WD My Passport External HD Failure

[WolfsBane]

I have a WD My Passport 0740 500GB external HD that stopped working just 2-3 months after I started using it. And it filled to the brim, too. I tried taking it to the local IT store to recover the data, but no luck. ( PS, they opened the casing, so warranty is void).The light on the HD turns on. The Hard Drive is recognized. But it does not show up on Windows Explorer (windows 7 Ultimate). I've read a number of forum posts regarding the issue and checked that:

a) the HD does not show up in that BIOS.
b) when I open disk management, the HD does show up as disk1, but with no bar.

At this point i've given up on recovering the data. But if the HD proves salvagable in any way, I'd be gratefull.

 

[mtokeyboard]

THANKS ALOT .. THIS SOLUTION IS 100% WORKING.. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TYPE THE CODE AS IT IS MENTIONED AND WAIT TILL IT AUTOMATICALLY FINISHES.. DON'T INTERRUPT THE PROCEDURE... YOU DON'T NEED TO LOSE YOUR VALUABLE BACKUPS ..

The fault is with the partition table on your external hard drive. You can fix it by doing the following:

Open an elevated command prompt (Start menu → type cmd → hit Ctrl+Shift+Enter)

Type in the following command and press Enter:

chkdsk E: Replace E: with the letter of the drive you want to check.

After it finishes and gives you a report on bad sectors, retype the command, but add the /F switch:

chkdsk E: /F That should fix it. It took about 30 minutes for me, and when the process was done my files were still there.

-Narean-

THANK YOU NAREAN ... your solution worked for ME

THANK YOU SO MUCH !!
MY HARD DRIVE IS WORKING FINE AGAIN !!! MANY THANKS !!!! STAY BLESSED

 

[pullagura]

Hi I have done chkdsk, it shows error like "Corrupt master file table" and "windows cannot recover master file table". Can you pls help me?

 

[sahal navaz]

Just Tried it. I got this error message.

http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/723/hdbug.png

?????

 

[sahal navaz]

Hi,

Didi you fixed the error. Me too have the same problem with my WD passport. Could you please help me.

Thanks

 

[sahal navaz]

Hi,

Didi you fixed the error. Me too have the same problem with my WD passport. Could you please help me.

Thanks

 

[tamarafat]

i had the same problem and i was able to repair it using the utility available on the following website :

http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=223&sid=157&lang=en

give it a try, i was able to recover the data inside

good luck

 

[nhellyeah]

Sadly I also have an instance of an external drive not working despite the drive being used yesterday evening.

The drive powers up and spins without any mechanical issues or dodgy sounds e.g. clicks etc. Tried a number of USB 3.0 cables and they all have the same result and yet I still can't see the drive.

I am unable to see it in Windows Explorer, Device Manager nor as a partition in Disk Management but strangely I can see the Passport Ultra in Devices and Printers albeit the only menu option is to Troubleshoot which just confirms there is a problem.

I thought it may be worth removing the drive from the plastic caddy (although this will void the warranty) with a view to using a SATA USB adaptor as this has worked in the past with other drives. Unfortunately it appears there's only the USB connection as shown in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFjF1x-Rj0o

I will persevere with the "wait and it will appear" approach that was mentioned very early on in the thread but I am not overly confident that this will work.

Has anyone else found a solution to this? I am loathed to use the professionals until all possible options are looked into as there's likely to be a £400+ fee!

Thanks in advance.....

 

[Meli P]

So yea, my external hard drive ( WD elements 2tb ) was working perfectly fine yesterday, nothing happened since (didnt drop it or anything) and now it's not working anymore. Plug it in the computer it detects it I can safely remove hardware etc but wont show up in my computer. The hard drive still lights up, weird noises then after a while the noises stop but HD still lighted up. Cant detect it in disk management. Anyone found a way!? Please help got 1 year of pictures from travelling around the world 🙁

Read and follow my solution. It works. Plug your drive it your computer and wait. It will take a long time before your computer sees the drive and identifies it. I mean a really long time. Leave it plugged in for a day if you have to. When it does identify it, follow the next steps that I mention before.

Diligent, when I plug my drive my computer give me an error that says "You need format the disk in drive F before you can use it" I don't wanna do it because I don't want to lose my data, do you believe if i let it connected as you say for more than a day I can recover it, or if that message appear I shouldn't have hope?

 

[ed_mann5]

My WD My Passport 500 gb decided to crash while I was traveling, having tons of travel photos, songs I've been working on etc. I'm using a Mac. It didn't show up in finder, but in disc utility. I did a check, it said it needs to be repaired. Tried to repair, but got the message "your hard drive is fubar" (or something like that).

I just downloaded the firmware update from the WD homepage. It worked. I could access my files again, and I just saved them.

TIP: UPDATE FIRMWARE!

Thanks man!!!! My WD Passport 500 stopped working from one week to another without any reasons. I was freaking out as hell since it is full of important stuff. I plugged in, lights on, noise on but not showing up on computer. Then I went to the official WD site to download the firmware update. I plugged in the WD and surprisingly after a few minutes the updater recognized it and a few minutes later I could access my files.
Big thanks man!!!

 

[Aynee2]

I have a WD My Passport 0740 500GB external HD that stopped working just 2-3 months after I started using it. And it filled to the brim, too. I tried taking it to the local IT store to recover the data, but no luck. ( PS, they opened the casing, so warranty is void).The light on the HD turns on. The Hard Drive is recognized. But it does not show up on Windows Explorer (windows 7 Ultimate). I've read a number of forum posts regarding the issue and checked that:

a) the HD does not show up in that BIOS.
b) when I open disk management, the HD does show up as disk1, but with no bar.

At this point i've given up on recovering the data. But if the HD proves salvagable in any way, I'd be gratefull.

 

[sir_greek]

I have a WD My Passport 0740 500GB external HD that stopped working just 2-3 months after I started using it. And it filled to the brim, too. I tried taking it to the local IT store to recover the data, but no luck. ( PS, they opened the casing, so warranty is void).The light on the HD turns on. The Hard Drive is recognized. But it does not show up on Windows Explorer (windows 7 Ultimate). I've read a number of forum posts regarding the issue and checked that:

a) the HD does not show up in that BIOS.
b) when I open disk management, the HD does show up as disk1, but with no bar.

At this point i've given up on recovering the data. But if the HD proves salvagable in any way, I'd be gratefull.

i have this same issue. plugged in hard drive and tried to wait for 3+ days. nothing. shows up on disk managment but says i must initialize. firmware update does not work. i could give two poops about the hard drive just the data. any other options?

firmware would not update because it does not recognize the drive

 

[jemarus]

Unfortunately I can't offer a solution... I had a similar problem with a WD my Passport drive and tried everything suggested on the internet and their terrible support site . Simply put, IT IS THE WORST PIECE OF EQUIPMENT I HAVE EVER BOUGHT IN MY LIFE!!!
I have tried everythong to make it work. All of the sudden I realized that "Why on earth should I keep trying to make it work if it is this bad?? My information worth a lot more than this terrible storage device!!! So I just dump it where it belongs...The trash can!

Edgar Matamoros

I have a WD My Passport 0740 500GB external HD that stopped working just 2-3 months after I started using it. And it filled to the brim, too. I tried taking it to the local IT store to recover the data, but no luck. ( PS, they opened the casing, so warranty is void).The light on the HD turns on. The Hard Drive is recognized. But it does not show up on Windows Explorer (windows 7 Ultimate). I've read a number of forum posts regarding the issue and checked that:

a) the HD does not show up in that BIOS.
b) when I open disk management, the HD does show up as disk1, but with no bar.

At this point i've given up on recovering the data. But if the HD proves salvagable in any way, I'd be gratefull.

 

[Deva66]

So yea, my external hard drive ( WD elements 2tb ) was working perfectly fine yesterday, nothing happened since (didnt drop it or anything) and now it's not working anymore. Plug it in the computer it detects it I can safely remove hardware etc but wont show up in my computer. The hard drive still lights up, weird noises then after a while the noises stop but HD still lighted up. Cant detect it in disk management. Anyone found a way!? Please help got 1 year of pictures from travelling around the world 🙁

 

[Deva66]

heads are stuck if that the weird sound is a beeping sound and with best of luck you can easily resolve the problem by carefully unstuck it

 

[sappcheng]

While some solutions posted in this thread may solve the problem in the correct set of causal circumstances, none worked for me. What did work for me is:

1) Unplugged WD Passport 0740
2) I removed Acronis True Image via Control Panel, rebooted
3) Used Acronis Clean Tool, rebooted.
3) Removed WD SES driver via WD msi installer from WD webiste, rebooted.
4) Reinstalled WD SES driver and plugged in my WD 0740.

Worked for me.