External HD Unrecognized

[KrimsonXG]

This morning I woke up to my laptop not finding my WD 1TB HD. I had used it the night before for some work and now it cant be accessed. I'm able to find the external listed in Device Manager and the Disk Manager says its uninitialized and unallocated. I've tried uninstalling the device to no avail and am kinda at a loss. I have an actual desktop that's currently packed (in the middle of moving) will that also be unable to identify my external? I would really hate to lose my backed up data.

 

[popatim]

If its backed up data then you still have the original data, but the emphasis needs to be on making another backup copy asap. Thats why I usually recommend two backup copies on separate devices. If any one dies you still have two in reserve and there no pressure nor worries about possibly losing data.

Anyways. its likely the desktop will not be able to see the drive either. I would suggest picking up another external and making another backup copy as soon as you can, maybe even use dvd's if your data isn't huge. then if the old external can get brought back to life then you will have your two backup drives.

If there is unbacked-up data on the external, you will need a place to recover the files to anyways so another external is handy for that as well.
There are plenty of free data recovery programs available. let us know if you need to use one and we'll recommend a few good ones.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Welcome to the community, @KrimsonXG!

I totally agree with everything that @popatim mentioned so far! It's highly recommended to have one more duplicate of your files stored on another drive/storage device as this is the best way to avoid any potential data loss. I'd also suggest you check how the external WD HDD is recognized by another computer/laptop, if you have access to one. You might as well also check if uninstalling & reinstalling it as a device from Device Manager will help you detect it properly. It's also a good idea to run the QUICK and EXTENDED tests from WD's Data LifeGuard Diagnostics for Windows. It will allow us to determine the health and SMART status of your WD external drive.

Keep us posted with the troubleshooting!
SuperSoph_WD