time-consuming but worth it
13th Dec 2023
Easy - just restore from the backup you made.

Yes, that may well be a very glib comment, however it is an expensive lesson to learn and hopefully you will recognise the need to make backups in future.

Data recovery is a very time consuming and expensive task. There are plenty of free tools out there. Depending on the format, recovery software and CPU, recovering data may take around 24 hours per TB. The quality of data recovered may not be recognisable. Note that most of the free tools are simply a gateway to demonstrate what is possible to recover, requiring additional cost to unlock any further recovery.
13th Dec 2023
i had the problem with my laptop and i removed the HDD and connected it via a SATA cable to my new laptop and recovered the data using EaseUs data recovery.
15th Dec 2023
That scenario was mentioned and identified as not practical in post immediately prior to yours:
...the Touro can be shucked to bypass any issues with the USB interface...
...shucking the Touro external DT drive is not for the fainthearted due to multiple dull technicalities:
forums.tomshardware.com/thr…23/
Author
15th Dec 2023
Thank you to all who provided advice. Much appreciated.