You can do an external hard drive repair. Learn how to replace the hard drive of your exnternal hard drive or backup drive with our DIY video here. Below the video are links to buy replacement hard drives and a computer toolkit.
External Hard Drive Repair Tips
Be sure to discharge any static charge you have by touching a water pipe.
Take pictures as you take apart the external drive.
Use the right tools, or you will strip the screws.
Its best to remove the broken hard drive and then order a replacement drive. Click here to shop for hard drives
. That way you know exactly what kind of hard drive it is. You can also probably buy a larger size drive for a few dollars more.
When is a drive broken and must be replaced?
Most of the time. Really, its rare to be able to repair a drive if it is damaged. If you hear mechanical noises, scratching, metal on metal kind of sounds, the drive is toast. It is sometimes possible to fix a drive if its a software driver issue, but if you hear unhealthy sounds coming from the drive, its a bad sign.
When taking apart the external hard drive, keep all the parts in a container, and keep your workspace clean. Its possible there will be some dust in the drive housing, so be prepared for that. Use some canned air to remove dust from the electronics, do not use a brush, bad things can happen.
Most drives slide right out of the chassis holding it. The drive has a set of pins that line up with the chassis to connect it all together. Here are some computer tool kits: http://amzn.to/1ExWh1u