Windows 7: WD 1TB Ext HDD will not initialize - Incorrect Function

I recently acquired a WD 1 TB hard drive P/N WD1000H1U-00 from a friend because he can no longer get it to work, and bought a new one, he says if i can fix it i can have it...



the drive shows a USB icon in the lower right hand corner with only the option to eject(last attached pic)...drive does not show up under my computer, other drives do...(internal drive and another USB mass storage device.)

However, the drive does show up under the device management (first attached pic)

Under the disk management screen it pops up telling me i need to initialize the drive (second attached pic)

I then click ok on the correct option (for under 2TB drive) and i get this error/failure (third attached pic)

after that closes i can right click the drive in the same screen and the initialize is now grayed out and i cant click on it (fourth attached pic)

So here's what i have done...

Tried reformatting it in command prompt...(fifth attached pic)...cant create partition primary...im assuming because the drive is not initialized

what is my next step? data being lost is no biggie, BUT if it can be saved easily, my friend says there are a few pics he would like to get off of it, but if not, he is not worried about it.

Try to reinitialise the WD external HDD to the factory condition.

Download the Windows executable (requires no installation) version HDDGURU: HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool , run it with your ext. hard drive plugged in, select it and do the low level format. This may take a few hours. ( I see that you have not tried diskpart - clean all. This software does the samething - writing zeroes to each and every sector and reinitialising the hard disk drive. One advantage here when compared to diskpart-clean all is that you get a visual representation of the progress and you will not get impatient.)

If it enconters errors, that will appear in the dialog box. In that case you have to fall back upon the drive manufacturer's test/diagnose/repair utility and check the drive.

If it successfully completes the LLF, you have to carry out a regular format.

I downloaded the .exe file and ran it and the only drive that it can see is my internal drive.

The External drive is still showing up in disk management and device manager as well.


Edit: I went into command prompt and tried:

DISKPART> list disk
DISKPART> select disk 1
DISKPART> clean all

and this is what happens...

I would say that this disk has a hardware problem which you can probably not solve with software solutions.

yes i am thinking that you are right...sadly

i was just hoping that there was some way to rescue it...afterall it would have been free if i could fix it...and who couldnt use a free TB?!?!



Edit: But i am open to try anything to fix this thing...all i have is time and the ability to learn...

Is it a bare bone disk or an enclosed disk that attaches via USB ??

it is a WD 1 TB external hard drive that connects via USB

but in my attempts at troubleshooting i have disassembled it and it is a sata drive, i even disconnected my internal hard drive of my desktop and put this hard drive in and booted into a windows install disc, to see if the wizard could format the drive, but it didnt even come up in the drive options

Understand. That would have been my suggestion too. I guess you have come to the end of the line.

Well i suppose you are right...