I am in deep tensions here. My WD passport Essential - WDBACX7500ABK drive stopped working, obviously all my pics are in there.
Not recognized in Win 7 and Win-XP and also with Slax, knoppix.
2. Tried to access in Win-7 recovery console, no success.
3. Making the ‘click sounds’ whenever I put into the drive into USB port and no sound after that.
4. Tried data recovery software, but no use - due to the fact that computer can’t find the drive.
I have read most of the threads here. and then found this in ‘SIout’
“Invalid partition table. Error loading operating system. Missing operating system”
So, what next??
I would be gratefu for any success/ experiences in this aspect.
When you power on your computer do you hear your drive spin up?
does it stay spinning normally? That could be something firmware related like Relo-list, or some other type of firmware issue that would need to be manipulated/fixed
does it click? Could be heads, could be firmware issues, could be board (not likely but needs to be tested)
does it buzz every second or so? Heads are stuck to platters, or jammed in the parking ramp
is it silent? Board problem most likely
unfortunately for the end users most of those would require assistance from professional data recovery providers.
It is not spinning. It is quite, no sounds from it after making few clicking sounds at the beginning.
It is not buzz. Stays quite.
Softwares cannot help here, I believe. So, fault lies in the hardware.
Assuming that the board has gone, what is the best solution here? Can i buy a similar hard drive and try inserting my disc in the new one? any good video showing this - complete replacement ?
Thanks in advance, please do share your experiences if you have used a similar hard drive to retrieve the data/ swapping the board or heads or motor etc.
It is not spinning. It is quite, no sounds from it after making few clicking sounds at the beginning.
It is not buzz. Stays quite.
Softwares cannot help here, I believe. So, fault lies in the hardware.
Assuming that the board has gone, what is the best solution here? Can I buy a similar hard drive and try inserting my disc in the new one? Any good video showing this - complete replacement ?
Thanks in advance, please do share your experiences if you have used a similar hard drive to retrieve the data/ swapping the board or heads or motor etc.
few clicks and a spin down is standard sign of head issues for WD, highly unlikely for the board unless its a Tornado family of drives.
I will post up a video later tonight. Do not open your drive by any means. We got this drive in after customer had decided to open it up to see why his drive was not spinning up; can you tell what is wrong with this picture?
Yes, I see scratches and then fingerprints too on the surface. I definitely won’t open my drive.
From the symptoms, you suggest that the problem could be with the head. If it is the head, then how I should proceed? I am ready to buy a new drive and swap the parts.
Please post any video to assist / explain the issues or replacement if possible.
I have exactly the same problem on a 750GB. It clicks and then spins down. My pictures of the past 10 yrs are in there!!! Awaiting video, please post ASAP
Same here, I have all my pics in there in the damaged drive. have ordered an identical WD passport. But, I am from Trinidad, so it takes up to a month for delivery. In the mean time, if somebody can post a video or some ste-by-step instructions on swapping parts from a similar drive, it would be really helpful.
Most posts suggest that opening the drive can be the last thing, as it could result in permanent damage. But, if we have no option then what to do? I am a student here and cannot afford to send my stuff to some professional cleaners. Then for people like me, who live in Caribbean islands, it can be very expensive to send electronics outside and then to get them back. Sometimes the couriers blank us off; DHL or FedEx can be hostile even when they are at fault. So, I have few options left.
I have just opened the external case. Now the drive is out. But do not know how to proceed from this point. The screws do not have usual heads. So how to proceed? The screw head is like a smooth hole without any edges (no star type or no plus type). Help me here, i am ready to do my own r & d here
Be careful in handling the disk once it has been removed from its case. Hopefully the power and data pins are not integrated into the hard disk motherboard, like mine is. So I cannot replace mine.
Think twice before using another WD, this is my second one that fails out of the blue.
As far as I know, and I am a home user, there isn’t much you and I can do. I’ve been waiting for a video to be posted by HDDRS as mentioned in his/her post above.
the video I was going to post is not a how-to swap heads video… but it shows how with help of specialized equipment (pc3000 in my case) drive’s can be manipulated for user’s data access even when they click and spin down.
As far as replacing heads on your drive, first thing you would need is class 100 clean air environment. Without it, you can just hit your drive with a hammer and result will be the same = no data.
screwdrivers for 2.5" WD drives are torx T6 for 3.5" WD drives it is torx T8
establishing industry standard C-100 clean environment is not a possibility. I wonder if we have that kind of facility here in our island. my data is important to me - all personal photos, i am a female 20yrs old, still a student. not comfortable with somebody watching my stuff, i never even maintained a facebook account, being a private person. I clicked more than 10,000 pics all over the caribbean as ametuer photographer over last 5 years. I might lose all my photos, but as a student I have desire to learn, experiment and give a try on this dead peace… I am feeling very bad that I did (could) not buy a backup drive, as a matter of fact that is too much money for me. I blindly trusted this gr8 WD company and this is the result.
So, please feel free to advise on what can be done!
I will get my identical hard drive on Monday. Will try to swap the parts and see if I can get the data. Sadly, the forum is not suggesting simple remedies. Or, is it that there are no simple remedies for this? if something is wrong, we simply suffer the loss?
