My 1TB WD Passport HD is nor showing up on 'My Computer'

[mdr2163]

Hi. I have a 1TB WD My Passport portable hard drive that is not working. When I plug it in to my laptop, nothing happens except that the little light on the hard drive starts flashing and the HD starts humming quietly just like it did when it was working fine.
The ‘Hardware Eject’ icon appears at the bottom right corner of the desktop but the HD does not appear when I open the computer libraries folder. If I click on the ‘Hardware Eject’ icon; the small pop-up window appears saying: “Eject My Passport 0740” but it does not display the Drive letter as it does when I eject any other portable HD.
I have tried different HD cables and I have tried plugging it in to different USB ports and different computers but the problem remains where I am unable to view or access the contents on my HD.
Please can anybody help me with this problem?

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there, mdr2163.

This sounds truly unfortunate. 🙁
Would you be so kind as to post a screenshot of what you see about the drive and its partitions in Disk Management? Did you have any issues prior to this problem (slow transfer speed, disconnecting on its own, unusual sounds/noises, etc)?
I assume you want your data recovered, so I wouldn't recommend that you run any diagnostics tools before you try out some data recovery options. I'd suggest that you try with data recovery software: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1644496/lost-data-recovery.html, or try accessing the HDD via Ubuntu Live USB/DVD, to see if the drive is properly recognized and if you can access its data. If none of that works, you could always go for a professional solution, such as a data recovery company: WD Data Recovery Partners

Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD

 

[mdr2163]

Hi Boogieman, I have some screen shots saved on a memory stick but I don't see how I can attach them to this reply. Can you please tell me how to send you the screen shots.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Sure thing.
Unfortunately you can't upload them here directly, but you could use a website to upload them to and then post the links here. You could try uploading them to imgur.com for example.

 

[mdr2163]

Hi Boogieman. Thanks for your help. Hopefully these screen shot links will work. Let me know if they are what you need or if you need others.
http://i.imgur.com/ZL42VqB.png
http://i.imgur.com/DH6Duhi.png
http://i.imgur.com/KiT5yUc.png

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey mate, they sure work. But those I think are from the properties of the drive from Device Manager. I need to see those from Disk Management. Here's a link with instructions on how to access it: How to access Disk Management in Windows to manage hard drives. I'll be sure to check out the new links as well.

 

[Ahamed_1]

Hi, I am having the same issue. Its on and off kind of situation for me. Sometimes it work and sometimes not. When I open disk management, its saying Disk 1 and giving me two options to initialize. MBR or GPT. If MBR, its saying not possible because of fatal hardware error. If i select GPT,its saying the specific disk is having less space to convert.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hi Ahamed_1

Basically the same guidelines apply for you as well. Backup everything important as soon as possible, if you still have the chance. After that try the drive with a different USB cable and a different computer as well. If the issue still persists, it might be a damaged drive. Especially if it wants to be initialized from time to time and it's not properly recognized in Disk Management. To see if this is the case, download the HDD manufacturer's diagnostics tool and test the drive with it, to see if any errors pop-up. But do that after you've backed up your files.

Please keep me posted.

 

[Ahamed_1]

Hi Ahamed_1

Basically the same guidelines apply for you as well. Backup everything important as soon as possible, if you still have the chance. After that try the drive with a different USB cable and a different computer as well. If the issue still persists, it might be a damaged drive. Especially if it wants to be initialized from time to time and it's not properly recognized in Disk Management. To see if this is the case, download the HDD manufacturer's diagnostics tool and test the drive with it, to see if any errors pop-up. But do that after you've backed up your files.

Please keep me posted.

Thnx for the reply. As I mentioned its behaving like this from the day I purchased it (3 years now). When it will be recognized and when it will not is a million dollar question.

Is there a permanent solution? And I face this issue when I connect it with my TV and with a different cable too.

Not sure what to do? Is it a manufacturing defect?

 

[Boogieman_WD]

I can only imagine how annoying this might be. It could really be some sort of a faulty drive or its external enclosure might be the problem. If you decide to keep on using it, I'd strongly suggest that you never trust that drive with any important files which you can't afford to lose, just to be on the safe side. My advice is to get it replaced if it's still under warranty. Having in mind it behaves that way from day 1 and that you've tested it with different devices and cables, there's probably no permanent solution in this case. In my opinion you probably should've replaced it right away when you've noticed that problem. At least you've gotten a lot of use out if it, even though it has an issue.

 

[mdr2163]

Hi Boogieman,

I hope these screen shots are of some help. These were taken with my 1TB WD HD plugged in. As you can see, it doesn't show on the library page, however it does show in the little 'hardware eject' window - but without a drive letter.

http://i.imgur.com/u9e1uFM.png
http://i.imgur.com/mhOxwM6.png
http://imgur.com/jP7s2PM

 

[Boogieman_WD]

The screenshot are really small and can't actually read everything, but from what I'm able to see is that there's a tiny red symbol for the second drive, which I assume is a red arrow and it's shown as not initialized. Unfortunately this might mean that the drive is not in a very good condition, because it's not normal for it to be in that state without you low level formatting it. 🙁
Try out the data recovery solution's I've offered in my first post. Hopefully one of them proves useful and you're able to recover your files.

Please keep me posted on your progress. Good luck!

 

[Carl2015]

I solved this problem using the program Mini Tool Partition Wizard. I changed the name of the drive and the drive letter too. I applied changes and after that I can see my WD Passport Ultra showing up on My Computer.
S.

Hi. I have a 1TB WD My Passport portable hard drive that is not workiing. When I plug it in to my laptop, nothing happens except that the little light on the hard drive starts flashing and the HD starts humming quietly just like it did when it was working fine.
The ‘Hardware Eject’ icon appears at the bottom right corner of the desktop but the HD does not appear when I open the computer libraries folder. If I click on the ‘Hardware Eject’ icon; the small pop-up window appears saying: “Eject My Passport 0740” but it does not display the Drive letter as it does when I eject any other portable HD.
I have tried different HD cables and I have tried plugging it in to different USB ports and different computers but the problem remains where I am unable to view or access the contents on my HD.
Please can anybody help me with this problem?

 

[Boogieman_WD]

You did great! I'd recommend that you download DLG (Data Lifeguard Diagnostics), after you've backed up all your data (just to be on the safe side). Then go ahead and run both tests (Quick and Extended), to make sure that there are no errors or bad sectors and that the drive is working properly. Here's how to do that: How to test a drive for problems using Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows.
Let me know how everything goes.