I have a 1 TB WD elements portable external hard drive WXD1A8230451. I accidentally unplugged it while copying data on to it on a different computer which uses windows 10 and it now doesn't work. I usually use a windows 7 computer and I've tried it on both computers it just wont show up so I can use it. It does not appear in disk management. It does however appear in device management under the disk drives tab and it appears in the safely remove / eject tab. In the disk drives tab when I select properties it states the device is working fine but does not display its capacity. I haven't attempted anything to fix the issue in fear of damaging or loosing data I will never get back that is so important to me. What can I do that will not result in lost data?
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I have a 1 TB WD Elements external hard drive that is not working after it was accidentally disconnected while copying data
- Thread starter Stormanic
- Start date
Solution
Boogieman_WD
Judicious
- Jul 31, 2014
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Hey there, Stormanic.
This sounds truly unfortunate.
However, if the drive is not physically damaged or anything like that you might be able to get your data back. Perhaps the partition got corrupted due to the interruption of the data transfer and if this is the case, you should go ahead and give data recovery software a try: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1644496/lost-data-recovery.html & http://pcsupport.about.com/od/filerecovery/tp/free-file-recovery-programs.htm. Just remember not to write anything on that HDD for now, so that you don't overwrite your important information. If that doesn't help, perhaps you could try accessing the drive via Ubuntu Live USB/DVD, to see if this OS is able to recognize the drive and its partition/s properly so that you can get to your files.
Hope that helps. Please let me know how it goes.
Boogieman_WD
This sounds truly unfortunate.
However, if the drive is not physically damaged or anything like that you might be able to get your data back. Perhaps the partition got corrupted due to the interruption of the data transfer and if this is the case, you should go ahead and give data recovery software a try: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1644496/lost-data-recovery.html & http://pcsupport.about.com/od/filerecovery/tp/free-file-recovery-programs.htm. Just remember not to write anything on that HDD for now, so that you don't overwrite your important information. If that doesn't help, perhaps you could try accessing the drive via Ubuntu Live USB/DVD, to see if this OS is able to recognize the drive and its partition/s properly so that you can get to your files.
Hope that helps. Please let me know how it goes.
Boogieman_WD
Hi boogieman _WD
I have tried the above suggestions with no results so far. The programs so far have not been able to detect my external HDD to even scan it. I used a diagnostic tool from a WD website and it says it has no capacity and is unavailable. I checked disk management again and it has appeared as an unknown disk and it has not been initialised. A window now pops up saying it needs to be initialised and gives me 2 partition options. MBR (master boot record]) or GBT (Guid Partition Table). I have no idea what these mean and if they will erase my data?? I'm still trying to figure out if I can try a free version of ubuntu because I don't want to pay for something that is not going to work.
I have tried the above suggestions with no results so far. The programs so far have not been able to detect my external HDD to even scan it. I used a diagnostic tool from a WD website and it says it has no capacity and is unavailable. I checked disk management again and it has appeared as an unknown disk and it has not been initialised. A window now pops up saying it needs to be initialised and gives me 2 partition options. MBR (master boot record]) or GBT (Guid Partition Table). I have no idea what these mean and if they will erase my data?? I'm still trying to figure out if I can try a free version of ubuntu because I don't want to pay for something that is not going to work.
Boogieman_WD
Judicious
- Jul 31, 2014
- 6,050
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I see, it's understandable for the programs not to be able to recognize the drive if it's shown as not initialized. However you should not initialize it before you recover your data as this is a data destructive process because it will change the currently corrupted partition table. So you could try out some partition recovery tools to see if they'd be able to "see" the drive and hopefully repair its partition so that you could recover your files.
As for the Ubuntu options, don't worry, it's a freeware, bootable, portable version of Linux. Here's how to create a bootable USB: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/create-a-usb-stick-on-windows and where to download it from: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop. You can select either version. If you don't want to pay for it, you don't have to. Just scroll all the bars to the left so that it says $0.
As mentioned earlier GPT and MBR are different partition tables. You can find out more about it if you are interested here - http://www.howtogeek.com/193669/whats-the-difference-between-gpt-and-mbr-when-partitioning-a-drive/
As for the Ubuntu options, don't worry, it's a freeware, bootable, portable version of Linux. Here's how to create a bootable USB: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/create-a-usb-stick-on-windows and where to download it from: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop. You can select either version. If you don't want to pay for it, you don't have to. Just scroll all the bars to the left so that it says $0.
As mentioned earlier GPT and MBR are different partition tables. You can find out more about it if you are interested here - http://www.howtogeek.com/193669/whats-the-difference-between-gpt-and-mbr-when-partitioning-a-drive/
Boogieman_WD
Judicious
- Jul 31, 2014
- 6,050
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- 35,960
Hey there, AdradaP.
I'd recommend that you give it a go with all of the suggestions from my previous post, to see any of them help you recover your files. Ultimately if none of the above works, or if you want to go straight for the most reliable option, I'd suggest that you try with a professional solution, such as a data recovery company: WD Data Recovery Partners.
Please let me know how everything goes and don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.
Boogieman_WD
I'd recommend that you give it a go with all of the suggestions from my previous post, to see any of them help you recover your files. Ultimately if none of the above works, or if you want to go straight for the most reliable option, I'd suggest that you try with a professional solution, such as a data recovery company: WD Data Recovery Partners.
Please let me know how everything goes and don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.
Boogieman_WD
Thank you for your answer, Boogieman. I tried EaseUS and MiniTool Power Data Recovery, but none of these see my hard. The only options that I have for scanning is the local hard. I want to try also to see if works on ubuntu, but I am seriously thinking to talk with a specialized company.
Later edit: I just tried my hard on ubuntu, but nothing happened. It just didn't appear.(
Later edit: I just tried my hard on ubuntu, but nothing happened. It just didn't appear.
(
Boogieman_WD
Judicious
- Jul 31, 2014
- 6,050
- 2
- 35,960
I'm sorry to hear you didn't have any luck with those options. So it does not in Disk Management, but it does appear in Device Manager (like the previous case)? If so would you please click with the right mouse button on the drive in Device Manager and select properties and let me know what it says about the HDD. You could also post a screenshot of Disk Management if it's not going to be too much of a hassle.
And as already mentioned, if the data is really valuable, perhaps the best option would really be a data recovery company.
And as already mentioned, if the data is really valuable, perhaps the best option would really be a data recovery company.
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