Ext hard drive not reading

[berderder]

Hi everyone,

 

I am working on someone's 7 year old Western Digital external hard drive. She cannot access her data. The power light turns on and it seems to communicate with the OS enough to update drivers, but cannot access the data as the device doesn't appear under My Computer. Currently testing it with a Vista machine. It seems it only functions with USB 2,0. Initio drivers up to date, but yes, still cannot access data.

 

Any other thoughts? It would be nice to retreive the data if possible. I don't know if there are more thorough means of retrieving the data that I'm not aware.

 

Thanks for any help. 

[corrado33]

1 minute ago, berderder said:

Hi everyone,

 

I am working on someone's 7 year old Western Digital external hard drive. She cannot access her data. The power light turns on and it seems to communicate with the OS enough to update drivers, but cannot access the data as the device doesn't appear under My Computer. Currently testing it with a Vista machine. It seems it only functions with USB 2,0. Initio drivers up to date, but yes, still cannot access data.

 

Any other thoughts? It would be nice to retreive the data if possible. I don't know if there are more thorough means of retrieving the data that I'm not aware.

 

Thanks for any help. 

Sounds like a dead hard drive. 

 

Also sounds like you're screwed because WD uses encryption (assuming it's a MyBook and not a passport). Does the drive appear in Disk Management? 

 

@Captain_WD is our local hard drive expert.

[8-Bit Ninja]

2 minutes ago, corrado33 said:

Sounds like a dead hard drive. 

 

Also sounds like you're screwed because WD uses encryption (assuming it's a MyBook and not a passport). Does the drive appear in Disk Management? 

 

@Captain_WD is our local hard drive expert.

Not anymore, he left @Boogieman_WD is the new hard drive expert 

[corrado33]

1 minute ago, 8-Bit Ninja said:

Not anymore, he left @Boogieman_WD is the new hard drive expert 

OH NO!!!! WHY???? HE WAS SO COOL AND NICE!? DID HE SAY WHY?

[8-Bit Ninja]

1 minute ago, corrado33 said:

OH NO!!!! WHY???? HE WAS SO COOL AND NICE!? DID HE SAY WHY?

 

[berderder]

7 minutes ago, corrado33 said:

Sounds like a dead hard drive. 

 

Also sounds like you're screwed because WD uses encryption (assuming it's a MyBook and not a passport). Does the drive appear in Disk Management? 

 

@Captain_WD is our local hard drive expert.

The Initio Controller appears but I don't see the actual hard drive listed. So in other words, I think the drivers are appearing but not the actual device 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hi guys.

@berderder sorry about having to deal with the issues caused by the HDD.

 

Would you please post a screenshot of what you see in Disk Management while having the drive connected to the computer?
I'd also suggest that you give it a try with a different USB cable, to see if the same problem occurs.

If you're still unable to get to the files, I'd recommend that you give it a go with Ubuntu Live USB/DVD, to see if that OS is capable of recognizing the drive's partitions properly so that you can get to its data.
Other than that, you should try some data recovery tools as well, to see if you'll have any luck with that.
If everything fails and there's no light at the end of the tunnel via any of those methods, perhaps a more professional solution might be in order, a solution such as a data recovery company: WD Data Recovery Partners.

Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes and if there's anything else I might be able to help you with.
Boogieman_WD

[berderder]

1 hour ago, Boogieman_WD said:

Hi guys.

@berderder sorry about having to deal with the issues caused by the HDD.

 

Would you please post a screenshot of what you see in Disk Management while having the drive connected to the computer?
I'd also suggest that you give it a try with a different USB cable, to see if the same problem occurs.

If you're still unable to get to the files, I'd recommend that you give it a go with Ubuntu Live USB/DVD, to see if that OS is capable of recognizing the drive's partitions properly so that you can get to its data.
Other than that, you should try some data recovery tools as well, to see if you'll have any luck with that.
If everything fails and there's no light at the end of the tunnel via any of those methods, perhaps a more professional solution might be in order, a solution such as a data recovery company: WD Data Recovery Partners.

Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes and if there's anything else I might be able to help you with.
Boogieman_WD

Thanks @Boogieman_WD At the moment I've given the drive back to the client but I will definitely try those steps in the future. Unfortunately, I sort of ran her through a free diagnostic as I could not fix or identify the exact problem. I'd be afraid to spend more time on her and realize it was still dead. Definitely good to know in the future though. 

[Boogieman_WD]

Sure thing. Just a reminder though - whenever there's an issue with a drive and there's data which needs to be recovered, you should only use the HDD for that purpose. This is necessary, because if there's a physical fault, things could get worse with extensive usage, such as running diagnostic tests or scanning the drive for viruses/malware, etc.