WD Hard Drive not showing up anymore

Primm · Jan 4, 2015

Hi, My WD 1TB externat hard drive has suddenly stopped working.On my laptop, TV & every other device it used to. It does not appear in the "This PC" menu anymore yet it does show up in disc manager & device manager. I tried to map it but failed. However when I tried to initialize it, I got "Access Denied" even though I am the administrator.

I've uninstalled, restarted, tried a different cable, deleted the Bus, and every other solution I have been able to Google. I have some very important files I do not want to lose.

Mattios · Jan 4, 2015

It sounds like the USB->SATA interface is broken.

Is it still in warranty? Does disk management show total space or used space of the drive?

Regardless of the drive state, it is important that you back things up, especially important files. This may well turn into a valuable lesson on data backups.

Primm · Jan 4, 2015

Yes valuable lesson. No warranty.

The disc manager says
Disc 1
931.51GB
Not Initialized
then on the right there are no paritions and it says 931.51GB Unallocated

SuperSoph_WD · Jan 5, 2015

Hey there, Primm!

I'm really sorry to hear about your WD external hard drive! Can you tell me what's the model of the storage?
Unfortunately it seems like your drive has failed.

Your best option at recovering your files is taking the drive to a professional data recovery company.
http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=Jgaz6Y

There's one last thing you can try since your WD drive is out of warranty, but I'm going to need to know the model first.

Keep me posted!
Happy New Year!

SuperSoph_WD

fzabkar · Jan 5, 2015

@Primm, is your drive an Essentials?

Can you read the contents of sector 0 with a disc editor, eg DMDE (freeware)?

http://dmde.com/

When Windows reports that the drive is unallocated, it means that there are no partitions in sector 0. BTW, you should not initialise your drive. Doing so would be data destructive.

Can you retrieve the drive's SMART report with a tool such as HD Sentinel or CrystalDiskInfo?

http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html
http://www.hdsentinel.com/

Primm · Jan 5, 2015

Hi SuperSoph,

I was afraid of that, it literally got knocked very lightly while a file was being copied & now just wont show up where I need it

P/N WDBABV0010BBK/00

Thanks for any solutions you may have...

Primm · Jan 5, 2015

Not sure fzabkar, I'll have a look at what you've suggested. Cheers.

Primm · Jan 5, 2015

I tried DMDE but it keeps saying access denied. It found 1tb of unallocated but nothing else came up. Presumably because of the access issue.

SuperSoph_WD · Jan 5, 2015

Primm :

Since it's a WD Elements drive and it's out of warranty, you can try un-mounting the HDD from the enclosure very carefully and plugging it internally using a SATA cable.
If it really got knocked, you might be dealing with a physical damage on the HDD.

Which would make the troubleshooting a lot more difficult and I'm not sure that getting the drive out of the enclosure will work for you, but you still can try it.
You can also try to test the drive using Data LifeGuard diagnostics tool to check HDD's health and SMART status:
http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=8CZC2x

Good luck & keep us posted!

SuperSoph_WD

Primm · Jan 5, 2015

I tried the Data Lifegaurd & it passed the quick test & failed the extended with too many bad sectors detected.

SuperSoph_WD · Jan 5, 2015

Primm :

I'm sorry to say this but it seems like your WD Elements is headed towards its end.
You could try using third-party utilities to recover your data, but I'm not sure how successful that procedure would be.
Check this thread for more ideas on the tools: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/291895-32-best-data-recovery-software

Sorry I couldn't have been more helpful.
Good luck!

SuperSoph_WD

fzabkar · Jan 6, 2015

@Primm, I would remove the drive from its enclosure and interrogate it via SATA. If DMDE still cannot read sector 0, then the drive will most likely have an internal fault. That said, there may still be a DIY solution.

Primm · Jan 13, 2015

Just received a report from a data recovery place & the cost is huge. I really can not afford that right now and am not convinced the it would take that much effort. I understand their pricing and yes I will back up in future - no lectures please.

This is what he said:
I have examined your Western Digital 1 Tb 2.5’ external hard disk drive. Although, initially the HDD powers and spins up, it shuts down after installing. Hence, the HDD can be recognised on disk manager and drive manager. I believe that the heads are get stuck and are damaged. Unfortunately, this is a very serious internal hardware fault. The only way to recover the data will be to take the hard drive apart in our class-100 clean room to perform a head replacement procedure"

It's just that I believe there was some minor internal damage for some time and it stopped working when it was bumped during a file transfer. It's happened before but has always loaded to explorer....

I will try a SATA cable but I've never done that before.
I really appreciate your advice guys

fzabkar · Jan 13, 2015

If the drive spins up and then spins down soon after, it does sound like an internal fault. Most likely not DIY-able. :-(

SuperSoph_WD · Jan 13, 2015

Hey Primm,

@fzabkar is right. Even if you plug the drive using a SATA cable, the internal damage on it most probably still won't let you access your files.

Primm · Jan 13, 2015

I have to try everything. Worst case I will have to leave it til I become rich.
I'll let you know how I go. Thanks.

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