****! I've just plugged the power cable for my laptop (18.5V) into my external hard drive (12V). There was a pop and it's now not a happy bunny.

Anyone know if :

1) It's fixable? Presumably I've just fried a couple of components at the power input end of things and could just replace the circuit board if a spare could be found.

2) If it's not, have I lost the data? I reckon there shouldn't be any problems there, the hard disc itself wasn't even spun up, so data should be fine.

It's a Seagate one by the way, not sure of the model. 3.5", upright standing one, slightly tapered shape.

Take it apart and remove the HD. Pop it into something like this, making sure you choose a SATA or IDE caddie as appropriate, and then you should be able to see what the score is. Or if you have access to a desktop PC pop the drive in there to see if it is still working.

Cheers dude, that might be the easiest permanent fix, rather than trying to source a spare board. Hadn't thought of that!