Passport elite 500gb says needs to be formatted. It has 300gb full! how do I get my files?

My passport elite 500gb drive is no longer showing up as "passport" under My Computer. It shows up as "Disk F" after I enter my password. When I try to access it an error message pops up saying the drive needs to be formatted. I keep selecting NO since i have about 300gb full on this drive that I do not want to lose. I tried three different computers and got the same error message on all. The WD software still pops up and asks for my password when I connect the drive. How do I get this drive to be accessible again?

Here is the exact error message that i am getting:

J:\ is not accessible

The volume does not contain a recognized file sysstem.
Please make sure that all required file system drivers are loaded and that the volume is not corrupted.

 

I ran the Data lifeguard diagnostics test and everything came back as "Passed"!

 

 

 

 

Sounds like something is corrupt Some have had luck with Testdisk http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk 

Joe

I’m having the exact same issue with my 1TB passport essential SE. I bought it a few days ago and it was working good. And then tonight it randomly corrupted some data. I eject it properly, plug it back in, and suddenly the whole drive is corrupt and needs to be formatted? I’ve had a Seagate external that’s been running flawlessly for years and this thing corrupts all my data in less than a week? Way to go WD…

I bought mine few months back. And got the it prompt me to reformatted my drive, call the service centre and told me nothing they can do and only can reformatted it. So i did and lost some importance data.

And now i got problems with it again. Cant access to my folder at all and keep prompting me ACCESS DENIED which mean i lose more importance data as this is my back up drive. Seem like WD backup drive dun backup things at all. it destroy all my data only. What a joke when potable hard drive can save me from a crash.

And the best part is that i call the service centre to request for a replacement, i was told that i need to pay to post it back and wait for 7-9 days before they can send back a replacement. I even offer to go down to the service centre to do a replacement on the spot but was told NO NO NO.

WHAT A GOOD JOB WD HAD DONE NOW. NEVER EVER GOING TO BUY ANOTHER DRIVE FROM WD AGAIN.

UNLESS YOU WANT TO LOSE ALL YOUR IMPORTANCE DATA.

Did you try the link I posted to OP?  One copy is not a backup. Never trust important data to one drive internal or external.

Joe

I used Testdisk and that showed me that all my files and directories were on there. It also showed the name I gave the drive. Testdisk - I didn’t find a way to resurrect my WD passport with that.

I am on Vista Home on my laptop.

However, I went into Windows - Disk Management (its in the Control Panel) and had a look. It said that there was drive on there but nameless (again, same as you, just said F: Drive).

However I did a right click and saw there is an option called “Mark partition as active”. Which I did.

And then the name showed up in Windows Explorer and I was able to view all my directories and files again.

PS: I have previously had success with plugging the drive into another computer, or on another day into the same computer. It’s an erratic process and I am really not happy with the situation. Even if I back up all my files on 2 or 3 drives, there is still a chance all of them could come up with the “needs formatting” message. These days I make sure that my data is on a HDD and a DVD.

I have , or had the same problem

luckily with the help of an IT relative this has been fixed…for now

check out:  EASEUS Partition Mastter Home Edition,  it is free and fixed my passport

open it up after downloading it to your computer.

it should show you the partition on your computer ie, the computers hard drive partition, the external (my passport) partition, and whatever else you have plugged into the machine

highlight the drive with my passport connected to it, right click on it and click: Check Partition

this checks the partition for any errors,  a pop up box will come up, make sure all boxes are check EXCEPT the surface test box. (this is what was messing my passport up)

let it do its thing, it should find a whole ■■■■ load of errors, and let the program fix it all up

and now the lil passport works!

i hope this works for anyone else who had to go through this mess

Oh my Gravy.

This completely worked for me. All my files are there. It was a corrupt partition.

Thank you so much for your post!

So neither of the above solutions worked for me.  Making the partition active accomplished nothing and EASEUS doesn’t give me Check Partition as an option.

And I can’t use EASEUS to copy it cause I don’t have another partition that big.

I cannot access my WD Hard disk, each time it gives a message Access denied. Same message is given when I use WD on other computers.

I’ve tried your suggestion but so far no luck. I shall try other avenues and give a synopsis.

OH MY GOSH - THANK YOU! THIS TOTALLY WORKED!!! I’M SO HAPPY MY FILES ARE STILL THERE!

i hope this works for anyone else who had to go through this mess

Re: passport elite 500gb says needs to be formatted. It has 300gb full!!! how do I get my files???

Options

04-28-2011 05:18 PM

I have , or had the same problem

luckily with the help of an IT relative this has been fixed…for now

check out:  EASEUS Partition Mastter Home Edition,  it is free and fixed my passport

open it up after downloading it to your computer.

it should show you the partition on your computer ie, the computers hard drive partition, the external (my passport) partition, and whatever else you have plugged into the machine

highlight the drive with my passport connected to it, right click on it and click: Check Partition

this checks the partition for any errors,  a pop up box will come up, make sure all boxes are check EXCEPT the surface test box. (this is what was messing my passport up)

let it do its thing, it should find a whole ■■■■ load of errors, and let the program fix it all up

and now the lil passport works!