I have a WD Elements 2TB External Desktop Hard Drive which I use with my laptop (I don’t have a desktop PC) and it was all working fine until I tapped the USB cable with my foot and it fell out of the drive. The drive itself did not move, the cable simply dropped out, when I attempted to plug it back into the drive I discovered that the mini USB port had dropped back inside the case and when I inspected further I realised it had become completely detatched from the board and was rolling around loose inside the case. I am furious! How can such a tiny knock of the cable, and it genuinely was a gentle tap, completely break off the USB!?!
Well, I’ve removed the drive from the case (I know this voids the warranty, I just want my stuff back) and looked to see if the USB can be repaired, if not, I intend to remove the board and use the drive via SATA.
My question is, can this drive be used with SATA? Or a new SATA to USB enclosure? The drive is a Caviar Green WD20EARX. I have no idea if this drive has Smartware or not, if it does, is there a way to get around the encryption to get my stuff back? I’m a bit of a novice when it comes to these drives, please help!
