Hi All,
I have two WD Elements 2tb external drives (USB 2.0) they’re both out of warranty.
Last week, both drives got knocked off the printer stand where I store them, accidently, of course. 
Well, #1 seems to have survived somehow, someway.
I’m able to read its contents. It also passed a Win CHKDSK procedure with no errors found. I’m still not 100% convinced though that there aren’t any major errors on the drive. I thought about using “Spinrite” to scan the drive, but it’ll be several months before I’ll be able to do that.
Does anyone know of a free tool I can use in the meantime that would boost my confidence in this drive? 
I’m pretty sure #2 didn’t survive the fall…
When I connected the drive to the USB port, the green LED flashed as if it were loading whatever it loads when it gets connected, but it never finishes loading (the LED just keeps on flashing) nor does it ever come to a ready state, like it used to.
A sure sign that it’s dead, right? I felt pretty sure that it had indeed died. So much so that I took it apart & disassembled it. What should I do now?
Do I have to use only the same model of WD drive that came with this unit or would any WD SATA drive work? I’m thinking that any WD SATA drive would work.
I’d like to hear your ideas/thoughts on this issue.
