Solved How can I recover a lost USB disk remotely?

kelper said:

Are there UPSs out there that supply the motherboard and drives etc with the DC?

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The problem with that would be the few/several voltages [3, 5, 12, etc.] provided to the motherboard by the PSU.

POLYSIUS said:

spapakons wrote: "...in case of a power shortage..."
Does that happen once a year?
spapakons wrote: "...In this USB disk there are several files I want to access remotely."
For some files you have a 5 TB 2,5" drive?
My advice: Copy the files to your Mobile Phone and enjoy life.

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My mobile phone has a humble 64GB storage already almost full with photos and videos. We are talking about several GB of video files among others.

Internal secondary disk is 4TB reserved for non-video data.

I don't know the maximum size that can be used but I have 8GB Micro SDXC cards in our Samsung phones for additional storage.

My phone can either get dual SIM cards or one SIM card and a micro SD card. I have two SIM cards, so I cannot put a micro SD card. Besides I have switched to a USB 3.0 port. I cross my fingers...

Berton said:

The problem with that would be the few/several voltages [3, 5, 12, etc.] provided to the motherboard by the PSU.

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Why couldn't a UPS provide these? I'm well aware that a PSU outputs different voltages.

I have had two PSUs fail in 20 years (they lost their magic smoke!) but a power cut has never caused me any data loss. I have had a few "HAL could not be found" errors! These required a complete re-install of Windows.

A DC-only UPS would need no transformers, would be silent and would last longer for a given battery size.

I have a travel adapter that can run on mains or a 12V battery and outputs any selected DC to suit most laptops. I use it on an old laptop whose original brick failed. Even with a 12V input, it can output 19V.

Why couldn't a UPS provide these?

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I'd think having several cables running from an external power device to provided ports in a computer case may be a nightmare, bad enough for users with the number of attachments in use now.

Berton said:

I'd think having several cables running from an external power device to provided ports in a computer case may be a nightmare, bad enough for users with the number of attachments in use now.

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OK, but a computer could have a 12V input and do the rest internally.

Maybe this is a "let them eat cake!" response, but are the power outages brief enough that a UPS would keep the PC running?

I see that DC-DC ATX power supplies are readily available.

bobkn said:

Maybe this is a "let them eat cake!" response, but are the power outages brief enough that a UPS would keep the PC running?

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That's exactly why I got and use them, have 3 APC 600W and one Tripp-Lite 1400W [separate 20A power from the breaker box] as the power bumps we get cause issues. The agency I worked for had emergency generators at remote locations and after transition to transistorized radios had to add the UPS to cover the 20-30 second switch from commercial power to the generator startup to keep things working.

bobkn said:

Maybe this is a "let them eat cake!" response, but are the power outages brief enough that a UPS would keep the PC running?

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They can be 10 minutes to half an hour. Thankfully they don't happen frequently. There is no room for a UPS where I have my PC, so I would rather avoid it. I know this is counterintuitive, but...

There is no room for a UPS where I have my PC

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Three of mine are in the knee-holes of my desks and one is under my workbench, slightly inconvenient as my knees get older if I have to crawl back in there.

Anyways, I am now using one USB 3.0 port which should fix my issue. If we have another power shortage the next few days I will see if the disk is working properly and report.

Why wait for a power cut? Just unplug the computer for a minute.

kelper said:

Why wait for a power cut? Just unplug the computer for a minute.

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That's a good, real life test. I run half a dozen of the things in my house. Here's two of them:

Isn't 1500VA too much for a typical computer? Unless you are a gamer and you have 800W or larger PSU.

I guess it depends on whether you wish to use your computer during an extended power cut! Windows seems very resilient to power outages and I don't need a UPS.

Well it is not too important to use my computer during a power cut, they are of short duration anyway. The most important to me is to be able to fully use my computer after it is back on. I have set BIOS to power on automatically after power shortage so it loads Windows (and AnyDesk) automatically. If only my USB is working properly, then I am OK with that.

PS: I was connected before but suddenly the screen froze, so I disconnected. I am not sure if the computer just restarted due to some updates or if the power was cut. I guess it is time to see if connecting the disk at the USB 3.0 port made any difference... I will let you know.

YES! You may pour the Champagne in your glass! As I suspected the computer restarted for some reason, probably an update but I am still in build 22621.2428, and when back online I have full access to my USB hard disk. Moving it to USB 3.0 did the trick. I will mark the thread solved. Just one question, it may rather be stupid, but I already have a couple of USB 2.0 hubs. Could I use them on a USB 3.0 port at full speed? Do I really need to buy a new USB 3.0 hub? One of them might actually be USB 3.0, I don't remember, I will check them.