WD Ext 2TB drive does not appear anywhere after plugging it into a laptop that is corrupted with viruses.

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SAMS_LEGACY

Commendable
May 10, 2016
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My WD Ext 2TB drive has stopped working after plugging it into a laptop that is corrupted with viruses. It does not appear on disk management, cmd prompt under chekdisk, devices and drives in explorer but the light goes on and I can hear it but no icon or pop up, it doesn't even appear by eject volumes. I've tried checking my volumes but the drive doesn't appear anywhere. It doesnt even appear on my TV or PS3 when I plug it in anymore. It was formatted in FAT32
 
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SuperSoph_WD


Welcome to the TH community, Sam!

I'm sorry to hear about your issues with the WD external drive, unfortunately, a virus could have corrupted the data. :( So I hope you have a backup of it somewhere else! You should definitely scan your system first and make sure you...
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mbarnes86

Splendid
Sep 16, 2010
3,839
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Hi

do you have important data on the drive you wish to recover?
or do you just want to be able to use it again after formatting?

to check for physical damage
First look in Device Manager if it does not appear here it is broken (may be it needs a new USB tray)
I assumed a 3.5" drive so needs a working power supply

under Windows install & run Western Digital Datalifeguard 4 Windows

If it passes this test proceeed to repair or recovery

Boot up a PC on a Linux rescue CD or USB of some sort

or a Windows PC which does not have virus malware etc and is working correctly

(Hirens Boot CD & Parted Magic are well known Linux rescue disks)

plug drive in after the PC has booted up and see if drive is detected in device manager & Disk management (assuming Windows)

CG Security TestDisk + PhotoRecovery comes with Windows & Linux versions and may be able to repair a corrupted partition for you

regards
Mike Barnes
 
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

Glorious
Jul 30, 2014
6,758
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45,960


Welcome to the TH community, Sam!

I'm sorry to hear about your issues with the WD external drive, unfortunately, a virus could have corrupted the data. :( So I hope you have a backup of it somewhere else! You should definitely scan your system first and make sure you remove all malware before proceeding with the troubleshooting of your ext HDD.
Afterwards, I'd recommend you attempt to connect the drive using a different USB cable and then see if it will pop up on your laptop. Another thing you should try is reinstalling your USB hub controller drivers from the laptop manufacturer's official website.

If the data is not important to you, I'd advise you to use WD's Data LifeGuard Diagnostics for DOS . Running the QUICK and EXTENDED tests will help you determine the health and SMART status of the hard drive. WRITING ZEROS will allow you to fully erase it with all its contents and remove the probable virus infection.

You should be able to see the DOS version of the software here, once you select your WD product.

Hope it helps. Keep us updated! :)
SuperSoph_WD
 
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