HDD stopped working

[lmeirelles]

Hi!

 

I have a 500GB HDD from Western Digital (WD5000AAKS) used as storage drive that is some years old. A week ago, i realized that some files were lasting more than usual to open. So, i made a backup of my photos and other important things. On the next day, my Windows would not launch, it stills forever at the screen saying "Initializing Windows". I unplugged the HDD and everything works fine now. My problem is that there are another less important files that i didn't have time to backup, and i want to recover that, if possible.

 

How can i plug my HDD to my PC to try to recover by software? If i plug it in the SATA ports and then turn on the PC, i can't access Windows as described before.

 

Thanks!

 

My PC:

 

MB - Asus P6X58D Premium

Intel Core i7

12GB of RAM

Geforce GTX 660

Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bits

[SubTract]

What you want is an external HDD caddy that you can plug the HDD into and then plug into the computer once windows has booted.

[lmeirelles]

Thanks for the reply!

 

I have that and already have tried, but this HDD isn't recognized. The external HDD caddy is working with others HDDs.

 

I think the problem might be the pcb, because the HDD makes no weird noise. How can i diagnose that?

 

Thanks again!

[Captain_WD]

Hey there lmeirelles, 

 

Sorry to hear about your problem. I have found a similar thread to your problem in Microsoft's forum which you might find useful. The link offers some troubleshooting about being stuck at "initializing windows". http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-performance/system-restore-stuck-at-initializing-file-screen/e60bcf68-a8aa-4815-883a-d07ecb119f85 

Also it gives some suggestions stating that you might have some corrupted drivers due to old Windows updates and it advises you to have the latest updates as well as the latest firmware of the drive. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833/en-us

 

Also I would advise you to check your BIOS for the boot order. Getting stuck at that screen makes me think the PC might be trying to boot from your old storage drive rather than from your new primary one.  

 

I would also download and run WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostics to check both drives for any errors just to make sure they are O.K. Since you are not able to see the disk from Windows, I would sugget that you avoid booting it and install the DOS version and see if it works and finds the drive for you. Here's a link to that too: http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=606&sid=2〈=en

 

Hope this helps you in resolving your problem. Keep me posted on how your issue is developing, 

 

Captain_WD

[lmeirelles]

Thanks for the reply! I only have time on weekends to deal with that problem. I will post here how it developed.

 

Thanks again!