Me too…i got the same problem…any help?
I seriously need help on this. My Doctoral application data is in there along with files required for related work accumulated over a year’s time, totaling well over 400GB. Formatting is not an option. Could somebody please help me out here?
My passport is not detected by my or my work computers. It says it is working properly when checking the details. I need the data and co not wish to format it and lose it. It is very important. Please help.
2days ago My WD Passport PN: Wdbacy500asl just stopped working, it’s about 2years old and as all the previous posts report on this subject, it’s recognised on the pc but not in My Computer, i can stop the device running and see it in the device manager, but can’t acces it to change the letteretc. But I’m unable to access the data and really need to acces it (every photo I’ve ever taken is on it, drrr last back up was too long ago to remember, “I know b4 anyone comments on this”. I would appreciate any guidance/ help to acces the data. Many thanks
i exist the same issue i request immediate solution …
kasthuriraj wrote:
i exist the same issue i request immediate solution …
Including Garyt17,
If you can see the drive in disk management, but not in computer, there is a chance that you may just have corrupted files. you can try locating a data recovery software to restore the file system, but you won’t be able to recover any corrupted files. you can also try a data recovery company.
I would also try the device on another pc just to make sure it isn’t the usb port. and/or another cable for the same reason.
it was simple for me… if you can detect the WD drive in Disk management just right-click and choose assign path or drive letter and there it goes on to display in My Computer 
It actually worked!
tnx a lot!
for me also same issue. Mine is 500 GB. In disk Management it is being hown as 2TB not initialised. When I am trying to initialise its saying that, Disk is write protected. Unable to understand. There are 4 partitions. This i happening for last 2/3 days. Yesterday suddenly all the drives were shown but after few mins could not browse for the files.
I have one doubt, while upgrading the firmware, will it erase all my files in the drive or it will only upgrade the software.
waiting for your expert comments.
sujit_maharana wrote:
for me also same issue. Mine is 500 GB. In disk Management it is being hown as 2TB not initialised. When I am trying to initialise its saying that, Disk is write protected. Unable to understand. There are 4 partitions. This i happening for last 2/3 days. Yesterday suddenly all the drives were shown but after few mins could not browse for the files.
I have one doubt, while upgrading the firmware, will it erase all my files in the drive or it will only upgrade the software.
waiting for your expert comments.
The firmware does not erase the files but it’s recommended to backup in the event something goes wrong
if the drive is working is better to leave as is and don’t update
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where is the soluiton ?
what are the steps you did in order to overcome this problem ?
if your drive wont show up in “my computer” list but it is showing up to remove it and in your deviuce manager go to
-computer management
-disk managment,
-right click on your drive…
-OPEN and you can see your files and make changes ect.
I just did it… all my files are there and work fine. it still wont show up in my computer. It will show up on my laptop but not my desktop.
also check if any drives have the same location name as the passport…
example mine was drive (F:)
I have another drive F: … i had to disconnect the working network drive F: refreashed and then went to computer management and followed the steps above.
My drive showed up yesterday when I had updated the WD software but today it is not showing up…i think the wire seems a bit loose…when I put the usb into my computer the little light is flashing but if you move it a certain way then the light goes off…It doesn’t show in my computer anymore its like nothing is attached to the computer…doesn’t show up in any search…then I did a system restore to the point before I installed the update and it still doesn’t show…I’m not sure what to do…at this point…I just want my data backed up somewhere else…how do I get my data out of this drive?
Its my passport…WDBAAA5000ASL-00 . am so annoyed cause it worked yesterday…and i think i just took it out without safely stopping it or something…
am so sad.
This worked for me, found solution elswhere on the internet. I have a 500G passport.
Download Ubuntu OS (free). Burn to cd/dvd disc. I used IMGburn. Boot computer using Ubuntu, make sure hard drive is plugged in before starting computer. May need to enter boot bios to run from cd. press f10 before windows logo. Set boot from cd/dvd as first priority. sava and exit. when ubunto loads you should be able to acess the drive. copy important information to different drive. if you plan to copy to another external drive have it plugged in before startup.
Good luck
mine is same problem sombody please me out.
with my mac its working fine. when ever i am connecting to windows getting truble whith. wd pasport is running but when i see through in my computers i couln’t see. this is my problem
Try updating the WD SES driver for your OS. Worked for me. 
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/search/1/a_id/5419
Okay I think you or someone else mentioned at the beginning of the thread that updating the drive’s firmware was performed. I’m not a WD tech, although I am a A+ Network+ certified tech in general, but I’m pretty sure that wipes the drive as a side effect. ON TOP OF THIS…it seems that if you don’t have the latest SES driver installed before you do this, it doesn’t automatically format it again after it’s done. Presumably it’s supposed to format it to NTFS. I was noticing the same strange symptoms with my own My Passport 0730 after the firmware update. Didn’t dawn on me that it could be the reason for the drive not showing up in My Computer or autoplaying even though it was showing up in Device Manager AND the Safely Eject Hardware and Eject Media menu.
Now for the possible solutions for anyone still wrestling with this problem.
First of all, if you had data on the drive and it’s not showing up in My Computer or anywhere else **DO NOT FORMAT THE DRIVE**!! If you got lucky and didn’t have any data on the drive (like me) then skip to the Detection Recovery Steps
Otherwise, try what ginabeena suggested first:
"if your drive wont show up in “my computer” list but it is showing up to remove it and in your deviuce manager go to
-computer management
-disk managment,
-right click on your drive…
-OPEN and you can see your files and make changes ect.
I just did it… all my files are there and work fine. it still wont show up in my computer. It will show up on my laptop but not my desktop."
If this doesn’t work or you can’t find the files you’re looking for, and you’re sure they were on the drive, there are several data recovery programs out there that will help you recover files from a drive. Formatting the drive and using the drive after knowing that there is a problem BOTH decrease the chance that these programs will be able to recover your files.
Normally data recovery programs are used on deleted files, in which case the space that that file’s data took up is freed up to be used again by another file. Since the files in question weren’t actually deleted, as long as you don’t format the drive, the data (and the pointers telling the drive where that data is) should still be there. Personally i have the best results with data recovery programs that operate from a boot disk. But since, in this case, you can’t get into the drive to overwrite any of the data, it should be easy for any decent data recovery program to locate and recover the files that were on the drive when the firmware was updated.
So after using one of those programs and recovering the files on your undetected drive TO A DIFFERENT DRIVE that is working normally, do the following:
–DETECTION RECOVERY SECTION–
FROM AN ADMINISTRATOR ACCOUNT
Make sure all the recommended drivers and programs for your drive are installed on your computer/laptop and up to date.
Plug the undetected drive into your computer and wait until you get some indication from the computer that it saw a USB device got plugged in. If you don’t see or hear anything from computer (usually a sound plays when you plug in a USB device) then just wait about 20 seconds depending on the speed of your computer/laptop.
Find your My Computer shortcut either on your desktop or the Start menu and right click on it.
Click on Manage. (<-- You won’t be able to do this without an administrator account or administrative permission)
In the left navigation pane Click on Disk Management under Storage.
There are a few ways to identify the drive that isn’t acting as expected.
1. The size of the drive if you know it. Typically either about 500GB (mine shows up as 465 GB) or 1000 MB/ 1 TB
2. If your internal hard drive and the one you need to fix are VERY similar in size (like mine are within a few megabytes, **bleep**?), then your internal hard drive will be the one with the System Reserved and C: partitions in it (among others if you have multiple partitions or operating systems on it.) Windows can’t be installed on external USB media by default, so it’s safe to say that the one you want to repair WON’T have the C: partition in it. Your internal hard drive is also usually the one identified as Disk 0. DON’T EVER MESS WITH THIS DRIVE UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING.
3. If all else fails it will have a file system of the type “unallocated” like mine was, which is a dead giveaway.
Once you’ve identified the drive, the rest should be easy. Click on the box in the bottom of the Computer Management window that represents the messed up drive and right click on it.
Click New Simple Volume…
Click Next until you can’t anymore (unless you have a good reason not to use the default parameters/settings) then click finish.
In about the time it takes to stop checking out a cute girl, *cough* you should have a newly formatted and (hopefully) useable external hard drive again. …maybe a few cute girls if your drive is larger than 500 GB.
Good luck and email me with any questions.
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