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External hard drive not showing in My Computer but detected in devices and printers (write protected)

Tags:
  • Storage
  • Write Protection
  • External Hard Drive
  • Western Digital
  • Recover
Last response: in Storage
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September 15, 2014 5:47:04 AM

My Passport 070A

Detected in devices and printers but not showing in My Computer

http://i.imgur.com/9WjKRFy.png

Whenever I try to online or recover with Easeus Partition Recovery, it says MEDIA IS WRITE PROTECTED.

I tried the cmd command (diskpart) but my drive is not in the list.
I tried to update drivers, uninstall then replug, I tried restarting my pc but no luck

I want to recover my files and be able to use it normally like before.

If there is no solution for this, I will end up formatting this drive (please tell me how)

More about : external hard drive showing computer detected devices printers write protected

a b G Storage
September 15, 2014 6:12:09 AM

Welcome to the forum, danjohn27!

I'm really sorry to hear about the issue you encounter with your WD My Passport!
You've done great with the troubleshooting basics.
Usually when a drive shows up in disk management, but not in My Computer, it has some file corruption.
I'd suggest to test the drive with Data LifeGuard Diagnostics:
http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=810
If the tests fail at any point, you could choose the option WRITE ZEROS in the software. This will basically erase everything on your external. You can also run disk management as an administrator and format the disk from there.
Here's a thread that might help you as well:
http://community.wd.com/t5/Other-Externals/Resolved-Wri...

Let me know if you need further assistance on resolving the issue!
Hope this helps though!
SuperSoph_WD
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September 15, 2014 6:27:09 AM

SuperSoph_WD said:
Welcome to the forum, danjohn27!

I'm really sorry to hear about the issue you encounter with your WD My Passport!
You've done great with the troubleshooting basics.
Usually when a drive shows up in disk management, but not in My Computer, it has some file corruption.
I'd suggest to test the drive with Data LifeGuard Diagnostics:
http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=810
If the tests fail at any point, you could choose the option WRITE ZEROS in the software. This will basically erase everything on your external. You can also run disk management as an administrator and format the disk from there.
Here's a thread that might help you as well:
http://community.wd.com/t5/Other-Externals/Resolved-Wri...

Let me know if you need further assistance on resolving the issue!
Hope this helps though!
SuperSoph_WD


It fails it says too many bad sectors. I can't make the thumbscrew work. Need help to resolve this

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a b G Storage
September 15, 2014 6:58:12 AM

In this case, I'd suggest to stop with the attempts to fix it yourself.
There's not much that we can do now except damage the drive even more. Too many bad sectors indicates that any further actions/processes on the disk can deteriorate its condition.
I'd suggest to contact a data recovery company if you want your data back:
http://support.wdc.com/recovery/index.asp
or to contact our tech support for further assistance in resolving the issue. They can help you find a solution or if there's a chance for you to RMA the drive:
http://support.wdc.com/contact/contact.asp?lang=en

Hope everything works out!
Good luck!

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September 16, 2014 4:44:22 AM

SuperSoph_WD said:
In this case, I'd suggest to stop with the attempts to fix it yourself.
There's not much that we can do now except damage the drive even more. Too many bad sectors indicates that any further actions/processes on the disk can deteriorate its condition.
I'd suggest to contact a data recovery company if you want your data back:
http://support.wdc.com/recovery/index.asp
or to contact our tech support for further assistance in resolving the issue. They can help you find a solution or if there's a chance for you to RMA the drive:
http://support.wdc.com/contact/contact.asp?lang=en

Hope everything works out!
Good luck!



Can i fix it by simply formatting the drive?
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a b G Storage
September 16, 2014 5:24:36 AM

danjohn27 said:

Can i fix it by simply formatting the drive?

Unfortunately, you cannot fix it. :( 
Bad sectors can't be fixed. A few bad sectors don’t indicate that a hard drive is about to fail — they can just happen. However, if your hard drive is rapidly developing bad sectors, it is a sign that your HDD is failing for sure.
Generally, the situation is only going to get worse even if you format the drive.
Of course, you can format it and try to use it again as a storage device, but I wouldn't put any important data on the drive or anything I haven't backed up.
If you decide to format it, I strongly advise you to be extra conscious with it afterwards.

Hope this helps.
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!