Recovering Files From Damaged External Hard Drive

George · February 26, 2011, 08:46:13 PM

Last week I dropped my Western Digital 1.5 TB External Hard Drive. It worked fine for a few days, but now it won't load. When I plug the USB cable in, in My Computer the Smartware Software appears on the E Drive, but the Drive (previously on the F Drive) doesn't appear. However, under Device Manager it does appear.

Is there any way I can force the drive to load or recover the files from the drive?

I am running Windows XP SP3.

Scarpia · February 27, 2011, 07:17:38 AM

Quote from: George on February 26, 2011, 08:46:13 PM
Last week I dropped my Western Digital 1.5 TB External Hard Drive. It worked fine for a few days, but now it won't load. When I plug the USB cable in, in My Computer the Smartware Software appears on the E Drive, but the Drive (previously on the F Drive) doesn't appear. However, under Device Manager it does appear.

Is there any way I can force the drive to load or recover the files from the drive?

I am running Windows XP SP3.

Sorry to hear that. The Smartdrive software may be residing on a ROM chip and not on the disc itself. If the USB driver doesn't recognize that there is a disc volume there you may be at in impasse. Can you hear the disc spinning? Inside that box there is an IDE disc drive connected to a USB interface. In the final states of desperation you can dry to crack it open and connect it to a desktop computer using an IDE interface and see if it responds to anything. There are also those data recovery services, which are very expensive, I believe.

George · February 27, 2011, 12:21:46 PM

Quote from: Il Barone Scarpia on February 27, 2011, 07:17:38 AM
Sorry to hear that. The Smartdrive software may be residing on a ROM chip and not on the disc itself. If the USB driver doesn't recognize that there is a disc volume there you may be at in impasse. Can you hear the disc spinning? Inside that box there is an IDE disc drive connected to a USB interface. In the final states of desperation you can dry to crack it open and connect it to a desktop computer using an IDE interface and see if it responds to anything. There are also those data recovery services, which are very expensive, I believe.

Thanks, I decided that I had had enough aggravation and returned it today.

The files are all replaceable, it's just going to be a pain in the ass to do so.

drogulus · February 27, 2011, 07:45:41 PM

You could try disabling the drive in Device Manager, then reboot and see if Windows detects it. You can try to update the driver. Next step is go to the WD forum and look for a solution.

Oh, I forgot. What does Device Manager say? If it says something like "this device is totally fucked" (computerese) then there's a chance you can fix it. If it says "this device is working properly" it's totally fucked.

Scarpia · February 27, 2011, 08:08:50 PM

Quote from: drogulus on February 27, 2011, 07:45:41 PM
You could try disabling the drive in Device Manager, then reboot and see if Windows detects it. You can try to update the driver. Next step is go to the WD forum and look for a solution.

Oh, I forgot. What does Device Manager say? If it says something like "this device is totally fucked" (computerese) then there's a chance you can fix it. If it says "this device is working properly" it's totally fucked.

He already returned it.

drogulus · February 28, 2011, 12:53:33 AM

Quote from: Il Barone Scarpia on February 27, 2011, 08:08:50 PM
He already returned it.

Yeah...well...he could've figured it out. Now (sigh) we'll never know.

Scarpia · February 28, 2011, 08:12:53 AM

Quote from: drogulus on February 28, 2011, 12:53:33 AM

Yeah...well...he could've figured it out. Now (sigh) we'll never know.

You're probably the only person in the world who looks forward to computer peripheral failure.