Problem with WD Passport

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
T

Talha Kidwai

Honorable
Jul 18, 2013
5
0
10,510
I accidently unplugged my WD Passport during a copy operation. Now when I plug it in, the light on the WD passport keeps on blinking (it used to be solid on previously) as if trying to read but the drive never shows up in My Computer, neither does a message show up for device detection.
This drive has a decade worth of backups.
I have already tried different USB points, different laptops, and starting up the computer with device already connected.
 
Solution
G
You could always create a bootable CD of Parted Magic.

http://partedmagic.com/doku.php

It's a Linux-based rescue environment. Just create a bootable and boot to it. This video talks about this process:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRWyjrh4Tcc

The big thing is to have some place to put the files after you retrieve them, and the video goes over this. What he refers to as "Windows files" should work for whatever you have for backups, provided the drive is detected. If you can't detect the drive, things get a lot harder, but I have been able to get files off of a disk that even Disk Management couldn't detect, so you should be fine.

Once you have the data off, you can start working on the drive. You could start in Parted Magic and...
Sort by date Sort by votes
G

gbryan101

Honorable
May 28, 2013
376
1
10,960
Do you have a Linux install? You could try to go in an get your data off before attempting to fix the drive. After you get done with that, go to your Windows boot and run diskmgmt.msc and see if the drive is detected there. You should be able to get the computer to recognize the drive from there if it's detected. I really suggest that you try to go in an get the data off before you do any of this, just given the risk of data loss in any disk operation.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
T

Talha Kidwai

Honorable
Jul 18, 2013
5
0
10,510


I do not have Linux. Is there an alternative to it?
My key objective is to retrieve the data.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
G

gbryan101

Honorable
May 28, 2013
376
1
10,960
You could always create a bootable CD of Parted Magic.

http://partedmagic.com/doku.php

It's a Linux-based rescue environment. Just create a bootable and boot to it. This video talks about this process:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRWyjrh4Tcc

The big thing is to have some place to put the files after you retrieve them, and the video goes over this. What he refers to as "Windows files" should work for whatever you have for backups, provided the drive is detected. If you can't detect the drive, things get a lot harder, but I have been able to get files off of a disk that even Disk Management couldn't detect, so you should be fine.

Once you have the data off, you can start working on the drive. You could start in Parted Magic and try to format it and then see if you can find it in Disk Management in Windows, but I would try to just get the data someplace safe, boot to Windows, and see if you can find the drive in Disk Management before you start playing around with the drives.

I will warn you, be careful what you click on in Parted Magic and be doubly sure of what drive you are working on. A mix-up between your external and your boot disk can make for a long, long day.

Good luck, and feel free to hit me up if you need help. I'll be around.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom