Hey,
I have this external 1tb Intenso HDD which has a numeric pad for putting a 4 digit password for data encryption. A few days ago the hard disk started to lose USB connection so after a few checks i made after i opened the enclosure, i noticed that the usb connector on the board had started to move, very slight but enough to lose the connection when you connected the cable. So eventually i had to push the cable toward one side to have a steady connection. I managed to get a few folders but after a few tries (since the connection was lost frequently) the hard disk wasnt recognised at all from windows, i had the " unknown usb device" message. So i guess the board has failed? Anyhow i removed the hard disk from the enclosure and i connected it to a sata port in my PC. I went to hard disk management and there i had to initialize it by selecting MBR. Then it showed as RAW. I didnt make a raw recovery with a recovery software yet. So my question is this: Did i somehow destroyed my only chance of recovering the files by initializing it in windows? I dont know how could i recover them of course even if i havent done the initialize thing but i guess there would be a way. Maybe by getting another Intenso Security Edition enclosure? Would it work? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Data will be encrypted, possibly uniquely, by the coded caddy.

Initialising it was a bad move.

If you actually need your data, then take it to someone who knows what they’re doing, before you make it worse.

I suggest Northwind in Thessaloniki, speak to Dimitris.

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If all you did was to initialise the drive, then only sector 0 would have been affected. This can be fixed with a single-click with a disc editor such as DMDE. However, you will need to reattach the USB port on your USB-SATA bridge PCB and access the HDD via the bridge, not directly via SATA. Your local TV repair shop should be able to resolder the USB connector -- you don't need a data recovery service for this simple task.

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There are a lot of 'ifs' in this case.

- If it is only the USB connector, and you are lucky enough to still find a TV repair shop, the follow fzabkar's advice.

- If it is not just the USB connector, then seek professional data recovery help.

- If you do not feel happy using DMDE (you will be changing the partition information on your drive in real time) then invest in some data recovery software. This will allow you to parse the drive (after the USB connector has been fixed) and recover your data. You can try the demo mode first to make sure.

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I could guide the OP with DMDE.

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I have no doubt, just want to make sure the OP's data is protected.

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Wow guys, thanks to everyone for your well documented answers. I have currently sent the HDD to a friend's associate who repairs motherboards so i will hopefully have news in a couple of days regarding the USB connector. If the board works after the repair could i just try to recover the data with a Data Recovery software or is the DMDE procedure necessary first?

Thanks again for the overwhelming support

The DMDE procedure is not necessary if you use DR software. Can I suggest R-Studio or UFS Explorer.

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DR software is not necessary if you use the DMDE procedure.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

Without the OP making a clone first I would suggest he uses DR software before he permanently writes to his drive. We only have the OP's explanation of what has happened, we do not know what else may have occurred. At least this way he gets to test if he can see his data for free.

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The DMDE procedure will only touch sector 0 which will be filled with gibberish anyway. If you really want me to save this gibberish, it is easily done, but pointless. As long as the OP has not done anything more than "initialise" his drive, there will be nothing else to undo.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

Unfortunately my friend this is never guaranteed.

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So the news i got from the repair shop are not good, the tech guy who managed the repair said that the copper sheet below the first layer of the board is "moved" or something like that so he couldnt solder properly the usb connector, thus device still is recognized as "usb unknown device". I will send it to another electronics guru i have found through a friend so i hope he may manage to do something more with the board. I wonder if there is an alternative approach to this. If this guy also cannot do anything then my last resort will be to send it to the data retrieval company here in Thessaloniki, Northwind.

Thanks everyone for their feedback, will keep the thread informed when i have further news.

It looks like the repair shop is thinking in terms of repair rather than recovery.

Now a recovery techie would look at the connector and trace the usb port tracks back to suitable points on the pcb and solder temporary connections to any usb type 2 cable in order to recover the data. That's the easy way!

DMDE has also an 'undo' feature, so you don't really need to save the modified sector 0.
IIRC, DMDE automatically saves to a file (or prompts you to save) the changes it does too.

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