External Hard Drive Not Detected

[Sunpower]

1 terabyte I O Data HDJ External Hard Disk purchased in 2012 is not being detected in either of my Windows 7 or 8.1 notebook computers. It suddenly stopped being detected.

I changed the USB chord and it still does not work.

Power is okay. It powers up and I can hear and feel the hard drive working.

I checked manage devices and the hard drive letter does not show up on list of external hard drives. So the device is not listed.

Does anyone know what my options are and how I can either fix the hard drive or retrieve the information. I actually do not care about the hard disk, I just want to retrieve my data. I have a new 1 terabyte external hard drive in a box here and will just use that, but I want my files from the old disk.

 

[PizzaTheHutt]

Did you have a backup of the files on the drive?

 

[Joe Porter]

Is it recognized in the BIOS?

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Welcome to the TH community, Sunpower!

I'd suggest you to go to Disk Management and make sure that the external HDD is listed there. Make sure you check that it has the right capacity and file system format. Try right-clicking on it and changing the drive letter. Here's a tutorial from our kB that can walk you through the procedure: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=GhgUw9

Another thing you can try is going to Device Manager and uninstalling the external drive from the list of devices there. Once you reboot the system and plug it back in, it should reinstall itself ( https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc725782.aspx ).

It's also highly recommended to test its health and SMART status using the manufacturer's diagnostic tool. In case you cannot find it, you can refer to this thread from the community for some third-party testing tools: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/282651-32-best-diagnostic-testing-utility

Good luck! Keep us posted!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Sunpower]

Thanks. I watched a You Tube video on how to go to disk management, however, I did not see my drive listed there. My drive is not listed anywhere.

I'll try again, though, and if that does not work move on to the other suggestions you posted.

Ah, but I can't follow the other suggestions, because I cannot see the external hard disc listed in devices or disc management. It is like it does not exist. The computer does not detect it at all.

However, it powers up and I can hear it and feel it moving. So I am not clear on what the problem is.

Thanks again!

 

[Joe Porter]

Click start > Right click computer > properties > Device management.

Can you see anything listed there with a yellow triangle? It could be a case of needing to install the driver for the external drive.

 

[Sunpower]

Click start > Right click computer > properties > Device management.

Can you see anything listed there with a yellow triangle? It could be a case of needing to install the driver for the external drive.

No, I can't see it listed.

I see my other 2 external hard drives listed and my SD card, but not my third external I-O HDJ hard drive.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there again, Sunpower!

Since the external HDD is not listed in Device Manager and neither changing the USB cable, nor changing the computers worked, it seems like it's faulty. I'd advise you to consider consulting with the external HDD manufacturer's customer support for assistance with the RMA procedure (if it's still covered by the warranty). If you have important data on it that you wish to retrieve, I'd suggest you get in touch with a professional data recovery company as well.

Keep us posted, though. Best of luck!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Sunpower]

Yup, I think it is toast. No warranty.

Data recovery for 1 terabyte could be around $3,000. I'll hold onto it for now.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there again, Sunpower!

I'd suggest you to check if the HDD incorporates any hardware encryption. If it doesn't and since it's out of warranty, you can try removing the HDD from the enclosure and plug it internally via SATA to see if you'd be able to access it.
It's possible that the enclosure has failed, but the drive is perfectly fine. I'd definitely give it a shot.

Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD