How do I partition a hard drive without losing data?

[SarahJ]

Hi,
My external hard drive (WD Passport) is not showing up on my computer. I think it must have disconnected from my laptop before it had finished writing the files. I can find it in 'disk management, hard drives' but its not showing up in partition managers. See pics below. I really need the photos that are on the hard drive so re-formatting is not an option.





TIA

 

[Mellon Head]

You can't, to my knowledge, partition a hard disk without losing the data that is on it.

It sounds as though your drive has failed. There are recovery options that are sometimes available. I'll let more experienced members of the forum help with that. Just don't do anything with that drive until a more experienced member can help you, please.

 

[TechpumpkinWD]

Hello SarahJ ,

It is possible that your HDD has failed but it could just be underpowered due to bad cable or port. My passport devices are getting power through the USB cable. Please try to use a different short USB 3.0 cable, make sure you plug it directly into the USB port without any USB hubs or splitters. Try to connect it to a different USB 3.0 port and to a different PC. If that doesn't help you can use WD DLG quick test to display the SMART status of the device. You can download WD DLG here: Support Answers. Please post a screenshot of the results and for now run only the Quick test.

Keep us posted.

 

[SarahJ]

I have just purchased a new cable which I was hoping would solve the issue, but it hasn't.
Not sure which results you want for the WD DLG. Is there more than just this ...