How do i retrieve the data off of a broken external hdd?

It depends on what you mean by broken. If you mean that it will no longer spin, the mechanical problem has to be corrected first. If you mean it's corrupted, there are utility programs available that can recover your files, or most of them anyway. Files that have been overwritten are extremely difficult to recover. In extreme cases, there are companies that specialize in data recovery, but it can cost you thousands of dollars, probably $1200 to $1500 minimum just to attempt it, and they can't always guarantee results.

in case you have have been given no working exhibit demonstrate, it is going to be complicated to chat on the comparable time which contain your previous laptop. the superb way of retrieving the innovations is to take the gadget aside, take out the demanding stress and devoid of postpone mount it in a working laptop or laptop gadget. as quickly as you're relatively fairly clueless, this may be a job for somebody else.

Its done for, although you could pay a recovery company tons of money and get a few file fragments. If its broken its gone.

I think the KEY word there is BROKEN. There are, however, companies that can try to recover the information but it will cost you but may be worth it.

Plug it in and pray that it still reads long enough to pull of your data. Otherwise, I wouldn't know how to retrieve it if it didn't work.

you cant....its broken