Repair external hard drive - does it work?

If your external hard drive is no longer working, you do not need to have it repaired immediately for a lot of money. We have some tips for you to get the hard drive up and running again.

Repair external hard drive - this is how the data carriers work

Every external hard drive hides a normal hard drive, which is also used in desktop computers.

• External hard drives are more expensive than internal hard drives because a housing with connections and in some cases also special software is included. The function of the hard drive inside remains the same.
• If, for example, lamps on your housing no longer work or the housing breaks, this is only a cosmetic defect. If the hard drive works inside, you can continue to use it as normal.
• So you should first make sure what exactly is no longer working. If you hear scratching noises during operation, there is a high chance that the write head of the hard disk is defective due to a vibration. All other defects could only be a problem of the case and not the hard drive itself.

Repair or replace an external hard drive enclosure

An external hard drive housing consists only of plastic or aluminum and some connections and is therefore relatively easy to repair.

• If you think your hard drive case is broken and your hard drive inside is still working properly, you should try repairing or replacing the case.
• First check the connections and cables: Are there any defects in the power or USB cable? Are the connections on the housing blocked and not bent? Replacing cables often helps and can be an inexpensive solution to your problem.
• If you cannot see any defects from the outside, you have to open the housing. To do this, remove all cables and open the housing at the designated places. However, cheaper housings in particular are often glued, so they may be damaged when opened. A new external housing is available from around 10 euros.
• If you have a desktop computer, you can now remove the hard drive from the housing and connect it to the normal power and SATA hard drive cables in the PC. To do this, only 2 plug connections are necessary, which are either still free or can be removed from another hard drive for a short time. Just be careful not to disconnect the system hard drive. If the hard drive works without a case, you can be sure that only the case is broken.
• The housing can only be repaired if you see plug connections that have slipped out or connections no longer stick where you should. Look at the defect and try to repair it. A new external housing is available from around 10 euros.
• Note: The repair is done at your own risk. We accept no liability for potential damage.

Tip: Use hard drive for PS4

Remove the working hard drive from its casing to upgrade your PlayStation 4. We show you in this CHIP video how this works.

In another practical tip, we explain what you can do if your external hard drive is not displayed.