External HDD Sudden Failure - Recognized but requests Initilization

[vegasmazza3]

I was using my computer and everything was fine and then BSOD.

I have had BSOD occasionally before (by that I mean the last one was on Nov. 12, 2014). Usually I just restart my computer, everything is fine and go about my business, well unfortunately not this time.

I have 2 WD external hard drives connected to the computer, and one decided to stop working. I believe it has connected before when a BSOD occurred and it was unaffected at that time.

I plug the drive into the computer. It does NOT show up under My Computer. It DOES show up in Device Manager and Disk Management. See the screenshot attached.

Drive C is an internal boot drive. Drive D is an older internal drive with files from before starting anew. Drive H is another WD external drive (unaffected by BSOD). The drive that isn’t working was (N: ) before I believe.

In Disk Management the drive comes up as “Disk 4” and in Device Manager it is “WD My Passport 0820 USB Device”.

If I connect the drive to another computer, it will install the driver software and the same issue will occur. If I “uninstall” the drive, it will reinstall the driver software and still same issue.

The LED light is constantly on, but it does NOT feel like the drive is doing anything.

When I open “Disk Management” is prompts to “initialize” the drive. Another screenshot attached.

I haven’t really been able to really figure out if “initializing” is data destructive or not… I think I’ve seen it both ways by reading different forums.

Reading several threads with similar issues lead me to install “MiniTool Partition Wizard”, but the drive doesn’t show up in that program. See screenshot number 3.

So… I’m pretty much at a loss. I’ve seen some Linux suggestions, but I basically have never used that so would prefer to try any Windows based solutions before going to that (but will go to Linux if that is the only/best option).

Any assistance is appreciated. Thanks in advance for the help.

EDIT: I’ve tried using various data recovery programs, and they don’t see the drive. I’m not sure why my computer can see it (sort of) but most things can’t…

[Hamlet]

Hello,

If the computer is asking you to initialize the drive then it means the partition is corrupted.  If you proceed and initialize the drive you will delete all the data stored on the drive.

It may be possible to still extract the data utilizing data recovery software.There are several kinds of Data Recovery software available. If you do a web search for Data Recovery it will yield plenty of data recovery software options.

If you cannot recover the data using Data Recovery software then you can contact a data recovery company for assistance.

we have a list of recommended preferred data recovery partners that you can use for data recovery services.

[vegasmazza3]

I have tried using various Data Recovery software and none of them seem to pick up the drive. Disk Management and Device Manager do, along with WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostics (shows it as 0 MB) and HD Sentinel (but shows no info).

I don’t understand how this happened. I had two WD external drives plugged in when the BSOD occurred and the other one is completely fine. They’ve also been plugged in before on other past occasions when I’ve sometimes had a BSOD and nothing has happened. I have never had a drive just completely die like this at all, and especially less than a year and a half after buying it (still in warranty).

The only think I can think of is, as you said the partition is corrupted and now I can’t see any of the files on the drive. Is there anyway to view the files on the drive despite that? Like bypassing it and using a method directly on my computer; almost like when you visit a website and it’s all gibberish but you change the encoding and make the text readable - instead of having to use the partition on the drive, use something on my PC and just skip the corrupted part entirely so I can get access to the files, copy them off the drive and then just reformat it… Since all the drives are formatted the same out of the box, wouldn’t you just use whatever format that is to read the files? Or is it not that simple? (kind of throwing out possibilities in the hope someone comes up with an idea to get my data off the drive and avoid very costly professional data recovery…)

[Joe_S]

See if TestDesk will work  http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk sometimes it fixes corrupt drives.

Joe

[vegasmazza3]

TestDisk doesn’t pick up the drive.

[Joe_S]

Try making a Linux Live CD and boot from that and see if you can acces the data.

joe

[vegasmazza3]

Can you explain how to do that? Or suggest a link? I pretty much know nothing about Linux.

[Joe_S]

See if this helps  http://knoppix.net/  sometimes it works

Joe

[vegasmazza3]

Just an update in case anyone wonders. I ended up paying the $1200+. The main problem was that the preamp went kaput (and there may have been some minor platter damage according to techs). I did get my data back (I believe I did at least, it doesn’t seem that anything is missing/corrupt).

In the end, I won’t be buying a WD portable drive again because of the ridiculous way they have them set up (even if that wouldn’t have helped me); also because of the VERY BAD suggestion I received from someone at their tech support.

I don’t plan on sending the drive in just to get a “refurbished” drive (another part of the joke that is called a warranty). I will keep it for myself, maybe one day open it up just to see what it looks like for myself (knowing that it would completely destroy it… not that it matters too much).

WD and all the other hard drive manufacturers should be forced to have REAL warranties or none at all. At a minimum, if the drive is still in warranty they should offer recovery services at a much more reasonable price (ex: take a zero out of what I paid). With my most recent drive purchases, an option of recovery “insurance” was available for $10/$15 (2 years/3 years) which I think is very worth it to avoid possibly having to pay $1000+. It really should just be included in the price of the drive though (or at least… ALWAYS offered… unfortunately I don’t think it existed when I bought this particular drive).

I really feel bad for the people who can’t afford recovery and/or are being tricked into thinking that when their drives come with a warranty, their data will be safe because let’s be honest, most people don’t read the fine print and will only find out that about this when their drive actually does go kaput.

Also to anyone going down the recovery route: make sure that if you do plan to have an expensive recovery that your drive NEEDS it. Unfortunately, mine did, but in many cases, it could just be the electronic board (PCB) that is messed up (which means they don’t need to go into the drive/platters/need a clean room) and that makes it less expensive (a few hundred dollars).

In case anyone wonders, I am now doing a Samsung 500 GB SSD/Seagate 2 TB portable drives for backup (for smaller files) and for the larger files the same Seagate and a WD 4 TB desktop drive (the WD desktop drives don’t have the weird setup as far as I know, but probably wouldn’t have bought WD in general after all of this - bought it in the midst of all of this). The Seagate and WD have the “insurance” I mentioned above.

Thanks for the help trying to figure it out.

[Keith]

Thanks for the update. I would have followed the advice in the second post in this thread. It is similar to what I tell my clients.

Failing that it is time to seek professional help. And it makes sense - for if you need guidance getting this far, you need a pro-level service to recovery your data.

I used to do data recovery, and made out like a bandit with each job. But I found advising on backups & prevention more rewarding and the pay nearly as great. Common theme is no one thinks about backups till it’s too lake and something like this happens.

1st tier support is pretty bad across the board when it comes to consumer electronics. Everything is scripted and can only solve the most basic problems.

Also, regarding backups, any drive can fail at any time from any manufacturer. I’ve had WD disks, Seagate disks, Fujitsu, Hitatchi, and others go bad on me over the years. When they do I make use of the warranty and that’s that. I fall back on my own insurance plan, a 2nd copy. Done and done.

I don’t like the “hidden” partitions with pre-installed software either. I like a basic bare drive - so I prefer the Elements series of drives. They fit my style of working much better, and there’s nothing to get in the way. I hope they don’t go changing a good thing into a bad thing.