Viruses, corruption, unsupported formats… A lot of things can cause data loss on a LaCie hard drive, which makes it hard to figure out the next step. The good news is that you can still restore that data (as long as you act fast). But you’ll need the right tools.
This article is an in-depth guide for 2 reliable methods of LaCie hard drive recovery, as well as all the info you need to help you figure out what caused the data loss. Read on.
Common Problems with LaCie Hard Drives that May Lead to Data Loss
If you have already suffered data loss or want to know more before it happens, here’s a list of common LaCie hard drive problems that may lead to losing your data:
- LaCie external hard drive not showing up on Mac. Depending on the scenario, this could mean that the drive is not properly connected to your device or the computer is not able to recognize it.
- Beeping noises. LaCie hard drive beeping occurs when there are symptoms of eventual hard drive failure. Usually, something is wrong with the platter or the drive’s ability to draw power. This can be due to hardware age or bumps/falling while the platter is still spinning. Regardless, your drive is dying.
- Corruption. Lacie external hard drives may become corrupted due to virus attacks, software issues, or getting interrupted while it’s reading and writing data (for ex. sudden power outage or improper ejection). Corruption always eventually leads to data loss.
- Unassigned Drive letter. When you connect your LaCie hard drive to your Mac, it gets assigned a drive letter as it gets mounted. This is a critical step to allow your Mac to properly interact with it. If something interferes with this step (such as a bogged down computer with no resources left to spare), you won’t be able to access your data.
- Unsupported File System. If you connect your LaCie hard drive to a computer that does not support the file system it uses, you may be prompted to format the drive. Don’t! This will wipe your data.
- Data degradation. If you have a particularly old LaCie external hard drive, it’s possible that your data literally died of old age. Data gets degraded over time, no matter what. So make sure you have a regular backup routine!
- Physical damage. It’s possible for physical damage to immediately result in data loss. LaCie hard drives are prone to extreme temperatures, dust/debris inside the enclosure, water, etc.
How to Recover Lost Data From a LaCie External Hard Drive
Depending on what scenario you’re facing, there are 2 methods for LaCie hard drive data recovery– we’ve got step-by-step instructions for both of them below. Just remember this rule of thumb: if your drive has problems, they get worse the more you use it.
Method 1: Use Data Recovery Software (Disk Drill)
Data recovery software can often be enough to restore most of your data. For this article, we’ll be using Disk Drill as our LaCie data recovery software. It’s trusted, effective, and easy-to-use for users of all levels.
It works best to recover data from an erased hard drive (or formatted), but you can also use it to safely restore corrupted drives. Using the Byte-to-byte backup tool, you can create a complete clone of your drive. You can then extract data from the clone to avoid further damage and/or data loss.
Step 1. Securely connect your LaCie external hard drive to your Mac.
Step 2. Download and install Disk Drill for Mac Mac. Then, launch the app (Finder > Applications > Disk Drill).
Step 3. From the list in the middle pane, select your LaCie external hard drive and click “Search for lost data.”
Step 4. Wait for Disk Drill to finish scanning your drive. Once it’s done, you click “Recover All…” from this screen and jump to step 8 to complete the LaCie data recovery. Or, click “Review found items.”
Step 5. Use the search bar in the top-right corner of the screen as well as the filters in the left sidebar to search for the files you want to restore.
Step 6. To preview your files, hover your mouse pointer to the right of a file name and click the eye button that appears.
Step 7. Make your selection by ticking the boxes in the left-most column beside the files you want to recover. Then, click “Recover.”
Step 8. Use the dropdown button to select a destination on your computer for the restored files. Then, click “OK.”
Method 2: Send Your Drive to a Professional Data Recovery Service
If you are faced with one of these scenarios, you’ll need to send your drive to a professional data recovery service:
- Your drive has suffered physical damage.
- Your drive has been severely corrupted by a virus infection, software issues, and other logical damage.
- You have tried these methods (applicable to LaCie hard drive repair) and none of them worked.
- You are unable to restore your data using data recovery software.
You’ve tried all the guides from LaCie troubleshoot.
Fortunately, LaCie data recovery services come with your warranty. If your LaCie external hard drive’s product warranty is still valid and intact, you’ll also be for the Rescue Plan. You can request for one in-lab data recovery attempt on your LaCie drive and get your data back on a different drive or download it from a cloud-based account within a 60-day time period.
LaCie Data Recovery Services have a global coverage and a 95% success rate, as well as status updates as your drive gets repaired.
FAQ:
- Use LaCie’s backup software “Click Backup”, which is included in all LaCie products. It’s a file-based backup so you can use it to bulk-copy files and folders.
- Use an image-based backup utility. Disk Drill’s Byte-to-byte backup tool is 100% free and will clone the entire drive instead of just specific files and folders.
- (If you have a Mac) Use Time Machine to create a backup of your drive.
- Connect your drive to your Mac.
- Launch Disk Utility (Finder > Applications > Utilities).
- Select your LaCie hard drive on the left sidebar, then click the “Format” button at the top of the screen.
- Name the volume, select your desired file system, and proceed with the formatting. Please note that this process will wipe all data on the drive.
Note that formatting a LaCie hard drive for Mac wipes all data on the drive.
- Securely connect it to your computer.
- Open your LaCie external drive’s folder in File explorer or Finder and double-click the setup app.
- Select your language, read the license agreement, then click “Next.”
- Use the slider to adjust partition sizes, and slide it all the way to the left if you only want a single partition.
- LaCie will prompt you to begin the formatting process. Note that this will wipe any existing data on the drive. Then, click “Yes.”
- Allow LaCie to finish the formatting process and install other default utilities. You may also be prompted to select utilities you want to install.
- Once everyone is done, click “Finish.”
Your LaCie external hard drive is now ready for use for both Windows and Mac operating systems. You can run the setup assistant again anytime.
