Help recovering data from old WD drive

[r32]

I have an old Western Digital Caviar SE drive - WD1200JB. It stopped working years ago but I've held onto it hoping I could one day recover the data I need on it.

The original OS was Windows XP.
There are no clicking sounds.
Drive powers up and spins without any odd sounds.

I bought this tool and it works great for hooking up older drives: http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-CB-ISATAU2-Supports-2-5-Inch-5-25-Inch/dp/B000J01I1G/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1413917713&sr=8-4&keywords=hard+drive+usb

So I hooked up my old WD1200JB hard drive. It powers up just fine. No clicking sounds. It appears to be spinning just fine.

On my Windows 8 computer, the drive does not show up under My Computer. However, I went into disk management and the drive is listed. Disk Management states the drive is not initialized and the capacity is listed as unknown. I checked properties and it states: This device is working properly.

So then I downloaded Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for WIndows here:
http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=612&sid=3&lang=en

I ran the first two tests in the diagnostic program from Western Digital and the drive passed both tests.

Test Option: EXTENDED TEST
Model Number: WDC WD1200JB-00GVC0
Unit Serial Number: WD-WCALA2181147
Firmware Number: 08.02D08
Capacity: 0.00 GB
SMART Status: Not Available
Test Result: PASS
Test Time: 11:42:37, October 21, 2014

Test Option: QUICK TEST
Model Number: WDC WD1200JB-00GVC0
Unit Serial Number: WD-WCALA2181147
Firmware Number: 08.02D08
Capacity: 0.00 GB
SMART Status: Not Available
Test Result: PASS
Test Time: 11:43:07, October 21, 2014

There is an option on the diagnostic program to perform a 'write zeroes' to the drive. Obviously if I do that, there is a really strong chance I will not be able to recover data. Although I've seen some posts claiming success of recovery or partial recovery after writing zeroes to the drive.

Then I downloaded the USBView Tool and this is what it gave me. Not sure if it's only seeing the ATA/ATAPI bridge and not really seeing the drive?

---===>Device Information<===---
English product name: "USB to ATA/ATAPI bridge"

ConnectionStatus:
Current Config Value: 0x01 -> Device Bus Speed: High
Device Address: 0x08
Open Pipes: 2

===>Endpoint Descriptor<===
bLength: 0x07
bDescriptorType: 0x05
bEndpointAddress: 0x81 -> Direction: IN - EndpointID: 1
bmAttributes: 0x02 -> Bulk Transfer Type
wMaxPacketSize: 0x0200 = 0x200 max bytes
bInterval: 0x00

===>Endpoint Descriptor<===
bLength: 0x07
bDescriptorType: 0x05
bEndpointAddress: 0x02 -> Direction: OUT - EndpointID: 2
bmAttributes: 0x02 -> Bulk Transfer Type
wMaxPacketSize: 0x0200 = 0x200 max bytes
bInterval: 0x00

===>Device Descriptor<===
bLength: 0x12
bDescriptorType: 0x01
bcdUSB: 0x0200
bDeviceClass: 0x00 -> This is an Interface Class Defined Device
bDeviceSubClass: 0x00
bDeviceProtocol: 0x00
bMaxPacketSize0: 0x40 = (64) Bytes
idVendor: 0x152D = JMicron Technology Corp.
idProduct: 0x2338
bcdDevice: 0x0100
iManufacturer: 0x01
English (United States) "JMicron"
iProduct: 0x02
English (United States) "USB to ATA/ATAPI bridge"
iSerialNumber: 0x05
English (United States) "7D12004B5001"
bNumConfigurations: 0x01

===>Configuration Descriptor<===
bLength: 0x09
bDescriptorType: 0x02
wTotalLength: 0x0020 -> Validated
bNumInterfaces: 0x01
bConfigurationValue: 0x01
iConfiguration: 0x04
English (United States) "USB Mass Storage"
bmAttributes: 0xC0 -> Bus Powered
MaxPower: 0x01 = 2 mA

===>Interface Descriptor<===
bLength: 0x09
bDescriptorType: 0x04
bInterfaceNumber: 0x00
bAlternateSetting: 0x00
bNumEndpoints: 0x02
bInterfaceClass: 0x08 -> This is a Mass Storage USB Device Interface Class
bInterfaceSubClass: 0x06
bInterfaceProtocol: 0x50
iInterface: 0x06
English (United States) "MSC Bulk-Only Transfer"

===>Endpoint Descriptor<===
bLength: 0x07
bDescriptorType: 0x05
bEndpointAddress: 0x81 -> Direction: IN - EndpointID: 1
bmAttributes: 0x02 -> Bulk Transfer Type
wMaxPacketSize: 0x0200 = 0x200 max bytes
bInterval: 0x00

===>Endpoint Descriptor<===
bLength: 0x07
bDescriptorType: 0x05
bEndpointAddress: 0x02 -> Direction: OUT - EndpointID: 2
bmAttributes: 0x02 -> Bulk Transfer Type
wMaxPacketSize: 0x0200 = 0x200 max bytes
bInterval: 0x00

Any ideas on how I can recover my data? Thanks

 

[trekzone]

You may try to connect your drive directly to your PC via an internal SATA/IDE port to rule out that it is not an enclosure/adapter incompatibility issue.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there, r32!

I'd suggest to try running chkdsk using Command prompt in Windows and see if it will get you anywhere:
Use the chkdsk x: /r command (where x is the drive letter assigned to your WD SE drive)
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/433-disk-check.html

I'd also take @trekzone's advice. Some external cables/hardware doesn't allow the software to communicate with the drive so that it can read the SMART data. You should try to use Data LifeGuard with the drive connected via SATA or maybe get another cable to see if it works.

I hope this will help you get access to your old files.
Keep me posted!

SuperSoph_WD

 

[fzabkar]

The drive appears to have a problem.

Capacity: 0.00 GB
SMART Status: Not Available
Test Result: PASS

A capacity of 0GB usually indicates that the drive has an internal fault, possibly a bad firmware module.

What does CrystalDiskInfo report?

Could we see the Identify Device data in CrystalDiskInfo?