retrieving data from external hard drive with bad usb port

[mimi9959]

250 gb external western digital hard drive has bad usb port. Computer doesn't recognize that drive is there. Was able to retrieve some data but now blue light doesn't come on. Have triedseveral different cables. Lots of family pictures and text files that can't be recreated. PLEASE HELP.

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there mimi9959,

I am really sorry that you are having troubles with your WD drive.
So the drive is not powering up at all right? If this is the case, there are two possible scenarios.

If the drive is not hardware encrypted(WD Elements), then you can try taking it out of the enclosure. After that you can either connect it internally through SATA or externally with SATA to USB cable.
If your drive is hardware encrypted(WD My Passport), you will not be able to access the data if the drive is out of the enclosure. Unfortunately, this means that you may need to use the services of a data recovery company.

You can check WD's Data Recovery Partners out: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=c953Pi

Hope this will help,
D_Know_WD

 

[Sp00kie]

I've had a few cases of external USB drives not working at all but then opening up the enclosure connecting the drive direct to an internal sata port allowed them to work enough to get the data off. It's definitely worth trying IMHO.