External Hard drive problem

[desert emperor]

I m new to this forum so i hope i m posting in the right place otherwise plz inform me where to go.


I have Western digital 250 GB external that i have all my data (pictures,movies,music....) on --- in fact i have only 4 GB of free space!!!
The problem starts when i can't see "My music" folder although i m not sure i didn't delete accidentally and i didn't notice any extra free space due to this disappear of the the folder!
so i tried to unplug and plug again several time and on another system too BUTTTT what happened after that a main folder ( in fact i have 2 main folders under the root folder only and inside of them for sure several folders)--- so a main folder appear but without an icon of folder so if i double click it will ask me which program u want to use to open this!!! and its size is now like 32KB!! although inside there is more than 180GB!! and the hard drive is still showing only 4 GB free!!

SO what's wrong? someone can tell me what to do? i really want my data back! i have no backup of it? can i still rescue my data? by the way the other main folder under the root still working normal i can go inside browse other folders...

So PLZ any serious suggestions?can i still back up it?

Waiting ur help, yhx in advance

 

[KurrentEweser]

Is it one of those 2.5" passport drives? Are you powering it from a laptop?

 

[desert emperor]

yes it's powered only by connecting the USB! why? any difference?

 

[KurrentEweser]

From a laptop? If so try a desktop USB port. Someone else here is having a similar problem. It appears those drives want more juice then a laptop can handle.

 

[desert emperor]

yes i m trying from my laptop, so i will check on a desktop. but why i can access 1 folder and the other no?strange!
So if someone else have other ideas let me know plz & thx

 

[KurrentEweser]

You may need to use a data recovery program to get yours files. If a desktop works then I would copy your files ASAP.

 

[desert emperor]

ok i will check anyway but for data recovery do u have any idea if i just made a backup will it take the data even if i can't open now?and when i make backup it'll open or no?

 

[KurrentEweser]

There's no need to open it yet unless you have another external enclosure to put the drive into. I gather those passport drives are SATA.

 

[desert emperor]

sorry it's not 2.5! it's this small thin one from WD! like handy one!so i can't open anyway right?

 

[KurrentEweser]

I've never seen the inside of a WD passport. You're saying it's not a 2.5" laptop drive. I can't see it being a proprietary drive.

Maybe these will help. Connect the passport to a desktop with lots of free space.

Free Data Recovery, File and Partition Recovery, Undelete and Unformat Utilities (thefreecountry.com)