Tricky Drive Recovery Problem (OSX)

[austinjpersonal]

So I've had a couple problems with WD Drives in the past but this time its bit me the worst. I'm a freelance photographer and regularly store my original and edited files on my external drive, I've done this for the past year, cataloguing thousands of pictures and videos for personal and model use as well as backups for my computer and other devices. Now the drive will not connect and WD says that I'm SOL.

The problem (as I can tell):
The drive will not mount correctly

The facts:

• 
  - I run OSX High Sierra as of now
  - WD My Passport 1TB (formatted HFS+)
  - I believe this started as a result of me having to force eject a couple times in a row, my drive was super slow and i haven't defragmented it ever.
  - Can be read by disk utility but all attempts to repair the drive via Disk Utility or any WD software have been a bust.
  - Currently I'm using EaseUS to recover the files but that it hasn't finished so I don't know if I'm even able to offload the files much less if they're salvageable yet.
  - Disk Utility recognizes the name and port and size of my drive but the mount button does nothing
  - Disk utility First Aid tool fails (says it's already unmounted)

I CANNOT format. I store all of my final files in the cloud but I have a couple unedited shoots on the drive that I still need (these are all that are truly holding me back). I am quite tech savvy, however, I'm not a technofile. I know there are data recovery services and tools out there (I'm open to suggestions of services you guys have used), but instead of jumping through windows to get my files back I wanted to ask if you guys can just fix the door.

Anything you guys come back with would be helpful! Thanks!

 

[drtweak]

1) Mac doesn't need to do a defrag. That is a windows thing
2) I don't like portable drives these days because they are not normal 2.5 inch drives connected with a USB Adapter. The USB Adapter is built in making data recovery MUCH MUCH harder.
3) The fact that EaseUS is able to scan it is good. I would let it finish and see if it can find anything. Sounds like either something got corrupt really bad or the hard drive is failing.

Do you have a windows PC handy? Install Crystal Disk Info and then plug in the USB drive to a windows PC. Then run the Crystal Disk Info and see if it detects it and see if it is caution or bad. IMO Data recovery seems easier on Windows but that is just because I have all the tools and there are more tools on windows lol

 

[austinjpersonal]

I do have a PC so I can go ahead and give your option a try. I'll report back when I'm done!

EaseUS was able to scan everything on the drive but tried to hit me with a $90 fee (definitely not 100% free) to purchase the software , so I can't speak to the state of the files quite yet.

Thanks for the lead!

 

[drtweak]

Ok well let know. I may be able to help if you can't get anything off of it