Question Remove HD from Old Western Digital External HD

[GWB1953]

Several 1995 Western Digital My Book external hard drives will not work. ( blue circle model) My question is, how can I remove the HD?
Thank you, this is my first post.

 

[USAFRet]

What is your actual goal with these 30 year old drives?

Taking the physical drive out, and it sill might not work.

 

[GWB1953]

I want to remove the external HD, however, I am wondering how and if they are connected to the case for power, etc.

 

[USAFRet]

I want to remove the external HD, however, I am wondering how and if they are connected to the case for power, etc.

Remove the drive, to what end?

What capacity are these?

Yes, they are "connected" to the enclosure in some way.
And there are multiple different ways they could have been "connected".

 

[GWB1953]

Removing the connection is my issue. I will get the exact model number, hoping some one has removed a HD. Removing it from the case is also an question..

 

[USAFRet]

Removing the connection is my issue. I will get the exact model number, hoping some one has removed a HD. Removing it from the case is also an question..

Some external drives are easily "shuckable".

Others, the USB_SATA bridge is part of the PSB on the drive. Not removable, and will still need to connect via USB.


As said though...this is a 30 year old drive. And may not work at all, or for very long.

We need more info on these things.

 

[fzabkar]

A photo might help.

Here is an older My Book:

https://www.ransackery.com/western-digital-mybook-open-case-recover-data.htm

 

[USAFRet]

Again, what is your end goal with these drives?

Recover the data?
Make the internal drive usable?

 

[GWB1953]

WD My Book External
I found one that matched the model on eBay.

I want to retrieve the data.

My apologies for the delay.

 

[USAFRet]

I want to retrieve the data.

When was the last time this thing worked?

Is the data on it life changing in any way?

 

[GWB1953]

It contains raw concert photos I took from 2010-2013. They are in files directly from my Nikon. Many artists have passed.

 

[GWB1953]

Again, what is your end goal with these drives?

Recover the data?
Make the internal drive usable?

Retrieve the data

 

[GWB1953]

A photo might help.

Here is an older My Book:

https://www.ransackery.com/western-digital-mybook-open-case-recover-data.htm

This is the drive I am referring to...but the case does not have the above tabs.

 

[fzabkar]

The eBay drive is a 500GB model. These date back to ~2007. In 1995 we had 1GB IDE drives, IIRC.

 

[USAFRet]

WD My Book External
I found one that matched the model on eBay.

I want to retrieve the data.

My apologies for the delay.

We need to know the actual drive.
Not something sort of similar but 10 years newer from fleabay.

 

[GWB1953]

The model numbers match with the My Book on eBay.
Thank you for you time.

 

[USAFRet]

The model numbers match with the My Book on eBay.
Thank you for you time.

Then your 1995 time line is incorrect.

500GB drives did not exist in 1995.

 

[SyCoREAPER]

Just take a picture of the damn drive and any labels or abandon hope on the concept.

No pictures and your unlikely to get any further replies from anyone as you are patiently and repeatedly asked for the same thing over and over.

The request is very simple, take a picture.

 

[Math Geek]

i remember those things. often the sata to usb interface would die and the drive itself would be fine. other times the drives would die due to overheating and/or being knocked around and such that happens with a portable device.

it should just be a normal desktop hdd that can connect to your pc normally via sata. if you don't care about the external case at all, then just get it open. remove any screws, pry it open, break the tabs if you have to. whatever you got to do to get to the drive. you should not be entertaining putting it back together for continued use anyway since it is so old and not working anyway.

then plug the drive into your pc and hope it still works and you can get the data off of it. if it works, then copy it to another drive. if it does not work, you'll know real fast and then sadly your stuff is lost forever unless you wish to spend dearly for a professional data recovery service.

to get any more detailed info than this, you'll need to provide more detailed info like is being asked for more than once above.

 

[NedSmelly]

Most of these enclosures contain a standard SATA drive. It is mostly the later ones where they solder in a proprietary USB controller.

The only way to find out is to shuck the drive with a spudger tool (either plastic or metal spatula). A guitar pick usually does the job. Check under any labels for hidden screws first. Expect to completely destroy the enclosure in the dismantling process. But you've nothing to lose here, and it won't affect the data on the drive.

Once you access the bare drive, you can inspect the interface to determine what to do next. If it's a small USB controller PCB plugged into a standard SATA port, then just pop the drive in a new enclosure or dock. If it's a soldered USB controller, then it's time to send it to professional data recovery.

Alternately you can just skip all this and pay professional data recovery to, um, recover the data.

 

[fzabkar]

Only the 2.5" models (Passport) had integrated USB-SATA bridges.

 

[GWB1953]

The model numbers match with the My Book on eBay.
Thank you for you time.

Just take a picture of the damn drive and any labels or abandon hope on the concept.

No pictures and your unlikely to get any further replies from anyone as you are patiently and repeatedly asked for the same thing over and over.

The request is very simple, take a picture.

I have taken photos of the HD. I did not find an upload option other than a URL. My attempts became too stressful, thus the post of the link. In December I was diagnosed with early stage Dementia. The post was an attempt to remain active in social interactions.
I will not apologize but I will withdraw my question.
Thank you to those who did respond with helpful insights.
Regards,
G

 

[COLGeek]

Upload pictures to a site like imgur.com and then post a link here.