WD Elements Died, Lived, & Died Again!

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johnahern

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Jul 4, 2010
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My WD Elements External 1TB Black, rarely used, stopped showing up, even in Device Manager. Then one day it just showed only to disappear for ever a few days later. Light blinks and it makes a stop and start with a very nasty and choking noise a few times before silence. Sounds like it needs a spray of WD40!! Tried putting it in the freezer, changing both cords, shaking, plugging/unplugging etc.. Read all the forums - no answer even though thousands of users are experiencing the same problem.
HOW DO I OPEN IT?
 
Solution
D_Know_WD
Hi there johnahern,

In case you need the data stored on it, I would say that your safest bet is to contact any of WD's Data Recovery Partners: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=0aV7BQ
Apart from that, if the HDD is not showing up in Device Manager, it will most probably wont show up in Disk Management as well(you can check that). If this is the case, it will not be detected by some software testing/recovery tools.
I guess you can try taking the drive out of the enclosure and connect it internally through SATA(keep in mind that this will void the warranty if any).

D_Know_WD
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D_Know_WD

D_Know_WD

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Jul 30, 2014
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Hi there johnahern,

In case you need the data stored on it, I would say that your safest bet is to contact any of WD's Data Recovery Partners: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=0aV7BQ
Apart from that, if the HDD is not showing up in Device Manager, it will most probably wont show up in Disk Management as well(you can check that). If this is the case, it will not be detected by some software testing/recovery tools.
I guess you can try taking the drive out of the enclosure and connect it internally through SATA(keep in mind that this will void the warranty if any).

D_Know_WD
 
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J

johnahern

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Jul 4, 2010
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18,510
Thanks D_know_WD
Just discovered your advice. Chucked the WD in the bin after I'd opened her up and tried to lubricate the sucker! Since purchased 1TB Hitachi Touro after reviewing the odds in its favour. Seems the WD are pretty terrible and mine was only ever used a few times for backup of some important files.
 
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D_Know_WD

D_Know_WD

Judicious
Jul 30, 2014
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35,960
Sorry that you had such experience with your WD drive. :(
Just keep in mind that mechanical drive just fail. Also, external ones tend to be less reliable than internal ones. This is why, you need to keep your most important data stored on at least two places.
In order to keep an eye on their health status, you can test your drives from time to time as well: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/282651-32-best-diagnostic-testing-utility

Cheers,
D_Know_WD :)
 
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