WD My Passport 1TB not detected, won't spin.

[Ichinisan]

There is no sound.

A coworker asked me to look at it. The white LED light comes on when I plug-in the USB3 cable. I tried another USB3 cable, different computers, USB3 cable into USB2 port, standard USB2 microUSB cable...nothing worked. Sometimes, a malfunctioning USB mass storage device appears in Device Manager, but nothing ever appears in Disk Management.

I advised the coworker that he can pay for expensive data recovery if he really wants the pictures on this drive. I also told him that sometimes the heads are stuck on the platters. In some cases, the drive can be opened (voiding any warranty) and the heads forcibly parked, causing microscopic damage to the platter surface (possibly the heads too), but *sometimes* allowing files to be copied. He wants me to try that. I just want to know if stuck heads are likely the issue with a drive like this one.

I just saw a video in which a guy on YouTube did this to a Seagate portable drive (not using nearly as much caution as I would) and recovered files from it.

 

[Shmee]

You could try connecting the drive to a native SATA connection, after removing it from the case/enclosure. Of course voiding the warranty. Have you tried booting into a linux distro for recovery attempt?

 

[Ichinisan]

You could try connecting the drive to a native SATA connection, after removing it from the case/enclosure. Of course voiding the warranty. Have you tried booting into a linux distro for recovery attempt?

The board on the drive is native USB 3.0, I already looked.

I don't know if Linux will get anywhere when Windows doesn't even get far enough initializing the device to show a device or volume in Disk Management.

The drive doesn't even spin from what I can tell. There is *no* sound whatsoever from the drive.

 

[Frost_WD]

Hi Ichinisan


I'm sorry to hear about such problems with a WD drive. Linux is a good idea as it works differently and treats partitions in a different way, moreover, it is a safe way to try data recovery on the drive as it will either see the files or not and there is next to no risk of data corruption or data loss. However, I would like to note that the safest way to recover information from the drive is to contact a data recovery company.
Sadly, if the drive is not spinning contacting a data recovery company might be the only way to restore the files. Of course be sure to give Linux a try before that. Also, there is plenty of recovery software to be found online, but keep in mind that there are no guarantees for success.


Here is a link for recovery companies that partner with WD : http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=I9yXPW (If the link is considered advertizing, I apologize and shall remove it promptly)


Good luck and keep us posted,
Frost_WD

 

[Ichinisan]

Hi Ichinisan


I'm sorry to hear about such problems with a WD drive. Linux is a good idea as it works differently and treats partitions in a different way, moreover, it is a safe way to try data recovery on the drive as it will either see the files or not and there is next to no risk of data corruption or data loss. However, I would like to note that the safest way to recover information from the drive is to contact a data recovery company.
Sadly, if the drive is not spinning contacting a data recovery company might be the only way to restore the files. Of course be sure to give Linux a try before that. Also, there is plenty of recovery software to be found online, but keep in mind that there are no guarantees for success.


Here is a link for recovery companies that partner with WD : http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=I9yXPW (If the link is considered advertizing, I apologize and shall remove it promptly)


Good luck and keep us posted,
Frost_WD

Thanks. I'll try to use a Linux boot disc (not a lot of hope since the drive doesn't seem to spin at all).

That link may come in useful. I'll give the owner another chance to decide if the pictures are important enough to pay for data recovery.

 

[Frost_WD]

You are welcome, best of luck with the drive. Tell me how it goes.
Frost_WD