# WD 1TB External HDD Problems



## Aloke (Sep 22, 2012)

Hi!

I have a problem. 

The 1TB WD External HDD is not getting recognized by the pc. I tried taking it out of the case, no use. Also tried it without the adapter by directly using SATA cable on a desktop pc, no use as well. I also tried HP USB Disk Format Tool, it did not recognize it. TestDisk also failed to recognize it. Any idea how I might be able to get it working? Disk Management did not have it shown up as well.

- Alo


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## claylomax (Sep 22, 2012)

Plug it when the computer is off, then turn on the computer.


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## Aloke (Sep 22, 2012)

Thanks for the quick reply! Will try 
EDIT: It helped indeed! Thank you alot! Will it now normally plug n play?


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## Aloke (Sep 23, 2012)

Sorry for double post, I have to bump.

Well it started like that once, now it doesn't again. I was so dumb that i didn't press scan for fixes too when it launched the first time, i just wanted to see if data is there... any ideas? Tried different usb ports, with and without the casing around the hdd, plugging hdd in before starting up pc.


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## Jetster (Sep 23, 2012)

State that a different way. Thats confusing


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## Aloke (Sep 23, 2012)

Plugging the device in before pressing power button on my laptop worked once, but then it did not get recognized again.


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## Jetster (Sep 23, 2012)

Plugging it in how? SATA or USB. Try a different cable


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## Aloke (Sep 23, 2012)

USB adapter. SATA was tried by my brother on a desktop pc and that did not work. Well the usb adapter worked once now. I will try a different cable now.
EDIT:No use.
The weird thing is, why it worked once and then quit working? Cable wouldn't cut out like that.


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## Jetster (Sep 23, 2012)

Yes a cable could be intermittent short. Also is it a powered drive? Power adapter?


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## Aloke (Sep 23, 2012)

Yea is a powered drive, has an adapter. The adapter used same plug of power as yesterday and it worked yesterday over there.


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## Aloke (Sep 24, 2012)

Okay, now I can see it in my computer. Although, there is no info about how much space is free and the drive could not be browsed( when i left click i get an error that it cannot be found or smth ). When i try to go to disk management while having the hdd plugged in using usb, the disk management does not finish loading an gets stuck at "Connecting to Virtual Disk Service". When i take it out from usb, it loads almost instantly to disk management.


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## Aloke (Jan 11, 2013)

Bump, still got the issue!


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## itsakjt (Jan 11, 2013)

Check the power adapter. Go to a nearby hardware shop. They can test it using a multimeter. Also, it might be an issue with the disk itself. In that case contact Western Digital for support.


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## Jetster (Jan 11, 2013)

I don't think the drive is going to come back to life


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## Aloke (Jan 13, 2013)

When you turn it on you can feel drive spinning tho


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## itsakjt (Jan 13, 2013)

Clean the SATA signal terminals. Maybe the PCB is gone then.


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