Western Digital 1TB External Hard Drive Failing

Hello, thanks for taking the time to read this.

I enjoy making short films as a hobby and I run a couple YouTube channels that I upload to frequently. I went to open up one of my project files in Sony Vegas Movie Studio but for some reason, it took ages to open up. I had to sit there for a minute or so just for the program to begin and once it opened it took maybe two more minutes to open the project file.

The program was running really slowly and it was sluggish to try and edit anything. At first, I assumed it was a problem with my computer. It had been working just fine the day before so I rebooted the computer and tried again only to confront the same issue once more.

I have a 1TB HDD in my computer and a 1TB Western Digital External HDD that I use to store most everything that had to do with my films. I always have the External HDD plugged into my computer.

Anyway, the reason I think it's the External Hard Drive failing is because I noticed going into Windows Explorer that any time I would open a folder on the actual computer's HDD it would open just fine, but opening a folder on the External Drive would have me wait for about 20-30 seconds.

After this, I ejected and unplugged the External Drive and tried to open a Project File in Vegas that only used things stored on my computer and it loaded just as quick as always. So I would be lead to believe that the reason it was running so slow is because it was loading a Project File that used components stored on the External Drive.

I tried to move all of my film archives over to my computer from the hard drive but moving files is impossible. I let it run for an entire night and it had barely moved over 1% of the 332GB archives.

I've only owned the External HDD for about a year and a half and Western Digital's website says the product comes with a 2-year warranty.

I need help with getting my files off of this drive as they are very important to me and also how I could go about getting a refund/repair on my purchase.

Thanks,
Hicoga

Have you tried plugging the external into some other port on the PC?

You need to go to WD web site and download their disk tool for that particular drive. It will have a couple of tests. Try the simple quick one first.

And look up the return procedures for the drive at the WD web site if it fails the drive tests.

You might want to make an image of the drive with a tool like Macrium to preserve whatever is now on it in the current state.

Hello Hicoga,

It's a good idea to try and connect your External HDD using a different USB cable and a different port on your PC. If that doesn't help download WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostics WD Support / Downloads / Other Products / Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows and run the quick test on your drive. If the HDD is failing WD DLGD should pick it up.
For replacing the drive you have two options. You can start RMA online WD Support / Warranty & RMA Services or contact live support Contact Us.
Hope that helps.

TechpumpkinWD said:

Hello Hicoga,

It's a good idea to try and connect your External HDD using a different USB cable and a different port on your PC. If that doesn't help download WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostics WD Support / Downloads / Other Products / Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows and run the quick test on your drive. If the HDD is failing WD DLGD should pick it up.
For replacing the drive you have two options. You can start RMA online WD Support / Warranty & RMA Services or contact live support Contact Us.
Hope that helps.

I ran the Quick Test with Diagnostic Tool and these were the results. Can you interpret what exactly this means?

I'm sorry to say this but this error could often mean that your HDD is on it's way out. The status code 07 is listed as “Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (SMART) Error returned during SMART Status/Self Test Command. This may be due to a media error. It also may be due to a defective connection. Retest after checking the connections. Replace the drive if the error repeats. “ If you haven't tried using a different USB cable now is the time to try it. Also make sure that the cable is as short as possible. Make sure the cable is connected directly to the USB port on the PC and not through a USB hub. Also try to connect it to a different PC. If it's not the cable or the port it should be the HDD itself that is failing. In such case you might have to use the services of a data recovery company to get the data back.
Keep us posted.

TechpumpkinWD said:

I'm sorry to say this but this error could often mean that your HDD is on it's way out. The status code 07 is listed as “Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (SMART) Error returned during SMART Status/Self Test Command. This may be due to a media error. It also may be due to a defective connection. Retest after checking the connections. Replace the drive if the error repeats. “ If you haven't tried using a different USB cable now is the time to try it. Also make sure that the cable is as short as possible. Make sure the cable is connected directly to the USB port on the PC and not through a USB hub. Also try to connect it to a different PC. If it's not the cable or the port it should be the HDD itself that is failing. In such case you might have to use the services of a data recovery company to get the data back.
Keep us posted.

Unfortunately, the cable it connects with is rather strange and I don't have any that match it. I tried connecting to different ports and to a different computer to no avail.

When you say Data Recovery company do you mean like an actual shop or software?
If it's software, are there any you recommend?
It it's a shop, how much can I expect to pay?

You could look for the same cable and get a new one, if you can't find you can order from the WD official web site. If your Passport drive is a USB 2.0 it should be USB 2.0 to USB Micro cable, if it is a USB 3.0 it should be a USB 3.0 to Micro B cable.
You can have a look a the list of WD data recovery partners here: Support Answers . Those are companies that are specialized in retrieving data from broken HDDs.