WD 2TB external hard drive stopped working

L

LaChika

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Hi guys,

My external HDD stopped working after a diablo 3 PC patch was copied into it.

The white light just blinks and the HDD does not get recognised by laptops or PC's.

I used a different power supply but the same problem continues.

Where in SA can I get support for this problem cos I just spoke to Pinnacle in Midrand and they do not help with support.

I have registered the HDD with WD online and have not heard from them. It still has warranty.

Thanks.
 
Try these guys

Sahara Computers
Internal Drives and Branded


89 Gazelle Ave
Corporate Park South
Old Pretoria main Road
Midrand
Gauteng
1685
South Africa
Phone: +27.11.542.1000
Fax: +27.11.542.1100
http://www.sahara.co.za/
 
hehehe... thanks guys!

Pinnacle don't do any support for WD just swops. And Sahara does but they don't do data recovery. So, firstly I will try get the data recovered before sending the unit to Sahara.

I will try the other links you sent.... :)
 
I got some feedback from an IT friend of mine:

Put the hdd on a flat surface and plug it in and listen to it, carefully. (Ear up to the thing)

If you hear tick, tick, tick ……….. The heads are gone and it’s a mechanical failure issue.
Solution –
1. Take the physical drive out of the portable housing
2. Place the hard drive inside of a zip top freezer bag. (don't buy/use a cheap bag – We need this to be water tight..)
3. Place the wrapped hard drive inside of ANOTHER zip top freezer bag (yes, you need to do this)
4. Place the double wrapped hard drive in the coldest part of your freezer.
5. Leave the hard drive in the freezer for 12 hours at least. You want it good and cold! (see figure 2 below)
6. Once very chilled, install the hard drive in your computer and start pulling off data. Begin with the most valuable data.
7. At some point, the hard drive will fail again. When it does, mark the last successfully copied data, pull out the hard drive, double wrap it again and stick it in the Chill Chest for another 12 hours.
8. You may need to do this a number of times to get all the data you want, or until the hard drive stops working completely.
9. Swop out under warranty claim.

Hard drives work sort of like old records, except rather than one record and needle, hard drives have several small platters spinning really fast that are accessed by a read/write head. In theory, I believe, this would work with hard drives with slightly warped platters; unfrozen, your busted drive is grinding the head against the platters as a result. By freezing the hard drive, you're hopefully shrinking the platters enough that they're no longer rubbing up against the head—temporarily, at least.

If you hear nothing but the the drives spinning – Software failure

Solution – Run an application like spinrite against the drive for recovery. This will fix the software issues.
 
LaChika said:
hehehe... thanks guys!

Pinnacle don't do any support for WD just swops. And Sahara does but they don't do data recovery. So, firstly I will try get the data recovered before sending the unit to Sahara.

I will try the other links you sent.... :)
Click to expand...

They will not honor the warranty if you do data recovery, no one will as the drive has to be opened to do the data recovery, you either have the data recovered or have the drive swapped.
 
mmmmm...a tricky situation.

It says on the WD website that the service provider who will perform the recovery needs to state that in a letterhead etc to not invalidate the warranty:

Data Recovery Partners



Disclaimer
If you utilize data recovery services, Western Digital will not void the warranty associated with the disk drive you purchased from a Western Digital reseller or distributor. To retain the warranty status of your drive, you should ensure that the service provider you use provides you with written verification, on its company letterhead, that it has performed data recovery or other services on your hard drive. In all other instances, Western Digital's warranty is void if a returned disk drive exhibits a defect attributable to misuse or tampering, improper installation, alteration or to other causes as specified in our warranty policy.

But then, one wonders if this letter will be valid if I send my unit to Sahara etc... These guys are sneaky. And this is not the 1st time this happens to WD HDD of mine and I am thinking of changing brands....
 
LaChika said:
I got some feedback from an IT friend of mine:

Put the hdd on a flat surface and plug it in and listen to it, carefully. (Ear up to the thing)

If you hear tick, tick, tick ……….. The heads are gone and it’s a mechanical failure issue.
Solution –
1. Take the physical drive out of the portable housing
2. Place the hard drive inside of a zip top freezer bag. (don't buy/use a cheap bag – We need this to be water tight..)
3. Place the wrapped hard drive inside of ANOTHER zip top freezer bag (yes, you need to do this)
4. Place the double wrapped hard drive in the coldest part of your freezer.
5. Leave the hard drive in the freezer for 12 hours at least. You want it good and cold! (see figure 2 below)
6. Once very chilled, install the hard drive in your computer and start pulling off data. Begin with the most valuable data.
7. At some point, the hard drive will fail again. When it does, mark the last successfully copied data, pull out the hard drive, double wrap it again and stick it in the Chill Chest for another 12 hours.
8. You may need to do this a number of times to get all the data you want, or until the hard drive stops working completely.
9. Swop out under warranty claim.

Hard drives work sort of like old records, except rather than one record and needle, hard drives have several small platters spinning really fast that are accessed by a read/write head. In theory, I believe, this would work with hard drives with slightly warped platters; unfrozen, your busted drive is grinding the head against the platters as a result. By freezing the hard drive, you're hopefully shrinking the platters enough that they're no longer rubbing up against the head—temporarily, at least.

If you hear nothing but the the drives spinning – Software failure

Solution – Run an application like spinrite against the drive for recovery. This will fix the software issues.
Click to expand...

I would not go with that advice, both freezing & spinrite.
 
Before doing anything with the drive you need to determine what's wrong with it. You also need to decide what's more important, the warranty or the data.
 
PoisonedPawn said:
Also remember that the freezer method is not guaranteed to work. You could lose warranty and not get data back.
Click to expand...

The freezer method is a load of cr@p! Ask any data recovery expert. You will lose your warranty. It is so bad, you may as well not even put it in a bag if you really want to go that route.
 
Thanks a mil for the the support info - I agree about the freezing part and looks like I won't have to do that.

Why using spinrite would be not a good idea?
 
It scares me reading all of this bad 'internet' advice that poor people find out there. I'm glad to see you're being told not to try any of it, it's dangerous to your data.

Do not freeze your drive. Do not spinrite your drive. Do not do anything DIY to your drive if you value the data.

WD are sometimes lenient with recovery, if we provide the customer with a letter after doing the recovery WD will replace the drive under warranty as it's been recovered professionally.

If you're serious about data recovery, get in touch with us and we can assist you.
 
LaChika said:
Why using spinrite would be not a good idea?
Click to expand...

On a drive with physical damage spinrite won't do anything for the drive, it will only worsen things and reduce whatever chance you had of recovering your data to zero.
 
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