[sharonrose]

If i reformat my ex hd can i get recovery software and restore the files that were on it? that seems to be the only way i am going to get my pc to recognize the stupid thing again.
its a 500g wd mybook essential
i have winxp sp2
i dont know what other info you need

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Reformats wipe everything so it is not likely. There are data recovery places that will do it but for $100s typically.

[Titan8990]

Reformats wipe everything so it is not likely. There are data recovery places that will do it but for $100s typically.

[Troy]

Hi Sharon Rose. Is your computer not accepting the connection with the WD MyBook? Have you tried connecting it to another computer (work, a friend etc...)? If not, give it a go and see if you can access your data.

If that fails, and you're up to the task, you could try downloading something like Puppy Linux and burning it to CD. Then, loading linux into your RAM, connect the hard drive and see if it works then - this would prove it's just a Windows problem.

[shard92]

If you think you need to use software to recover your files you don't want to format it... that would greatly reduce your chance of recovery....

you could try the suggestions above, but if that also doesn't see your files then you could try software like GETDATABACK either the NTFS version or the FAT version depending on what kind of partition was originally on the drive.... You can download and test the drive with the software for free but then to recovery you have to pay the license fee... $70-$100 last time I checked... I believe the company is called Run Time Systems. you should be able to find them on a google search... sorry I don't have the time at the moment to send you a link... maybe later, if you want to try them and can't find them...

[wannabe1]

Hi sharonrose...

Disconnect the external drive from the computer.

Right click on "My Computer" and choose "Properties". Click the "Hardware" tab, then the "Device Manager" button. At the bottom of the list of devices, expand (click +) the category named "Universal Serial Bus controllers". In the expanded list, you should see one or more entries for "USB Root Hub"...right click on each USB Root Hub entry and choose "Uninstall"...accept the change.

Reboot. The USB Root Hubs will be reinstalled automatically when Windows starts. After Windows has completely loaded, connect the external drive and see if it is detected and installed.

wannabe1

[sharonrose]

Ok, so i am getting the getdataback software and seeing what it says. if it can get my stuff back i am ok with the price.
I tried to do the linux thing. The puppy one didnt work so i called my dad who is an avid linux fan and he told me to try linux move so i did that and got the cd going but then it tells me there is no cd drive. obviously there is because that was what i was running it from...maybe you need 2? When i restarted my pc it now shows two drives...a dvd drive (D) and a CD drive (I) somehow another drive (I) was created...dont know what thats all about. I did finally get an error msg when i plugged in MyBook though. it said that i have no highspeed usb ports. I do, i have 6. well, they are 2.0
I bought another external hd and plugged that in. it showup just fine. the wd diagnostics software will now recognize the one thats going bonkers and i get a msg saying something about sectors.


sorry, i dont know how the other ppl do the screenshot thing.
anyway, i am not going to reformat anything. i guess i will try the get data back thing and see what it finds. if that doesnt work i guess i will have to pay to get the data off this thing. the funny thing is that i spent the last few days reading posts from several places and ppl have the exact same problem and they finally fix it but they dont say how!!! just Oh, never mind i found out what was wrong, thanks... AHH...sorry..getting off the topic here.
if anyone else has any ideas, any at all plz let me know. thank you all so much

[shard92]

Well it might be the cable you are using to connect the hard drive to the computer or maybe the hard drive itself is going bad.... IF this data is critical you might want to try a professional data recovery outfit first as if it is the hard drive physically dying, you could be loosing data everytime you power up the drive...