Hi, my almost new (about 2 months old) WD Portable 4TB suddenly stopped working.
After connecting to PC, it does not show this drive in My Computer. However, in device manager, it says that it is working without any problem.
In Disk Management it says “Unknown, Not Initialized”, not showing size or unallocated disk space.
When connected, the HDD is not spinning or doing anything, just the LED is on.
BUT
when I tried different cable, the HDD was working for a few seconds, it showed the drive, I was able to open it and everything (folders, files) was there like normal. After these few seconds it stopped working and it was like described before. It is not working anymore, even with this other cable.
What could have gone wrong with the drive? It was connected to a TV, just being loaded when the TV was turned on, then doing mostly nothing. It was sitting on table, without any movement.
Normally I would send it for warranty, but I am pretty sure they will just send me replacement HDD, but I need the data on it. I dont know if the data recovery companies can recover data without voiding warranty…
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Hi @rockerao,
Please refer to the article: How To Initialize a Secondary Drive on Windows: How To Initialize a Secondary Drive on Windows
Also, Please contact the WD Technical Support team for best assistance and troubleshooting:https://support-en.wd.com/app/ask
It sounds like there may be a hardware issue with your WD Portable 4TB hard drive. There could be a few potential causes for the problem you’re experiencing. Here are a few possibilities:
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Cable or power issue: Since you mentioned that using a different cable briefly allowed the drive to work, there might be an issue with the original cable or the power supply. Try using a different cable and connecting the drive to a different USB port or power source to see if it resolves the problem.
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Disk initialization or partitioning issue: The fact that the drive is showing as “Unknown, Not Initialized” in Disk Management suggests that the drive hasn’t been properly initialized or partitioned. You can try initializing the disk in Disk Management, but be aware that initializing the disk will erase all data on it. If you decide to proceed with disk initialization, make sure you have a backup of your data or consider seeking professional data recovery assistance before proceeding.
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Firmware or driver issue: It’s possible that the drive’s firmware or driver is causing the problem. Visit the WD support website and check if there are any firmware or driver updates available for your specific model. Updating the firmware or driver might resolve the issue.
If none of the above solutions work, it’s advisable to seek professional data recovery assistance. Data recovery companies specialize in retrieving data from faulty drives and can often recover data even in cases of hardware failure. However, it’s important to note that opening the drive or attempting data recovery yourself can void the warranty. Contact the manufacturer or check their warranty terms to understand their policy on data recovery and warranty voiding.
Before sending your drive for data recovery, it’s a good idea to back up any important data you have on other storage devices if possible. This way, even if the recovery process is unsuccessful, you’ll still have a copy of your data.
