HD failure: Test ΟΚ but no access!

I have a wd5000BPVT-00HXZT1 SATA and my laptop recognized it as hard disk but it asks for format and I can not browse my files. I have tried 3 different pc and 2-3 different connections (esata, sata, sata->usb) and different cables.

This happened suddenly as it was working very well for a long time. I used it as an external drive into a usb frame

I have tried WD  lifeguard diagnostics and the hard disk passed both quick and extented test and the tool doesnt recognize it as a logical drive, only physical. The acronis software that WD provides does not recognize it all.

any ideas?

Hello mariosxenos. This type of behavior sounds like the partition on the drive is corrupted or damaged. The drive is physically fine but Windows can’t recognize the format or read the data. You can try using some type of data recovery software to see if it can fix the partition or retrieve the data.

Thank you WD!

I managed to recover all the data from the fault drive but what about the drive itself? If I format it and check it and everything seems fine can I trust the disk again? How it is possible to happen another “partition lost” type failure? 

You’re welcome. I’m glad that you were able to get your data back.

I would perform a write zeros on the drive using our Data Lifeguard Diagnostics. This way everything will be wiped off the drive. Then partition and format the drive and see how it behaves.

If the drive just had partition corruption then it could be fine and it just needs wiped and re-partitioned/formatted. However, if the drive starts to have problems again or fails a diagnostic check from Data Lifeguard Diagnostics, try changing the data cable, in case it is a bad USB cable. If it still happens I would recommend replacing the drive. I included some links below that may help you.

Data Lifeguard Diagnostics

http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=613&sid=3&lang=en

How to partition and format a drive in Windows or Mac

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3865