Rescuing data from USB external HD

  • Thread starter Thread starter LadyDungeness
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LadyDungeness

I am the sad owner of a Western Digital MyBook 320 gig USB external
HD. My computer no longer recognizes it. I don't even get the
message "USB device not recognized" or "unknown USB device". The HD
powers up and the light comes on. That's it. Yes, I've tried other
USB cables and ports. Yes, other USB devices work with the cables and
ports.
--------------------QUESTION--------------------
I've got 200 gig of data on this thing, and I need to rescue it. How
can I do that?

--------------------QUESTION--------------------
After I've got my data back, then what kind of external USB HD should
I buy next? This one advertised Plug & Play -- No Installation
Necessary -- Excellent Choice for Use with Multiple Computers --


I have a desktop, a Sony laptop, and a Toshiba laptop. The one thing
they have in common is USB ports and USB v2.0. All run Windows XP. I
want a USB drive to use as an archived data storage device and to
store backups of data on the three computers.

`
Lady Dungeness
Crabby, but Delicious!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
I am the sad owner of a Western Digital MyBook 320 gig USB external
HD. My computer no longer recognizes it. I don't even get the
message "USB device not recognized" or "unknown USB device". The HD
powers up and the light comes on. That's it. Yes, I've tried other
USB cables and ports. Yes, other USB devices work with the cables and
ports.
--------------------QUESTION--------------------
I've got 200 gig of data on this thing, and I need to rescue it. How
can I do that?

--------------------QUESTION--------------------
After I've got my data back, then what kind of external USB HD should
I buy next? This one advertised Plug & Play -- No Installation
Necessary -- Excellent Choice for Use with Multiple Computers --


I have a desktop, a Sony laptop, and a Toshiba laptop. The one thing
they have in common is USB ports and USB v2.0. All run Windows XP. I
want a USB drive to use as an archived data storage device and to
store backups of data on the three computers.

`
Lady Dungeness
Crabby, but Delicious!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Click to expand...

If it was myself I would remove the drive from the enclosure and install it
in a bay in a computer. Have you ever opened up a computer and installed a
second drive? If not and you do not feel comfortable with this prospect then
you could buy another Western Digital drive as they are usually very
reliable. You could then remove the new drive from its case and install the
faulty drive in its place. If you still can not retrieve the lost data you
may need to try other methods which maybe more costly and time consuming.
You may just have a bad connector in the USB case of the drive that is
inaccessible but this would what I would have done by now.

I hope you have good luck and post back.

Jon.
 
Thanks. Yes, I have installed internal HD's myself. In fact, I just
installed an internal WD HD. It's working fine. Do you mean to say
that inside the MyBook case there is just a regular HD? That I could
pick it up and jumper it (somehow?) and attach an IDE cable to it?

`
Lady Dungeness
Crabby, but Delicious!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


|[email protected] wrote:
|> I am the sad owner of a Western Digital MyBook 320 gig USB external
|> HD. My computer no longer recognizes it. I don't even get the
|> message "USB device not recognized" or "unknown USB device". The HD
|> powers up and the light comes on. That's it. Yes, I've tried other
|> USB cables and ports. Yes, other USB devices work with the cables and
|> ports.
|> --------------------QUESTION--------------------
|> I've got 200 gig of data on this thing, and I need to rescue it. How
|> can I do that?
|>
|> --------------------QUESTION--------------------
|> After I've got my data back, then what kind of external USB HD should
|> I buy next? This one advertised Plug & Play -- No Installation
|> Necessary -- Excellent Choice for Use with Multiple Computers --
|>
|>
|> I have a desktop, a Sony laptop, and a Toshiba laptop. The one thing
|> they have in common is USB ports and USB v2.0. All run Windows XP. I
|> want a USB drive to use as an archived data storage device and to
|> store backups of data on the three computers.
|>
|> `
|> Lady Dungeness
|> Crabby, but Delicious!
|> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
| If it was myself I would remove the drive from the enclosure and install it
|in a bay in a computer. Have you ever opened up a computer and installed a
|second drive? If not and you do not feel comfortable with this prospect then
|you could buy another Western Digital drive as they are usually very
|reliable. You could then remove the new drive from its case and install the
|faulty drive in its place. If you still can not retrieve the lost data you
|may need to try other methods which maybe more costly and time consuming.
|You may just have a bad connector in the USB case of the drive that is
|inaccessible but this would what I would have done by now.
|
| I hope you have good luck and post back.
|
|Jon.
|
 
Unless one owns that particular external USB drive and disassembled it,
there's no way of knowing. For some reason, external enclosure combined
with hard drive, is not divulged the inner workings in specifications or
manual.

If ide, only read the hard drive connected to ide on another PC. You may
have writing problems if not 48 bit lba capable PC.

What? No warranty? Problem exists on both laptops and the PC?
Dave
 
I've never heard of a warranty covering what's on the drive. If in
doubt, you can take it to one of those data recovery places. Of course
that will cost you some money. But then again, how valuable the data is
may determine how much you are willing to pay to get it back. For the
most part, I've found it cheaper to buy a hard drive and external case
separately and just mount the disk myself.
 
Having recently gone through that same scenario with my Maxtor Onetouch II
drive, yes it is likely just a regular harddrive inside a case with power
supply and some extra electronics to interface and run the drive over USB.
The external case electronics failed in my case but the actual harddrive
inside was just fine. Jumpering may already be preset as Master. Unless the
harddrive itself is the defective device you could reinstall it directly
into a 3rd party external harddrive enclosure and use it that way. XP has
generic drivers built in.
 
I think I may go your route -- make my own external USB HD. Once you
have the drive and the case put together, how do you get the computer
(XP Home) to recognize the drive? This MyBook has given me no end of
trouble in the 5 months I've sadly owned it.

`
Lady Dungeness
Crabby, but Delicious!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 10:16:13 -0400, Don

|I've never heard of a warranty covering what's on the drive. If in
|doubt, you can take it to one of those data recovery places. Of course
|that will cost you some money. But then again, how valuable the data is
|may determine how much you are willing to pay to get it back. For the
|most part, I've found it cheaper to buy a hard drive and external case
|separately and just mount the disk myself.
|
|Lil' Dave wrote:
|> Unless one owns that particular external USB drive and disassembled it,
|> there's no way of knowing. For some reason, external enclosure combined
|> with hard drive, is not divulged the inner workings in specifications or
|> manual.
|>
|> If ide, only read the hard drive connected to ide on another PC. You may
|> have writing problems if not 48 bit lba capable PC.
|>
|> What? No warranty? Problem exists on both laptops and the PC?
|> Dave
|> |>> Thanks. Yes, I have installed internal HD's myself. In fact, I just
|>> installed an internal WD HD. It's working fine. Do you mean to say
|>> that inside the MyBook case there is just a regular HD? That I could
|>> pick it up and jumper it (somehow?) and attach an IDE cable to it?
|>>
|>> `
|>> Lady Dungeness
|>> Crabby, but Delicious!
|>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|>>
|>>
|>> On Wed, 1 Aug 2007 18:10:45 -0400, "Jonathan" <[email protected]>
|>> wrote:
|>>
|>> |[email protected] wrote:
|>> |> I am the sad owner of a Western Digital MyBook 320 gig USB external
|>> |> HD. My computer no longer recognizes it. I don't even get the
|>> |> message "USB device not recognized" or "unknown USB device". The HD
|>> |> powers up and the light comes on. That's it. Yes, I've tried other
|>> |> USB cables and ports. Yes, other USB devices work with the cables and
|>> |> ports.
|>> |> --------------------QUESTION--------------------
|>> |> I've got 200 gig of data on this thing, and I need to rescue it. How
|>> |> can I do that?
|>> |>
|>> |> --------------------QUESTION--------------------
|>> |> After I've got my data back, then what kind of external USB HD should
|>> |> I buy next? This one advertised Plug & Play -- No Installation
|>> |> Necessary -- Excellent Choice for Use with Multiple Computers --
|>> |>
|>> |>
|>> |> I have a desktop, a Sony laptop, and a Toshiba laptop. The one thing
|>> |> they have in common is USB ports and USB v2.0. All run Windows XP. I
|>> |> want a USB drive to use as an archived data storage device and to
|>> |> store backups of data on the three computers.
|>> |>
|>> |> `
|>> |> Lady Dungeness
|>> |> Crabby, but Delicious!
|>> |> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|>> |
|>> | If it was myself I would remove the drive from the enclosure and install
|>> it
|>> |in a bay in a computer. Have you ever opened up a computer and installed
|>> a
|>> |second drive? If not and you do not feel comfortable with this prospect
|>> then
|>> |you could buy another Western Digital drive as they are usually very
|>> |reliable. You could then remove the new drive from its case and install
|>> the
|>> |faulty drive in its place. If you still can not retrieve the lost data
|>> you
|>> |may need to try other methods which maybe more costly and time consuming.
|>> |You may just have a bad connector in the USB case of the drive that is
|>> |inaccessible but this would what I would have done by now.
|>> |
|>> | I hope you have good luck and post back.
|>> |
|>> |Jon.
|>> |
|>
|>
 
I think I may go your route -- make my own external USB HD. Once you
have the drive and the case put together, how do you get the computer
(XP Home) to recognize the drive? This MyBook has given me no end of
trouble in the 5 months I've sadly owned it.

`
Lady Dungeness
Crabby, but Delicious!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Click to expand...

I have a WD USB HD that I have taken out of its enclosure many times and
installed other drives. The enclosure comes apart easily and installing any
drive will work. You may just have to take it apart and put it back together
for it to work again like it was when it was new. Maybe there are loose
connections. It is well worth the try before you go any further.
 
Your solution may work IF the current external case interface is the
problem, not the hard drive in the external case, for data recovery.
Actually, not a data recovery problem at all at that point. Never was, if
true.
Dave
 
Jonathan said:
I have a WD USB HD that I have taken out of its enclosure many times and
installed other drives. The enclosure comes apart easily and installing any
drive will work. You may just have to take it apart and put it back together
for it to work again like it was when it was new. Maybe there are loose
connections. It is well worth the try before you go any further.
Click to expand...

To give an example of "loose connections", I have an enclosure with a bad
Molex 1x4 connector. The Molex is a clamping type, where the power connector on
the end of the cable inside the enclosure, consists of two piece that clamp
together and pierce the power wires. That thing is loose and makes bad connectors.
I have to play with it, before putting the cover back on the enclosure, to
make sure it is making contact.

Paul
 
Paul said:
To give an example of "loose connections", I have an enclosure with a
bad Molex 1x4 connector. The Molex is a clamping type, where the power
connector on the end of the cable inside the enclosure, consists of
two piece that clamp together and pierce the power wires. That thing
is loose and makes bad connectors. I have to play with it, before
putting the cover back on the enclosure, to make sure it is making
contact.

Paul
Click to expand...

I use drive drawers in bays in several of my systems and have had to return
a few for bad connections. The more connectors there are the more likelihood
of trouble. Some you can fix some have to be returned. Not a good thing if
you have files open and a connection isn't solid.

Jon
 
Jonathan,

Was it a MyBook drive/enclosure type? I can't figure out how to open
it.

When I plug it in, I can hear it softly thunking away -- but thunking
slowly; it doesn't sound like a nice fast spin-up.


Lady Dungeness
Crabby, but Great Legs!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




| I have a WD USB HD that I have taken out of its enclosure many times and
|installed other drives. The enclosure comes apart easily and installing any
|drive will work. You may just have to take it apart and put it back together
|for it to work again like it was when it was new. Maybe there are loose
|connections. It is well worth the try before you go any further.
 
Jonathan,

Was it a MyBook drive/enclosure type? I can't figure out how to open
it.

When I plug it in, I can hear it softly thunking away -- but thunking
slowly; it doesn't sound like a nice fast spin-up.
Click to expand...

It was not that exact drive. Can you post a link to it or a model number?
Sometimes it is tricky figuring out exactly how it is disassembled. Mine was
not obvious but once I figured it out it was easy and I have had it apart
countless times.

Jon
 
Similar to these:
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=323&language=en

It's Model #WD3200D032


Lady Dungeness
Crabby, but Great Legs!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



|[email protected] wrote:
|> Jonathan,
|>
|> Was it a MyBook drive/enclosure type? I can't figure out how to open
|> it.
|>
|> When I plug it in, I can hear it softly thunking away -- but thunking
|> slowly; it doesn't sound like a nice fast spin-up.
|
| It was not that exact drive. Can you post a link to it or a model number?
|Sometimes it is tricky figuring out exactly how it is disassembled. Mine was
|not obvious but once I figured it out it was easy and I have had it apart
|countless times.
|
|Jon
|
|>
|>
|> Lady Dungeness
|> Crabby, but Great Legs!
|> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|>
|>
|>
|>
|> On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 18:51:04 -0400, "Jonathan" <[email protected]>
|> wrote:
|>
|>> I have a WD USB HD that I have taken out of its enclosure many times
|>> and installed other drives. The enclosure comes apart easily and
|>> installing any drive will work. You may just have to take it apart
|>> and put it back together for it to work again like it was when it
|>> was new. Maybe there are loose connections. It is well worth the try
|>> before you go any further.
|
 
Similar to these:
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=323&language=en

It's Model #WD3200D032


Lady Dungeness
Crabby, but Great Legs!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Click to expand...

It is impossible to tell without having the device myself how it might be
dissembled. I am sure there is a way. Many times there are screws exposed by
removing feet for example. My drive enclosure has plastic mounts that snap
and unsnap and there are no screws at all. You might be able to discover a
way if you are clever or search and ask if others have successfully replaced
a drive in the model you have. The only other way I might be able to help
is if I could see some photos of every view or I could examine one in a
store that sells them. You might have some luck with searching and posting
requests for any clues. I will email some people that might have this
information and post back to this thread. It does seem worth trying every
before you give up and have to send it out for expensive repairs. Even then
you might not get back any files. The only sure way would be to destroy the
enclosure if necessary if the files are that important to you. I would bet
anything that the drive can be placed into any system for a more accurate
testing to see if it is any good.

If you can take it to a local mom and pop computer store they may be able
to help you by taking a quick look.

Jon.
 
Similar to these:
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=323&language=en

It's Model #WD3200D032


Lady Dungeness
Crabby, but Great Legs!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Click to expand...

There are some pictures of a MyBook being disassembled here. While
I cannot guarantee that it is the same as the enclosure on yours,
the form factor is similar (book shaped), so maybe they put the screws
in it the same way.

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

I located this via a search for "MyBook disassembly".

Paul
 
Wow! That link is a *goldmine* of information! Thank you so much!
I'll read it, fiddle around, and post back in a few days. BTW, I
loved one of the first lines about the Warranty limitations -- I just
wanted *MY* data back from *THEIR* broken drive.

No kidding. I wonder if it's legal to put that in a Warranty? Seems
like it's designed to discourage buyers from exercising their Warranty
rights. Hmmm....


Lady Dungeness
Crabby, but Great Legs!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



|> It's Model #WD3200D032
|There are some pictures of a MyBook being disassembled here. While
|I cannot guarantee that it is the same as the enclosure on yours,
|the form factor is similar (book shaped), so maybe they put the screws
|in it the same way.
|
|http://www.ransackery.com/western-digital-mybook-open-case-recover-data.htm
|
|I located this via a search for "MyBook disassembly".
|
| Paul
 
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