Storage forum: Please help! I cannot access my external drive.

Hi -

I have run into this type of problem several times in the past. It sounds like something has happened to corrupt or damage your Master File Table or File Allocation Table, that tells your system what is on your hard drive and where.

The first time I had this problem, I looked for data recovery software, and downloaded a number of trials to see if any of them could find anything. The one piece of software I found that was easy to use and saw everything on my drive was a product called GetDataBack from runtime.org. There are two versions, one for FAT and one for NTFS. You can download the trial versions and make sure whether it finds anything before you actually purchase it, but the price is reasonable. You would hook up your external drive to your PC, install this software on your internal drive, and use it to find files on the external drive. You can then copy them to another location (your internal drive, or another external drive). It can take a long time to run, depending on the size of your drive, but I have always been able to recover everything with it. As long as your system can see the external drive, the software should work. The sooner you do it the better, though - if you have a hardware problem on your external drive, it could get to the point where it would not be recoverable using this method. Good luck!

Any good Disk Utility should be able to clean up the file index on this drive, unless something drastic has happened to it.

I used to use Norton Utilities, but I understand that has fallen out of favor in recent years. Any computer store should be able to provide something. Since I use a Mac (Apple has their own disk Utility) I can't advise you since my PC knowledge is limited and out of date.

Hi Virginia,

I've worked on multitudes of these Western Digital type external hard drives. In nearly every instance, it was not the Hard Drive that was corrupted, but instead, the interface that Western Digital uses inside the external backup was bad.

What I mean is this. Your data is most probably still intact if you haven't accidentally deleted it. Your next step is to remove the Hard Drive from the case and hook it up directly to the computer.

It's really not easy to take apart, but you can find the instructions using Google and searching for "Disassemble Western Digital". Find the link that describes the type of Western Digital External you have. Follow those instructions to remove your hard drive from its cover.

From here you have a couple of options. The first option is easiest and one I recommend. You can order a new USB hard drive enclosure for under $20.00 and simply and easily mount the hard drive you removed from the Western Digital rig into the new one. From there you can plug it into the USB port and you should be good to go!!! Windows 7 may ask you if you want to assign a Volume to the drive, but beyond that it should work fine.

If you want to be sure the Western Digital drive is working before you spend more money on a new enclosure, you have a second option, but you'll still need a SATA cable to connect the drive to a desktop, and the desktop will have to have an available SATA connector to plug in to. In most circumstances, modern motherboards use SATA connectors.

On your desktop, remove the cover door (Usually just two thumb screws on the back) and look at the motherboard to see if you have SATA connectors (just follow the cable from the existing hard drive already in the computer to the motherboard. It will be either a 3 inch wide ribbon cable or a half inch wide SATA cable. If it's a SATA cable then you're in luck, and there should be more than one. You can use an empty one that's available). You will need a SATA connector cable to connect your hard drive to the desktop motherboard, and you will need a second 1" wide power connector from the power supply of your desktop as well. You can't plug these in the wrong way, so turn of and unplug your computer, connect the SATA cable to the Hard Drive, then connect the SATA cable to an available SATA connector on the motherboard (it should be right next to the one mounted in your desktop), and finally connect a SATA type power connector to the hard drive. Once you've accomplished this, turn on the desktop and it should recognize the newly installed hard drive.

If your computer doesn't recognize the Hard Drive, then the Hard drive has most likely failed. If this is the case, you may be able to salvage some data using data retrieval software described it other posts. Another option (more expensive but much easier for you) is to take the Western Digital External to a small computer shop (like mine) and let them do it for you.

A final word of advice. Never give up on retrieving your data before a qualified professional who you trust tells you it can't be saved. I've run into many circumstances where customers have been told their Hard Drives were trashed, and been able to completely restore the data.

Good Luck Virginia

Excellent suggestions Charlie. As a last resort, I would suggest trying a low-level recovery of everything on the drive using SpinRite:
http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm

I actually used this one today on an external drive and it worked!!

I agree with Charlie. Like Lee Koo I use several external hard drives for backup. I had the unfortunate experience of loosing two external drives at once and with them all my archived photos. I did exactly as Charlie says. Mine were IDE drives so I had to be careful with the external plug but I got my computer to recognize the drives with the use of a rescue disk. I could not access the drives directly as something in the file system (FAT 32 at that time I think) was corrupt. I retrieved all my photos and much of the data. Some of the data was corrupt but I got the photos which were the important items.

You mention data retrieval software "mentioned in other posts" Can you recommend some, or point me to those posts?

Cliff

This clicking sound usually indicates physical damage to the hard drive mechanism and will require expensive professional data recovery from someone like www.DiskDoctors.com. There may be no hope for it.

If there is drivers that you installed originally, try reinstalling. Make sure that the drive itself is working. Do you hear anything when you plug it in? If it gave you the message about formatting, possible the drive itself has failed. I have one also that have the same characterized that you described. If the tips that I mention don't work, I thing that your drive is dead. Contact the manufacture if it's under warranty. Good luck.

I have seen various WD external drives which will fail to connect to one computer but work perfectly with another. In fact, I have one. Used to work fine with my desktop machine but now is not recognized on any USB port. However, it works fine on several of my notebook computers. I suspect it is a USB driver problem on the desktop. Be sure to try another computer before taking it apart for a new interface or using any special disk software!

My WD will NOT function with my desktop, but works perfectly fine with my laptop!! Purchased a Seagate that seems to work fine on both!!! Very odd, tried so many things to get the WD to function on my desktop, but to no avail!!

Anytime you have a problem with an external device (printer, memory stick, whatever), first try it in another computer. If it works there, not only will you have a clue as to where the problem is (probably in a driver), but in the case of storage devices you will have the opportunity to retrieve your data or to copy it to another device that your computer still works with.

I had the same problem with the same WD external drive. The answer was very simple. The battery of my laptop was too weak to operate the power for the external hard drive. But it worked perfectly with my desktop using external AC. Another solution may be the cable connecting the external hard drive. Use only the original cable supplied with the device.

Alex R., AZ

Yes, that happens with people who use their external disk as storage, without making a backup of the data on it. A VERY common story in this forum.

Some people only learn about backup when it's too late. Sorry to read you were one of them. And no storage manufacturer is responsible for the consequences of losing data. Safeguarding that is your own responsibility. All you get is what you pay for: a one (or 2 or 3) year warranty on the hardware.

Kees

An external drive is a nice way to move large amounts of data between PC's that aren't networked. And it's useful as a quick (but preferably not your only) backup medium.

It's NEVER a good idea to store information on only one place, be it an internal or an external disk. If you read through two pages of this forum, moreover, you'll note that quite a few posts are about "I can't access my external disk anymore", while hardly any is about "My internal hard disk failed". So it can be considered a proven fact of life that external disks are more unreliable than internal disks.

Your data, music, documents, text files, photos etc indeed are kept safe from computer problems. Alas, they are NOT kept safe from problems with the drive itself. And such problems for an external disk are more common than computer problems that damage data on the internal disk. And that's where your idea (and that of most people you know) fails.
Having a backup (preferably: 2 backups, on different media at different places) is the preferred way to keep your data safe.

Sorry, but that's the way it is.

Kees