External HD Failure - Any Hope??

[[JiF]LtWaterboy]

Hey gang,

got a WD Passport Essential ext HD for backup storage.

went to plug it in to my desktop today and it will not recognize the drive.
tried to plug into my work laptop with same results.
went to WD website to install a bunch of software (driver, windows updater, etc) and still no luck.

With the group's cumulative computer knowledge, i am hoping that maybe someone might have some idea for me to try to save the harddrive....all my files and info are on it...

thanks in advance!

LTWB

[[JiF]Mike]

How old is the drive, and is it USB or something else?

[[JiF]LtWaterboy]

Mike,

it's a couple years old (WD passport essential 320GB) and is a USB 2.0

it tries to auto install a "driver" for it with no success (plug & play). i tried to manually install from WD's website, but hasnt help.
I tried different USB cables and ports (both powered and front/back on both computers) - no luck.

I tried on my laptop (Win7 32 bit vs 64 bit on desktop) and same issues.

tried to s/u with plugged in and w/o plugged in - no luck

not showing up in device manager other than an "unknown device" in my USB.

LTWB

[[JiF]Mike]

That doesn't sound good. I recently had a very similar situation with an old Western Digital 500GB.... I'm sorry to report I ended up tossing it. I didn't have anything on it that was important though, so didn't even try to get it working again.

I'd be curious to see if your BIOS sees the drive when you boot, and if the size is reported correctly. If your BIOS won't even see it, then it's probably done for . All the tools I could recommend for scanning it will require the drive to be recognized by BIOS.

A great tool (does cost $$) that I have used with great success at reviving dead drives is called SpinRite. Almost all the drives I have used it on have come back to life long enough to get data off. There's only been a few that didn't come back, and I think they had some serious physical internal damage. If you do find a way to get the data back I would highly suggest replacing the drive ASAP.

Do you have a backup of what was on the drive at least?

[[JiF]LtWaterboy]

Mike,

thanks for the BIOS tip. that will be the last thing I try before I toss it.

nah - nuthing i cannot live without in terms of files. Just a pain though - will just have to spend some time re-creating the most used ones (like my financial tracking spreadsheet, etc etc).

I'm more just ticked that it happened, since it was just fine yesterday.
Also, that I use it to store all my e-files in case my internal HD would ever crash (was my only copy)!!!!!!
errr...guess i need backups for my backups!!!

oh well....


LTWB

[[JiF]Mike]

Check out Crash Plan. You can install it on a few computers and set it up so they backup to each other for free, you can even backup to friends for free. Of course you can get a subscription to backup online to their service as well. You just tell it what folders you want backed up and the frequency if you want to change from the default and it takes care of it. It's nice to not worry too much about such things!

[[JiF]Brick]

I had a customer send a drive off to one of those recovery companies.
Cost them $700, but they got 99% of the data back.

As a last resort, try banging the drive against the palm of your hand a few times (seriously)
I had a drive that was mechanically "stuck" inside once. Doing that freed it up and I was able to get most of the data off it.

[[JiF]phantomx]

does the drive spin up? Does it seam to be functioning ok, just not being recognized by the PC. It could be the usb controller is toast and not actually the drive. If you crack open the drive you will see a regular HDD attached to a USB controller. If it is a fairly new portable drive then it might be a sata dirive. If it is, try putting it in your computer. If it is a IDE then your mother board may support this as well.

other then the "put it in the freezer" trick, I don't know what else to do for ya....sorry.

[[JiF]Brick]

Good tip, Phantomx.
I have had external USB drives not be recognized, but it you hook them up direct to the PC via IDE or SATA, they might work.
I have also heard of the freezer trick too, just make sure it's a dry freeze inside a Ziploc, maybe with a dessicant pack

[[JiF]LtWaterboy]

Hey,

thanks for the ideas guys...will have to try out some of those latter, crazier ones.

saw some of those in some forums (like breakin it open and redoing some of the wiring).

i dont think that they "spin" (the Passport Essentials from WD). at least i never have heard it in the past. light comes on when plugged in, but not much else.

hey - willing to try anything at this point!!!

LTWB

[[JiF]curtis]

i had the same issue once and as Phantomx and Brick said, it might work if you try to uncover the hard disk and put it in another case... you can also try to use it as an internal drive... worked with me!!!

[[JiF]LtWaterboy]

Ok guys, quick update:

1. Looked in my BIOS - not showing up there.
2. Just removed the casing. The drive DOES spin and sounds "fine".
3. On the inside everything looks line - I am pulling off the USB connector card and will see if the one little connector that was hiding underneath is a SATA - wish me luck!
4. Oh, i did smack it around alot, but didnt try "freezin" it - no luck.

LTWB

-- Sat Mar 30, 2013 8:31 am --

Hey!!

Great job phantomx!!!!

It was the USB card/adapter!
After i removed it, I hooked it up to one of my extra internal SATA/power connectors and wahla!!!! drive is there.

Copying all my files over to my new backup SSD & will go buy a new one of these this weekend!

Thanks guys!!!

LTWB

[[JiF]phantomx]

glad it worked our for you.

[[JiF]Mike]

Nice call phantomx. Glad ya got it working again! I totally forgot about that trick, I've done it myself a few times. I've even done it when I decided I no longer wanted the drive to be external! lol

[[JiF]LtWaterboy]

Yeah,

I learned sometin new today!

Now I need to go out & get a bracket w/screws over at the Microcenter so that I can officially mount it internally....

LTWB