K
kfranken
My external hard drive (EHD) is not being recognized by several
computers that run on Windows XP and XP Professional. The EHD is
Western Digital Series 1 USB 2.0 (Old USB 2.0) – Model Number
WD1200B05-RNN. It is just over 2 years old and is out of warranty.
I’ve done some reading online forums such as this where users have had
similar problems, but I didn’t see any solutions – or, any that I
understood, so I ask that if people have suggestions, to guide me
through it step-by-step.
It was working a few days ago. The other day, I was doing a file search
on it and it stopped responding in mid-search, so I started the search
again, and it stopped responding again in mid-search. After that, the
computer won’t even recognize it as a separate drive, although the
bottom right of screen shows a symbol that there is an external HD
plugged in. Windows XP detects that I plugged in the external hard
drive and the icon “Safely remove device” appears too in the tool bar.
However, I cannot see the drive in “My Computer.” I’ve tried to plug it
into 2 other PCs including my laptop, and the same thing happens: it
isn’t seen under “My Computer” but the icon appears on the taskbar.
I’ve tried to unplug it & re-plug & restart the computer, but nothing.
I’ve tried installing the driver again and restarting, to no avail.
Before I plug in the drive, I open the Control Panel, Administrative
Tools, Computer Management window, but when the drive is plugged in,
the Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management window
says it is “Not Responding” so a window pops up and I hit “End
Program.” Also, the Start button and Windows taskbar on bottom of
screen disappears – when the EHD is plugged in. When I unplug the USB
cable from the PC, the Start button and taskbar reappear and the
Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management window works
fine. (Strange that it started working when I was doing the file
search, then it stopped responding, and now it's not even being
recognized by a computer. I don't understand how that could happen.
Nothing happened to it b/w it working and not working.)
Another thing I noticed was with the 2 lights on the EHD. The EHD has 2
lights –a red one and a green one. In the past, when I plugged in the
EHD, it would take a few seconds for the PC to open a window saying
that the drive was recognized and asking me what folder I wanted to
open. During these few seconds, the red “access” light would be on and
flashing. Now, when I plug the EHD into the PC, the red light stays on
(not flashing) for 20 seconds, the goes off for 10 seconds, then goes
back on for 20 seconds, then on again for 10, and so on. It did this
pattern of on for 20 and off for 10 for about 5 minutes before I
stopped observing this. It never did this before, so something is
wrong, and I think it’s the hard drive itself and not any of the
computers. However, I am wondering whether any recent updates (Windows
or Norton) might have affected a computers ability to recognize the
hard drive.
Now, when I plug in the drive to just the power/electrical cord, I do
hear it boot up and spinning inside the case, as usual, and the green
power light is illuminated.
When I gently shake the drive, I don’t hear any parts flopping around,
as if something had broken off.
The user’s manual for this unit does not offer any help for this
problem. I’m not a computer expert, so if people have
questions/suggestions, please tell me what to do step-by-step, using as
little computerese as possible.
The IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers are Intel ® 82801DB Ultra ATA Storage
Controller – 24CB. (I saw someone ask for this info. on another post
EHD’s not being recognized, so I looked this up on the PCs I use and
posted it here in case this is useful.)
Is there a store that I can take my drive to and they can see what the
problem is and try and fix it?
A guy in IT at my university opened the case and took the drive out. He
plugged it in another PC, but it too wouldn't recognize it. He ran the
Western Digital diagnostics and it came up with "Error 104: Disc Not
ready" so there is something wrong with the drive itself; it's not just
an electrical problem – he said drives just fail and if you don't have a
backup/2nd copy, ppl just take the loss and move on or pay lots of money
for Drive Savers – prob. costs hundreds of hundreds of dollars – I said
I needed that data - he said the other thing they could do is a sector
copy or block copy and maybe the data can be recovered, but not likely
but worth a shot, but they not have the storage for my 120GB drive and
I said I'd buy a new one bec. I needed one anyway and he said he'd try
the sector copy – he said he was not too familiar with such a recovery
attempt, but it's worth a try – sector copy is when you make copies of
all the sectors on the disc and one can do this even if the drive/disc
isn't able to be recognized by a PC – he said some test he did was able
to detect 27,000 sectors of data on my drive but then the test kept
going but no new sectors found and maybe more sectors are there – the
sector copy may skip over the part of drive that not recognized and
find/copy additional sectors – he said all I needed was the bare drive
as I already have the external case - he got a 120GB bare drive at
Fry's for $50 – he said Circuit City had a similar deal 2 weeks ago – I
said I'd buy the bare drive and bring in the old external hard drive and
he said he'd try that sector copy.
I was prepared for the worst news as soon as I discovered the drive not
working. Now all I want is my data. I'll buy the new hard drive then
we'll try the sector copy idea. After that, I'm not sure. I'll call
Drive Savers and get a free estimate. I'll also do some online research
and see what other options there may be. Do you know of any? I just want
the data. The IT guy thinks the data is still there, as do I. It's just
how do we get that data copied ... that's the question. I hope all the
data is recoverable. I'm wondering if there is any way to know whether
we got all the data once whatever is salvageable is copied. I remember
I saw I had about 80GB on that drive when I last checked it about a
week ago.
My external hard drive has 2 years of priceless photos and other files
on it, so I do need to get these files. If the drive is dead, fine. But
I just need to find a way to recover these files. Is there any recovery
software out there for this purpose, or should I leave it to some
professionals like Drive Savers?
Please help!
Kevin
(feel free to email me at kfranken8 [at] yahoo [dot] com)
computers that run on Windows XP and XP Professional. The EHD is
Western Digital Series 1 USB 2.0 (Old USB 2.0) – Model Number
WD1200B05-RNN. It is just over 2 years old and is out of warranty.
I’ve done some reading online forums such as this where users have had
similar problems, but I didn’t see any solutions – or, any that I
understood, so I ask that if people have suggestions, to guide me
through it step-by-step.
It was working a few days ago. The other day, I was doing a file search
on it and it stopped responding in mid-search, so I started the search
again, and it stopped responding again in mid-search. After that, the
computer won’t even recognize it as a separate drive, although the
bottom right of screen shows a symbol that there is an external HD
plugged in. Windows XP detects that I plugged in the external hard
drive and the icon “Safely remove device” appears too in the tool bar.
However, I cannot see the drive in “My Computer.” I’ve tried to plug it
into 2 other PCs including my laptop, and the same thing happens: it
isn’t seen under “My Computer” but the icon appears on the taskbar.
I’ve tried to unplug it & re-plug & restart the computer, but nothing.
I’ve tried installing the driver again and restarting, to no avail.
Before I plug in the drive, I open the Control Panel, Administrative
Tools, Computer Management window, but when the drive is plugged in,
the Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management window
says it is “Not Responding” so a window pops up and I hit “End
Program.” Also, the Start button and Windows taskbar on bottom of
screen disappears – when the EHD is plugged in. When I unplug the USB
cable from the PC, the Start button and taskbar reappear and the
Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management window works
fine. (Strange that it started working when I was doing the file
search, then it stopped responding, and now it's not even being
recognized by a computer. I don't understand how that could happen.
Nothing happened to it b/w it working and not working.)
Another thing I noticed was with the 2 lights on the EHD. The EHD has 2
lights –a red one and a green one. In the past, when I plugged in the
EHD, it would take a few seconds for the PC to open a window saying
that the drive was recognized and asking me what folder I wanted to
open. During these few seconds, the red “access” light would be on and
flashing. Now, when I plug the EHD into the PC, the red light stays on
(not flashing) for 20 seconds, the goes off for 10 seconds, then goes
back on for 20 seconds, then on again for 10, and so on. It did this
pattern of on for 20 and off for 10 for about 5 minutes before I
stopped observing this. It never did this before, so something is
wrong, and I think it’s the hard drive itself and not any of the
computers. However, I am wondering whether any recent updates (Windows
or Norton) might have affected a computers ability to recognize the
hard drive.
Now, when I plug in the drive to just the power/electrical cord, I do
hear it boot up and spinning inside the case, as usual, and the green
power light is illuminated.
When I gently shake the drive, I don’t hear any parts flopping around,
as if something had broken off.
The user’s manual for this unit does not offer any help for this
problem. I’m not a computer expert, so if people have
questions/suggestions, please tell me what to do step-by-step, using as
little computerese as possible.
The IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers are Intel ® 82801DB Ultra ATA Storage
Controller – 24CB. (I saw someone ask for this info. on another post
EHD’s not being recognized, so I looked this up on the PCs I use and
posted it here in case this is useful.)
Is there a store that I can take my drive to and they can see what the
problem is and try and fix it?
A guy in IT at my university opened the case and took the drive out. He
plugged it in another PC, but it too wouldn't recognize it. He ran the
Western Digital diagnostics and it came up with "Error 104: Disc Not
ready" so there is something wrong with the drive itself; it's not just
an electrical problem – he said drives just fail and if you don't have a
backup/2nd copy, ppl just take the loss and move on or pay lots of money
for Drive Savers – prob. costs hundreds of hundreds of dollars – I said
I needed that data - he said the other thing they could do is a sector
copy or block copy and maybe the data can be recovered, but not likely
but worth a shot, but they not have the storage for my 120GB drive and
I said I'd buy a new one bec. I needed one anyway and he said he'd try
the sector copy – he said he was not too familiar with such a recovery
attempt, but it's worth a try – sector copy is when you make copies of
all the sectors on the disc and one can do this even if the drive/disc
isn't able to be recognized by a PC – he said some test he did was able
to detect 27,000 sectors of data on my drive but then the test kept
going but no new sectors found and maybe more sectors are there – the
sector copy may skip over the part of drive that not recognized and
find/copy additional sectors – he said all I needed was the bare drive
as I already have the external case - he got a 120GB bare drive at
Fry's for $50 – he said Circuit City had a similar deal 2 weeks ago – I
said I'd buy the bare drive and bring in the old external hard drive and
he said he'd try that sector copy.
I was prepared for the worst news as soon as I discovered the drive not
working. Now all I want is my data. I'll buy the new hard drive then
we'll try the sector copy idea. After that, I'm not sure. I'll call
Drive Savers and get a free estimate. I'll also do some online research
and see what other options there may be. Do you know of any? I just want
the data. The IT guy thinks the data is still there, as do I. It's just
how do we get that data copied ... that's the question. I hope all the
data is recoverable. I'm wondering if there is any way to know whether
we got all the data once whatever is salvageable is copied. I remember
I saw I had about 80GB on that drive when I last checked it about a
week ago.
My external hard drive has 2 years of priceless photos and other files
on it, so I do need to get these files. If the drive is dead, fine. But
I just need to find a way to recover these files. Is there any recovery
software out there for this purpose, or should I leave it to some
professionals like Drive Savers?
Please help!
Kevin
(feel free to email me at kfranken8 [at] yahoo [dot] com)