I had to fix USB EXTERNAL STORAGE before because it was formatted "RAW" instead of NTFS as it always were.
Sometimes the HD is fine but the case has to be changed. Others, just let them cool off in the fridge.
Now, I have the seam issue with an old External USB Storage (Maxtor OneTouch I) and need to recoup the files before I tranfer them to a new and much better DLNA HD.
Thanks for your help.