Do I need to re-install my old drive to recover it?

[docmoore]

I have an old hard drive (WinXP) that crashed a few years ago. Drive recovery was not DIY at that time. It worked well until it became corrupt and would not boot. I opted for the easy fix of installing a new drive and starting over.

When attached to my new computer via a USB cable, the drive spins up without making the "clicking sound of death," but (as expected) it is not recognised.

Can I use RecoverMyFiles without physically reinstalling the drive? If so, how do I search for the drive/data to begin the process?

Thanks.

[GDH]

Hi,

Yes, you can use Recover My Files to see if you find data on the drive.

Download Recover My Files and install it on the C: drive of your PC.

Connect the problem drive via USB.

Now run a Recover My Files and select the "Fast Format Recover" and click NEXT.

In the drive selection window, you should see "physical" drives listed. You should see at least 2, i.e. the physical drive inside your PC (the one on which your C: drive is located) and the external USB problem drive (you should be able to identify them by the displayed sizes.

If you do not see the USB drive, then for some reason your PC does not recognize it as being connected - check in Windows Device Manager, check cables etc.

If you can see the drive, run the search on the physical drive and see what you find. If the fast format recover does not work, next try the Complete Format Recover on the physical drive searching for the default file types only.

Good luck.