Help : external HDD failing

[Question2]

My WDD external HDD is failing, started acting a bit weird, event viewer was reporting bad blocks and now i have the drive plugged in but i cant access it (shows up in windows explorer but explorer hangs trying to access it). I cant run any WD diagnostic utilities because they wont detect the drive. Disk management wont load when the drive is plugged in.

Its less than a year old, unbelivable (i didnt drop it or anything, was sitting safe and sound on my desk for months).

Is there any way to get the data back?

 

[TVeblen]

Sometimes the problem can be caused by the connections in the enclosure. Inside the enclosure there is usually a standard 2.5 inch or 3.5 inch hard disk, just like any other internal hard disk. Since the drive is fairly new then it is most likely a SATA drive.

What we do is break open the enclosure and take the hard drive out. Some times this can be done without destroying the enclosure, sometimes not.

Then take that hard drive and connect it to a desktop PC using the normal SATA data and power cables.
Turn on the PC and see if you can access the drive that way.

If you can, immediately get your data backed up - do not do anything else. After your data is secure, then you can play with testing the drive. Sometimes the diagnostic tests are the last thing you will ever do with a failing hard drive.

 

[Question2]

The problem being that would void the warranty...

 

[TVeblen]

Correct. Is it still under warranty?

Here is the thing: if you go for a warranty repair they will not guarantee your data will be saved, in fact, they may just replace the hard drive inside.
So you are faced with a dilemma: what is more important? The money or the data?

You could contact them to confirm all this. Or you could see if you can get the drive out without destroying the case. Even if it is just enough to get at the connections.

Plus, you might find the loose connection in doing so, thus avoiding the dilemma altogether.

 

[Question2]

WD is now advising that i send the drive to a data recovery center (paid for by them) because if i attempt data recovery myself, i may not get as good of a result and will make it harder for any further data recovery efforts.

How true is this?

My main concern is of data privacy issues, because the data recovery center will obviously have access to all my data....

 

[jumanji]

This comment is made in a lighter vein.

You cannot have the cake and eat it too.

Hey... Who said that? Not me anyway .

Its possible, if you have two. Eat one, keep one.

You didn't have the second one, a backup.

 

[TVeblen]

I would take advantage of the free offer from WD. That is worth a good sum of money.

It is true that the very process of recovering data or running drive diagnostics can be the last thing you will ever do with a failing hard drive. So it is a good idea to treat the recovery effort as a one-shot-deal. Not the time to be learning how or experimenting.

As for privacy - it's like jumanji says. You need to decide which is more important: the data or your privacy.
This is why we always recommend that people always back up their data to an outside source (like an external drive). If you can not be bothered to back up your data, how important can it be?
Sorry, that does not help you now. You need to deal with your current situation.

My feeling is that the folks at the data recovery center are there doing a job. They need to recover the data and move on to the next job. I doubt anyone is going to take the time to analyze your files.
If you are running a major crime syndicate from your computer you might want to reconsider.