Used wrong power supply for external hard drive...

[BinderGang]

I did something really stupid.

I accidently plugged an AC adapter into my external hard drive. It went on for a few seconds, I went to turn it back off and then pop! A bit of smoke and a smell came from the back.

What did I do? Did I just ruin the hard drive completely? Or just the part that would turn the drive on. Are all my files on the hard drive gone?

Please, anything you can do to help is much appreciated!

[fffreak]

WWWWWWWWhy would do something like that you just cooked your harddrive???

[BinderGang]

That's it? All my data is gone?

[fffreak]

Most likely unless you want to take it apart and take the disks(if disks are in still in good condition) out and put them in another harddrive(exactly same brand with same harddrive spec) and try to recover the data from there. Other than that I would say to get a refund or exchange of the harddrive from whereever you purchased it. My guess is that the motor in your harddrive is fried.

[GX1_Man]

You can remove the drive from the enclosure and then try to slave it into a working computer to see if it is functional at all.

It may be ruined, but the data may be salvageable.

[WillyW]

A bit of smoke and a smell came from the back.

There is an old secret about electronics:  they run on smoke.   That's right... smoke!
If you let the smoke out -  that is a Bad Thing.    They die.
Always -   Always,   keep the smoke in.    Never let it out.




 

Seriously,  what you observed does not sound very encouraging.  I wish you good luck with it...  I see others have made recommendations,  I hope one of them works.
Will you let us know what you tried, and if it worked?    I'd like to know.