No experience - Recovering data from old Western Digital

Anders · Aug 19, 2016

Hi! I am about to try and recover some data from an external hard drive from Western Digital. It has been corrupted, since it were dropped on the floor by accident.

1. Is it a wrong assumption, that I will be able to boot it up and get it to spin?

2. I am a bit confused about the cables I will need in order to recover the data.

As far as I am concerned these are the cables I will need:

It would be nice if someone could give a hint on whether or not these are the matching cables to my WD... and I am a bit confused on how the powersource will boot it up as I have seen multiple WD on youtube with other inputs.

Thanks in advance! And sorry if it has already been posted, feel free to redirect me!

Caring1 · Aug 20, 2016

If you have a desktop computer place the drive inside your tower and connect to a spare SATA power and data cable.
If it shows up you might be in luck, if you have a laptop then you will need a 12V power source and a sata data to usb cable, or a drive dock like this ...

Arrakis9 · Aug 20, 2016

If it's clicking put it in the freezer with the cable hooked up to it leave it in there for a half hour and try again. Use a program other than windows explorer to move the data off the drive like unstoppable copier.

natr0n · Aug 20, 2016

When you drop a drive slim chance of getting it to work again.

If it spins/powers up then it's a good sign.

The freezer technique is good, but be advised it's for advanced users. Condensation will fry possibly everything.

Jetster · Aug 20, 2016

Those are the right cables. See if it works and then go from there

Arrakis9 · Aug 20, 2016

natr0n said:
When you drop a drive slim chance of getting it to work again.

If it spins/powers up then it's a good sign.

The freezer technique is good, but be advised it's for advanced users. Condensation will fry possibly everything.

There's no real chance of condensation if the drive is left in the freezer during your recovery just run the USB cable between the seal of the ice box

Anders · Aug 21, 2016

Thanks for the reply all of you!

Well atm. I think I am going to buy one of those docking stations since im on a laptop.

But it's like 40 bucks, and if I can't get it to work it would be money thrown out of the window.

Chances is that I might just contact some professional to recover the data what are your thoughts? This is like once in a lifetime use, so I don't think it would be worth it to own one of those docks?

SnakeDoctor · Aug 21, 2016

Does it spin up with power ?

95Viper · Aug 22, 2016

Anders said:
But it's like 40 bucks, and if I can't get it to work it would be money thrown out of the window.

Google it... you can pick a cheap one for around $15 USD or get a name brand for $24+ USD... no use spending 40 on one.

Jetster · Aug 22, 2016

Smart thing to do would be just plug it into a PC as an extra drive. See if it shows up. Navigate to the folders you need. You will have to wait for it to access the folder as it will be under an different windows user but just be patient, it will work after about 5 min

Komshija · Aug 22, 2016

As people already said, plug it into PC as an extra HDD with SATA data and SATA power cables. If it spins without constant clicking or other strange noises, it might be OK, assuming the platters are not scratched. If you still cannot see the drive in "My Computer", check whether the drive appears in Disk Management.

johnspack · Aug 22, 2016

For the best signal transfer, I'd connect it to an internal slot. If it was dropped, good chance physical damage has occurred to the platter surfaces, so iffy operation at best.

Anders · Aug 22, 2016

johnspack said:
For the best signal transfer, I'd connect it to an internal slot. If it was dropped, good chance physical damage has occurred to the platter surfaces, so iffy operation at best.

Unfortunately I don't have acces to any internal slot... So I guess the best solution is to just buy a drive dock?

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No experience - Recovering data from old Western Digital

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