All of a sudden my drive no longer works. It’s the 1TB USB 3.0 version. When I plug it into my PC the light on the drive illuminates but it’s not recognized at all. There’s no sound that a USB device has been plugged in or any indication that it’s being read.
I tried the drive on my laptop and got the same result. I also tried switching the cable and reinstalling the drivers, but nothing has worked.
Before I submit it for warranty support is there anything I can do to troubleshoot and possible fix the issue? Thanks.
does your drive spin when plugged in to USB? any abnormal sounds?
Yes it begins to spin but then gives a long beep similar to the beep you hear for an error. It repeats this spinning and beeping a few times and then stops and is completely quiet.
beeping or more like a clicking? if it clicks then heads are most likely damaged. If you need the data back it has to go to specialized data recovery company.
beeping or more like a clicking? if it clicks then heads are most likely damaged. If you need the data back it has to go to specialized data recovery company.
tnat does this kind of stuff:
It’s defenitly a beeping. I recorded a video of my plugging it in twice so you can hear. You will probably have to turn your volume all the way up to hear it, and the second time I do it seems to be easier to hear because I had it too far from the microphone the first time.
Same thing happened to mine - same model. Spins and makes long “eerup” sound. Repeats for about 2 min, then silent. Only had it for about 9 months. All my data on it!!!
Are you saying the bridge plate is dead and needs to be replaced?
I’m not sure if I should try to recover the data myself or send it in to WD. I read online that sending it in for warranty repair means I won’t get my data back.
No, that is not what I am saying at all. Your drive most likely doesnt even have that bridge. If you watch the whole video, you would know what is causing the beeping, and how to deal with it. Not a DIY type of thing, since you’d need a cleanroom. WD will replace the drive it is still under warranty, buy not recover your data.
I have the exact same sound error with my WD Passport. WD have told me they will replace my hard drive but I will have to recover the data myself. Did you end up finding the cause/solution to the problem?
I am having the exact same problem. Although my WD passport is formatted to macbook. I used WD smartware and for a while it recognised my passport but now its completely unrecognisable. I have alot of important data on this that i cannot afford to lose. Does anyone have a solution for recovering data from the passport? Any companies that do this?!
Hi Mal
I had my hard drive diagnosed and the fault was found to be a head drive failure. I was quoted $1400 but did not decide to go ahead… If this is your drives problem it is generally expensive to fix from what Ive found ringing data recovery services. Hopefully its not, you may just need to send it to a data recovery service to find out.
I have the same issue, I connect my USB HDD to any device (laptop, desktop PC, TV) and the WD disc turn ON but isn’t recognized, even it isn’t detected as a usb device in windows.
I found a trick to “activate” the disk. Having the disk connected on my computer, I activate the suspend mode, then I re-activate the computer from suspend mode and “magically” the drive is recognized and I can access all my information stored in the disk without problems. But If I turn off my computer or disconnect the disk the problem continues.
Any idea about that, I updated the firmware but the problem continues.
If you have to go to a data recovery company will it be expensive?