My Book 1.5 TB Not Reading - Need Data Recovery

Any recommendations for recovery software for a My Book 1.5 TB?

Here’s my situation:

We borrowed the My Book from a friend to share some files.  Started downloading mp3 files through a Vista 64-bit machine from another external hard drive (Seagate, if it matters).  The download started out fine, but sometime during the night something went horribly awry.  The problem has gotten progressively worse over the past few days, and we’ve tried using machines with 3 versions of Windows.

Vista 64 bit:

File transfer seemed to be working, but the folder we put files into could not be read or deleted.  The files that were on it before we borrowed it were initially still readable.  Now the “My Computer” function doesn’t even see the My Book.

XP:

As with Vista, the files that were on the drive before we borrowed it were initially readable , but now “My Computer” doesn’t see the My Book.

Windows 7:

The My Book shows up as a hard drive in “My Computer”, but when I try to open it it cranks away for a really long time and then makes Windows Explorer stop working. 

Is there any way besides recovery software to read the original files and back them up before I reformat the My Book?

The only other thing you might try is to load it up on a Linux and/or Mac system- you might have a shot of accessing it there. After that Data Recovery software, or taking it to a Data Recovery service are going to be your only real options.

Unfortunately, you will most likely need to use some type of data recovery software to see if you can retrieve the information off the drive. It sounds like the partition or file system may have corrupted somehow and when Windows tries to read or access it, it freezes and/or times out and hangs.

One thing that you can try is using a different USB cable and make sure that the power adapter is plugged directly into a wall outlet. If you have a bad cable or the drive is receiving insufficient power, the drive may also behave the way you have described.