You connect your external USB drive, the light turns on, you feel it spinning, but Windows shows nothing or asks to format.
Possible causes
- PCB Damage (electronic board): Problems in the USB port or SATA-USB conversion.
- Service Area Damage (Firmware): The drive cannot load its boot instructions.
- Weak heads: They can read basic information but fail when trying to read the file table.
If you hear strange noises, disconnect it immediately. If the sound is normal but it doesn't load, try another cable and another port. If it persists, the problem is usually internal and requires professional diagnosis, not home software that could stress it further.
