WD laptop HDD not loading

OK , Shut down your PC and then remove the drive.

Boot again without the drive and let me know whether the shutdown was successful .

RolandJS said:

Do a total Windows shutdown. When computer's completely off; remove the problem device and store until jumanji and you resume the next day. He will advise when to stick that HD back in.

Alright that makes sense Roland. I will shutdown my laptop post which I will take out the problem device and keep it aside. Hopefully when I stick it in tomorrow, it shall have same status...

Thank You for all the assistance Jumanji, Jack and Roland...Will catch up tomorrow...

jumanji said:

OK , Shut down your PC and then remove the drive.

Boot again without the drive and let me know whether the shutdown was successful .

okay sure, give me couple of mins

prashantsbhatia said:

okay sure, give me couple of mins

Shutdown was successful. I have removed the device and kept it aside. We shall resume tomorrow. Good Night!

Anything else before I log off?

Fine. Now we see atleast three partitions, though RAW.

Tom we shall run Partition Wizard and check what it shows. Download PartitionWizard free edition version 9.1 from here and install it. MiniTool Partition Wizard Free 10.1 Download for Windows / Old Versions / FileHorse.com
No 10.0 or 10.1 only 9.1. Goodnight.

jumanji said:

Fine. Now we see atleast three partitions, though RAW.

Tom we shall run Partition Wizard and check what it shows. Download PartitionWizard free edition version 9.1 from here and install it. MiniTool Partition Wizard Free 10.1 Download for Windows / Old Versions / FileHorse.com
No 10.0 or 10.1 only 9.1. Goodnight.

Thank You sir, I shall do the same. I do have PW downloaded, I will check the version tomorrow and download the right one if I don't have what you have suggested.

Good Nite.
Prashant

jumanji said:

1. Another task for you. TestDisk - If you had downloaded Windows 64-bit version that is not the right one. Delete that TestDisk folder and install the Windows version only. The second in the list here TestDisk Download - CGSecurity

2. Do you have another external drive with atleast 320GB of free space? I would like to have it plugged in before we run TestDisk so that you can copy, if it succeeds listing your files. Grab the data at the first instance. With Laybackbear and RolandJS reminding the disk ticking, I am getting nervous now :).

It will indeed be very sad if the HDD gives up during the process of this data recovery but then we can't do anything about it except keeping it under rest when not used..

3. Can you identify the three partitions as they were originally? Of course first is System Reserved Partition. What are the other 2 and 3 in order? We shall concentrate on that partition which has your data.

4. Let me know your convenient time when both of us can be online. I would prefer after 4 PM.

5. Are you trying the drive on a laptop or Desktop? Your System spec lists a desktop. Win 8.1 64bit.

Hello Jumanji,

Thanks for your revert. Shall I first download the partition manager that you spoke about last night and then try out the steps you have outlined in today's post?

Answer to point - 1 --> I think I downloaded the right version the last time around, nevertheless I will delete that testdisk and download the one you have mentioned.

Answer to point - 2 --> Yes, I do have another external HDD with close to 323 GB of free space.

Answer to point - 3 --> I think the partitions showing up in yesterday night's screenshot are more or less what I expected. The first one am assuming would be c drive and second partition is d drive. Priority can be given to c drive for obvious reasons (My data). However it will be perfect if we can recover both.

Answer to point - 4 --> I can be available per your convenience. Do let me know a set time and I shall come online.

Answer to point - 5 --> Long story short, am currently trying this out on my laptop. HP pavilion x360 is the model, has win 10 with 4 GB ram.

I am currently uninstalling Minitool PW version 10 and downloading 9.1 per your suggestion. Do let me know if you want me to plug in the defective device and start the scanning process?

Yes. Download and install PW 9.1.

TestDisk- If you had downloaded and used Windows-64bit version delete it .Then download Windows version of TestDisk.

And answer my queries 2, 3, 4 and 5 in my last post.