Iomega external HD still plugged in while reformatting my computer

carpenterbee73 · 01-07-2009, 03:08 PM

A friend was reformatting my desktop to install a new OS and he did not notice my 80G Iomega was still hooked up. I think he reformatted first, and then tried to begin the install (which was not allowed).
Now my HDD doesn't exist on my computer when I plug it in. It only appears if I try to "safely remove hardware", other than that, I can't find it. I can hear it working and the light comes on, but it's dead to my computer. At this point I have no idea what happened (disabled driver or complete wipeout :( or probably a host of other things I'm totally not aware of).
I had years and years of pictures and music on my Iomega, among other things.... Help!

**simpswr** · 01-08-2009, 09:23 AM

and welcome to the Forum

If the data is important to you, you should be able to use GetDataBack to recover the data.

http://www.runtime.org/

**linderman** · 01-08-2009, 03:29 PM

Hello Carpenter

first off your data is NOT lost ............. just dont do anything with that extgernal just yet .

in fact; unplug it and lets forget about that one for a little while

did you get your clean install of the fresh win XP installed successfully to the internal boot drive yet ?

then we can get on with the getdataback (GDB)

carpenterbee73 · 01-08-2009, 06:02 PM

Thanks for your replies!

Thank God I have not done a thing with my external, though I've been tempted to. But I dare not because I'm not really computer savy.

We got a clean install, as far as I can tell, on the internal drive. It's a bit of a dinosaur, no much disk space, but very robust...

**linderman** · 01-08-2009, 07:47 PM

you will need another hard drive larger than your external; to send your files from the external to the new slave drive

01-07-2009, 03:08 PM	#1 (permalink)
carpenterbee73 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 2 OS: xp	Iomega external HD still plugged in while reformatting my computer A friend was reformatting my desktop to install a new OS and he did not notice my 80G Iomega was still hooked up. I think he reformatted first, and then tried to begin the install (which was not allowed). Now my HDD doesn't exist on my computer when I plug it in. It only appears if I try to "safely remove hardware", other than that, I can't find it. I can hear it working and the light comes on, but it's dead to my computer. At this point I have no idea what happened (disabled driver or complete wipeout :( or probably a host of other things I'm totally not aware of). I had years and years of pictures and music on my Iomega, among other things.... Help!

01-08-2009, 09:23 AM	#2 (permalink)
simpswr Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 12,209 OS: XP, Vista, Win 7	Re: Iomega external HD still plugged in while reformatting my computer and welcome to the Forum If the data is important to you, you should be able to use GetDataBack to recover the data. http://www.runtime.org/ __________________ Rich MemTest86 \| BenchTest \| Virus/Trojan/Spyware Help How to post a Screen Shot \| PC running slow?

01-08-2009, 03:29 PM	#3 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 20,434 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	Re: Iomega external HD still plugged in while reformatting my computer Hello Carpenter first off your data is NOT lost ............. just dont do anything with that extgernal just yet . in fact; unplug it and lets forget about that one for a little while did you get your clean install of the fresh win XP installed successfully to the internal boot drive yet ? then we can get on with the getdataback (GDB) __________________ I still know nothing and I respect that fact, striving to improve and, along the way, help anyone that comes from the place that I used to be! Power Supply Selection LEARN TO BACK-UP YOUR DATA FREE & EASY YouTube - Runtime Software DriveImage XML tutorial

01-08-2009, 06:02 PM	#4 (permalink)
carpenterbee73 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 2 OS: xp	Re: Iomega external HD still plugged in while reformatting my computer Thanks for your replies! Thank God I have not done a thing with my external, though I've been tempted to. But I dare not because I'm not really computer savy. We got a clean install, as far as I can tell, on the internal drive. It's a bit of a dinosaur, no much disk space, but very robust...

01-08-2009, 07:47 PM	#5 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 20,434 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	Re: Iomega external HD still plugged in while reformatting my computer you will need another hard drive larger than your external; to send your files from the external to the new slave drive __________________ I still know nothing and I respect that fact, striving to improve and, along the way, help anyone that comes from the place that I used to be! Power Supply Selection LEARN TO BACK-UP YOUR DATA FREE & EASY YouTube - Runtime Software DriveImage XML tutorial