external suddenly not working

[tomatoes210]

My seagate external hd suddenly stopped working. It was working on one computer before I safely removed the usb, and then when I connected it to computer B it didn't work. I have connected it to computer B in the past and it worked fine but I just replaced the hard drive in computer B and am connecting it to computer B for the first time with the new hd. Now when I connect the external back to the first computer, it still does not work. When I connect the external to the outlet, nothing happens but when I connect the usb to the computer, it lights up normally and makes normal sounds. However the computer does not detect the hd and i cannot locate it in disk management. When I only remove the usb for the external, the sounds and light stays on which it usually doesn't when working.

However, trying another external on computer B does work. I only had the external for two years and I think there's a 5 year warranty.

 

[tomatoes210]

The external is not detected on 3 computers and I also do not see it under disk drives or usb controllers in device manager. I don't see how it broke so suddenly.

 

[RebateMonger]

The USB converter circuitry in the external housing could have died. They can do so with no warning.

 

[tomatoes210]

The USB converter circuitry in the external housing could have died.

Is there a way to fix this?

If I were to send it back to seagate for a replacement as I am still under warranty, should I worry about them going through my files? I do have sensitive data on the hd.

 

[mbevolution]

see if you can find screws to open the case up, if you can then you can take out the hdd and plug it into your desktop via sata connectors and backup all your files that way.

 

[RebateMonger]

If I were to send it back to seagate for a replacement as I am still under warranty, should I worry about them going through my files? I do have sensitive data on the hd.

Normally, if you send a non-functional external drive back to Seagate, the will send you a different drive as a replacement. If anybody opens the housing other than a Seagate-approved data recovery lab, Seagate will invalidate the warranty on the drive.

As I recall, Seagate claims to use strong security to handle any data that might be on the returned disk. They won't do any data recovery unless you have a special contract with them. You can read more deeply in the Seagate RMA site to read their security claims.