WD External HD Question

I bought an external WD 40gb HD about a year and a half ago. I had it almost filled with stuff, but a few days ago my computers stopped reading it. It no longer automatically reads it when I plug it into the USB port. When I go to my computer and try an open it, it says that D Drive needs to be formated. When I hold the HD, I can feel the insides of it going. The external light is also lit up when it is plugged in. I do not want to lose my information on it. How do I get it to work.

 

Try a different USB port, or a different computer. If that doesn't work, it's probably the drive corrupt or dying.

 

I tried a few different computers with no luck. How can I get the information off of the hard drive?

 

It's possible that the drive case interface (IDE to USB) or cable has gone bad. Since you tried the other computers, you may have to try another cable then an spare external case if you have one. Or, bring the drive to a computer shop to pull drive and try to mount as a slave drive in a desktop. If the drive itself is at fault then an expensive data recovery company may be only option.

For this reason I keep same data on two different drives, i have had the buggers go bad in the past..good luck.

I forgot to mention the power supply, check its rated output, normally 12 volts at 2 amps but check the brick sticker to be sure. This is easiest to check if you can substitute brick and power whip.

 

It could be something like a corrupted partition table. You can try using some recovery software such as this. I think it will let you see if the HDD is repairable but you will have to pay (or find another free utility) to get the table fixed.

I'm not sure how well these recovery utilities will work through the USB interface. You may need to temporarily mount the HDD in a desktop computer so it is directly on the IDE / SATA interface. The SATA interface is standard for both desktop and notebook HDDs but if the HDD has the IDE / PATA interface you will need an adaptor cable.

Good luck and don't reformat.

John

 

Good find John. I booked marked it in case I ever/never have to use it

Cheers

 

Thanks John, I will try the software that you linked me to and report back on how it works. Thanks.