Windows 7: Disk 2 (external hard disk) is Unknown, Not Initialized

[Hyo]

Hello,

I have run into a problem that has been causing me quite a bit of headache as of late. A week ago, my WD Elements External Hard Disk is not displaying under hard disk drives, but does display under Devices and Printers. This is what it shows under computer management:

I have tried to initialize the disk using MBR and GPT options but failed receiving I/O Disk Error.

Please help, thank you.

 

[samuria]

Welcome to the forum a io error is a faulty disk or USB connection does it show in disk manager

 

[Megahertz07]

Open Disk Management (right click on Computer - Manage - Disk Management), expand columns and take a snapshot. Post as an attachment.

 

[jumanji]

Hi Hyo,

You perhaps didn't know the how-to, to post the Windows Disk Management screenshot.

Please read the tutorials below and post the screenshot of Windows Disk Management.

Windows Disk Management: Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image
Snipping Tool: How to Use the Snipping Tool in Vista
Upload to Seven Forums: Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums

What is the capacity of your WD Elements external HDD? How many partitions did you have in it?
It is not enough if you say the HDD shows as Unknown, Not initialized, Does WDM show the disk capacity or does not show? That is also important. The WDM picture will help to present all data.

 

[Hyo]

Hello guys,

Sorry for the late reply. I went out of the country for a few days and had minimum access to internet. So to pick off from where we left it:

Capacity of HDD is 500 GB, no partitions. I am sorry I couldn't post a screenshot properly last time. Re-posting now.

Thank you all for taking time and replying to the thread. I appreciate it!

 

[IJustWantItToGo]

Does it show up under Win7 USB plug symbol in lower right as 'Eject Elements' or some such ?

First thing is to make sure it is properly recognized USB device, try diff USB ports/cables/PCs before thinking it is bad - but it might be dead.

GL!

 

[Hyo]

It does show up under Win7 USB plug symbol. I've tried using different ports, even tried it on my new laptop which has Win10, but same results.

 

[IJustWantItToGo]

You have used partition tools such as Minitool Partition or such ? It can actually show files and such even if not visible to M$ OS.

Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Free

If you have fully checked the hdd using shell tools - looking for signs that it is functioning, ie can see folders and such, can mount, demount, etc - then I think it is dead OR the USB interface to the hdd is dead.

If mine and I thoroughly checked via both shell tools and GUI tools and simply see no folders/files using the USB interface & are convinced it is dead so far - I would then take it out of the case (save it as much as possible) to get the 'internal' hdd out and test the hdd other ways, I hate losing files/hdd even if backup of a backup !

You can then put into your desktop pc and see if it is truly not dead OR,

I use a very cheap SATA/IDE tool kit $7 to test internal hdd out of pc - it turns them into a usb device but since lots of wires and vulnerable NOT for permanent use - but allows full use of a working hdd quickly. (great to test new hdd also - can read/write fully!)

Also if you have a spare working hdd, hook up to the old Essential case to see if USB is truly dead - thus you now know the condition of both the USB i/f and hdd - can re-use the case if USB is working - so tear apart carefully !!

Good luck !

 

[RolandJS]

Hyo, do you know if this WD Elements is one of those HDs with on-board/circuit-level encryption? Jumanji, if it is, could that be a contributory cause for the problem described in this thread?

 

[jumanji]

No Sir, WD elements is not hardware encrypted. (In fact only WD Elements both desktop and portable is not hardware encrypted). But in the Elements portable as also Passport and Passport ultra the USB to SATA interface bridge electronics is usually integrated into the HDD inside and the HDD doesn't have the usual SATA connectors on it. So it may not be possible to separate the HDD and connect it as an internal drive.

In this case, I would think the OP's external is dead. He may check it running WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows. Software and Firmware Downloads | WD Support

If it fails the tests he should only seek Professional Data Recovery Service. No DIY data Recovery possible when the hardware is faulty.

In this case he need not specifically go to WD Data Recovery Partners since the drive is not encrypted. He may go to any competent data recovery professional.