External hard drive not getting power

[jbushejones]

Hey everyone, recently my external hard drive (western digital) has just stopped working. When i plug the power cord in, the light, lights up for a split second, a sound starts up...then nothing, it turns off and wont work.

Is there any way i can still get the files off of the hard drive? thats all i am worried about

 

[photonboy]

Hi,
First of all there are several possible issues:
1) 2.5" drives require sufficient power via USB (usually only an issue for hubs on monitors/keyboards not dedicated USB2 or USB3 outputs)

2) 3.5" AC adapter may be dying

3) USB circuit board may be dying

4) Hard Drive may be dying

Unless you have some way to test some of the above (i.e. different AC adapter) you may have to REMOVE the hard drive.

I cracked open my Western Digital Elite drive (3.5") and hooked it up to my PC and it was working fine.
a) turned off my PC
b) hooked my SATA drive to the SATA data cable and SATA power connection
c) turned ON my PC
d) there it is in Windows Explorer!

*Your issue sounds most #3; I suspect the hard drive is still working.