If none of this worked, you’ll have to go with paid software. Most are pretty fair play . They offer you a free version, which allows you to scan the disk. Then you will know if the software is able to Data Recovery Services from your broken external hard drive. 

You will then have to go to the checkout to access it. But you won’t have to pay anything if the software doesn’t find anything! Others considerably limit the transfer speed in the free versions… There are many high-performance software programs on the market to Data Recovery Services from your broken hard drive. 

On Windows include Partition Find & Mount . Designed specifically for Mac, try Disk Drill or Stellar. On Mac and Windows, you can try Ease US Data Recovery Services Wizard , Recover it Data Recovery , or Remo Data Recovery . It will usually cost you between 50 and 80 euros.

If none of these methods worked, it’s likely that the problem with your hard drive is mechanical. It will then be necessary for a specialist to open it to see if the damage is repairable. It will access the platters, and if the problem comes from the motors or the read heads, without having affected the integrity of the platters, it can save your files. 

If you still want to recover the Wikipedia data from this broken disk, you will therefore have to entrust it to a professional. You can opt for a computer store, which will offer you quotes for a few hundred euros. Check carefully before choosing: some  “specialists” are content to use software like the ones we have mentioned.