Cannot access my WD My Passport Ultra 1 TB

[Leifin]

Hi guys,
I've read a lot of posts on this forum but did not find another with the exact same problem.

So, I got a Passport Ultra that is fairly new and undamaged (as far as I know). Problem is that when I try to connect it to my PC (Win 7), it comes up as a Device but I cant access files or see the drive in Windows.

What I've done so far is
1) ran the "Data Life Diagnostics for Windows" from WD, the disk shows up and all tests are OK (even extended test)
2) went to Disk Management in Windows to try to change the label of the disk (as that was one of the solutions proposed in other posts) but I cannot rename it, only option available is to "Delete Volume". It also doesn't show "File System", for my hard drive it shows NTFS, just the disk and that it has 2 healthy partitions and 1 unallocated.
3) tried to connect it to my other PC but same thing happens

Any brilliant minds out there that could think of a solution? Thank you!

 

[Emerald]

has the drive been used on a MAC? If it was formatted under MAC, Windows will not be able to read it without special software.

try running a Linux Live CD to see if the drive works under Linux.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Welcome to the TH community, Leifin!

I'm truly sorry to hear about your WD My Passport external drive. 🙁 Have you tried what @Emerald suggested yet? Good job with the troubleshooting, by the way! I'd suggest you to first try uninstalling and re-installing the device from Device Manager ( like this:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc725782.aspx ) Afterwards, I'd check if you have the latest firmware update for the My Passport series here: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=ya0n4c
If none of these help you get the external HDD properly detected by the system, then I'd recommend you to try the Linux Live CD that has already been mentioned and you might as well check this thread too: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/280932-32-hard-drive-recovery

Keep us posted! Hope this helps!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Leifin]

has the drive been used on a MAC? If it was formatted under MAC, Windows will not be able to read it without special software.

try running a Linux Live CD to see if the drive works under Linux.

Welcome to the TH community, Leifin!

I'm truly sorry to hear about your WD My Passport external drive. 🙁 Have you tried what @Emerald suggested yet? Good job with the troubleshooting, by the way! I'd suggest you to first try uninstalling and re-installing the device from Device Manager ( like this:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc725782.aspx ) Afterwards, I'd check if you have the latest firmware update for the My Passport series here: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=ya0n4c
If none of these help you get the external HDD properly detected by the system, then I'd recommend you to try the Linux Live CD that has already been mentioned and you might as well check this thread too: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/280932-32-hard-drive-recovery

Keep us posted! Hope this helps!
SuperSoph_WD

Thank you both @Emerald and @SuperSoph_WD!

Could you please help me and explain what you mean by running a Linux Live CD? Do you mean that I have to install a Linux OS on my computer? Would this help if the disk was formatted for MAC?

I will try to reinstall the device as suggested tonight and see if it helps.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hi again, Leifin!

If the re-installation of the device from Device Manager does not work, here are a couple of useful links explaining more about the Linux Live CD and how to use it:
http://askubuntu.com/questions/172570/how-can-i-create-a-livecd-livedvd-liveusb
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/use-ubuntu-live-cd-to-backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/

Was your WD My Passport formatted for Mac? If so, it's no wonder why Windows is not able to access it. I'd recommend you to use a Mac OS Computer to backup your data and try to access the external HDD from there.

Keep us posted!
SuperSoph_WD