Western Digital My Book 1tb External HDD

[FuZZ]

Hi,

I am new to the forums but I was hoping you could help me on my problem.

I have a Western Digital My Book 1tb external HDD (WD10000H1U-00), it is only 5 months old. It was working perfectly when I first got it but now for no reason it just stopped being reconised in My Computer (use WinXP) and it does not show up in Computer Management.

It does not have much on it but what it does have it all of my university and work documents on it.

If you need more information I will be happy to provide for you.

Thank you

Daniel

[GDH]

Hi,

There are a number of different reasons why the drive could have stopped working.

First thing to do is to check all the drive connections - make sure nothing is loose or has fallen out.

Is the light on the drive? Can you hear the drive spinning when you power it on? Does it make any strange noises?

The problem could be either the hard drive itself, or the USB enclosure. If the have the skill (you need to know what you are doing!) and the resources, you could take the drive out of the existing case and connect it directly to your pc - eliminating the USB case from the possible problems.

If you drive is still not recognized, then it is probably a hardware issue and your only hope would be a hardware recovery service.

[FuZZ]

Thanks for your reply GDH,

Yes the blue light on the front of the drive lights and the drive powers on so I know that the power works.

I know how to open the drive up and place in internally but the problem I fear is that the drive is fairly new and it is still under worrenty, so I was wondering would you recommend I see if the store I purchased it from has some sort of recovery method or should I go ahead and open the drive. Plus the drive is registers with Western Digital and they seem to have a recovery postal system themselfs. Don't know what I should do either open it up or see if I can solve it through the worrenty.

Any suggestions

Thanks again for your help

Daniel

[GDH]

Hi,

You are better not to void the warranty if you can help it. Some USB cases are easy to remove without doing this, and some are not.

I would only give it back to the store if you trust their skill and ability to recover the files. It is not their core role and they could easily make things worse.

Western Digital is an OK option, but again it depends on what they will do. They are probably more concerned about giving you a working piece of hardware than your valuable data.

Often the best way to go is to take the drive back to the store and show them, look this drive does not work, I want a replacement. They will usually give you one on the spot, but then tell them that you want to have the chance to recover the data off the problem drive. Most stores will give this chance and let you take the new drive and the old drive home. Then, as long as you are confident, you can try swapping it out of its case.

If this option does not work, then you can also try the Western Digital option.

(Note, that the store will eventually probably want to return it back to their wholesaler, as this is usually the only way they get their credit - if the store does this, you can usually say goodbye to your data as it will go into a pile of dead drives with all the other returns.)

[FuZZ]

okay thanks for your help.

Think I might go talk to the shop I bought it from (JB HI-FI) and see if they can hopfully save the data.

Would be nice if they give me a new one and the old drive but I don't think they will do that, crossing fingers though

Thanks again

Daniel

[GDH]

Our head office is in Hurstville in Sydney if you would like us to have a look at it.