WD Passport External not seen by computer/detected by device manager

pastmylife357 · 05 May 2015

Ok; so I've done some digging into this and have tried practically everything. Under Device Management it's shown as Disk 3 "unknown/not initialized". Used to give option to Initialize disk and no longer does. Ran MiniTool Partition and it wasn't detected by the program. Drivers are up-to-date and device is "working properly" yet clearly there is an issue. I have almost 1TB of data on this drive, most of which is I do need so format/initialize isn't an option. I'm running into a wall now trying to think of things. Any help would be appreciated.

TVeblen · 06 May 2015

Hello pastmylife357. Welcome to the forum.

There could be an issue with the USB connection - connector. You could try gently jiggling it to see if you get a response, particularly the part of the case that fits onto the actual hard drive. Plus, try it in different USB ports.

I would try it on another PC, just to check to see if it is the drive or the PC that is the problem.

Let's start with that, see if it shakes anything loose.

CKWD · 06 May 2015

Hello pastmylife357!

I am sorry for your problem!

Try Uninstalling the drive from Device Manager then replugging it. Let it install the drivers and see if it will be correctly detected. Try it on another system. For the data on the drive you could try using a back up software like WD's Smartware to see if the drive would be detected there and if you can back up the information onto another location.

WD Smartware:
Support Answers

But since the MiniTool software didn't work, perhaps the drive's partition table and/or file system have been damaged too much.

In this case you may have to turn to a professional data recovery company. This is a list of WD's data recovery partners.
WD Support / Data Recovery Partners

Good luck!

CK_WD

pastmylife357 · 06 May 2015

Tried on different machines and new cable; problem persists. Haven't tried the back up software yet. Have uninstalled/reinstalled drivers and it doesn't change anything. Same issue.

TVeblen · 06 May 2015

Inside the shiny case there is a plain old 2.5 inch internal hard drive. If you remove the drive from the casing you can connect it directly to a PC with the SATA data and power cables, just like any other internal drive. Perhaps then you will be able to access the drive and your files, or at least get PW to see the drive so you can fix it.

This is a destructive process for the Passport product. It will surely void any warranty. Plus you will be able to only use it as an internally connected backup drive after that. So if others have any other suggestions you could try those first.

This is not a bad thing. I only use bare drives for backups. It works great, very dependable, and much cheaper than buying those slower, USB connected drives.

jumanji · 06 May 2015

@TVeblen,

Even if the OP takes the drive out and tries and even if the drive is good, the OP cannot read any data from it. It will all be jumbled.

All portable WD external HDDs except Elements are hardware-encrypted by the interface card inside the enclosure.If the interface card becomes faulty, the only way to get the data out is to send it to the WD "Data Recovery Partners" - the unholy alliance - as indicated in post#3 by CKWD. WD has provided the keys only to those.

And they are going to take the hell out of his wallet.:)

TVeblen · 06 May 2015

Second time this week I am shocked and appalled.
I'm getting very tired of these manufacturing scams.

Thanks for the info Jumanji. I will try and remember that in the future.

Layback Bear · 06 May 2015

Thanks folks; I learned something. All the time I just though enclosures were just intended to be handy and not encrypt anything.

CKWD · 07 May 2015

Hello again! :)

I apologize for the delayed post and the inconvenience that has happened here among other posts.

WD external drives shouldn't be opened and taken out of the enclosures, as it will void the warranty, that's true, and it is so that they can't just be used as simple SATA drives, as their bridge board is integrated into the drive PCB.

This is done to keep the form factor of the drive small and it helps prevent issues that could happen with the bridge board being a separate component. Thus, you won't be able to just connect it via the SATA cable.

The password protection and hardware encryption of the external drives is done to keep the personal data private. It's only natural that not every data recovery company would have the certain sequence, thus WD has Data Recovery partners to entrust with their client's private data. :)

Pastmylife357, do try the back up software, as it may be able to pull the data out and store it safely elsewhere. Post back with results! :)

CK_WD