Western Digital WD Elements Portable WDBAAR5000ABK - - 500 GB - Hi-Speed USB (V55396) Category: External ... USB 2.0 Hard Drive Logo
ritz Posted on Mar 29, 2012

External hard disk WD 500gb icon absent in my computer window?

Few days back my external hard disk was working fine but last night when i plugged it in the drive gets detected as i can see the option to remove it from the task bar menu but there's no icon for the external drive i.e Elements(F:) in the my computer window moreover earlier when i use to plug in the device a list list of options like open folder,play music etc use to appear but even that is also not coming.is this some virus doing this sort of thing?how can i recover my drive ?help me plzz coz i have important data in my hard disk that i badly need and i don't want to loose them all if it comes to a situation of formatting the drive. Additional Details even changing it to different port didn't worked. OS-windows 7

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Anonymous

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  • Contributor 4 Answers
  • Posted on Apr 12, 2012
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Turn the computer off without the external hard drive being plugged in.
plug the external hard drive in a usb port, power up, the systems post boot up will find the drive and inform windows what hardware is installed.
When windows boots up, it will look at all the hardware and find the external hard drive, when windows finishes booting up you should be able to see the drive in my computer.

If you can't access your files,data recovery software can help.I used this one called Tenorshare Data Recovery to retrieve files off crashed HDD and it worked. Get it from http://www.any-data-recovery.com
If needed,you can download it and scan your hard drive for free to preview whether your files can be recovered.

5 Related Answers

Anonymous

  • 2 Answers
  • Posted on Apr 05, 2009

SOURCE: Help!! Western digital 500gb external hard drive ticking noise

Yes. This is going to sound strange. Put the drive in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer. Next day, take it out, hook it up, and see if it is recognized.

If so, under My computer, right click on the drive - click Properties - then Tools, then Error Checking. Check box Automatically Fix File System Errors. Let it run. If everything shows up, be ready to transfer wnat you want off of it.

Freezing shrinks the metal parts . Microscopically, but often enough to get stuck parts free enough to get working.

I just went through this with a 750Gig Book. now i have reformatted the drive (after transferring all over to new drive) and the clicking is gone and all disk checks are fine and i wonder whether to trust this device ever again... Hate to just throw out a large drive.

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ginko

Ginko

  • 19396 Answers
  • Posted on Apr 17, 2009

SOURCE: WD 500gb external HD shuts down when plugged into USB port

Try a replacement USB cable first. If that does not fix the problem, then the USB to SATA adapter board is faulty, in that case you will need to take out the internal disk to replace the external enclosure.

see
YouTube - How To: Take Apart A Western Digital My Book Enclosure

If unit is under warranty see : WD Support > Warranty Services > End User > Warranty Policy.

Note any SATA external enclosure willl work wthe same with the internal WD HD.

efs_perpends

efs_perpends

  • 1997 Answers
  • Posted on Aug 18, 2009

SOURCE: Local disk error WD My Passport 250GB

Do you connect & disconnect the drive according to WD's recommendations here? Try another cable. (If yours was wearing out, that might explain why it only connected some times.) Try another usb port. Check the power supply (another receptacle) Unplug other usb devices from the system.
See this article. Good luck!

Anonymous

  • 30 Answers
  • Posted on Jul 29, 2011

SOURCE: I have a WD 500GB

If it shows up in 'my computer' as a drive letter(like E: drive) but you can't access it,you can recover data on it with data recovery program to avoid losing your data.I have succeed with Tenorshare data recovery. It can recover data after deeply scanning your external hard drive to look for lost data due to drives crash, physical damage,system sabotage, virus attack etc.You can get it here: http://www.any-data-recovery.com/product/datarecoverystandard.htm After you recover your data,you can format it to check out whether it can be fixed.
If the hard drive can't be detected,you can try this way.Put it in a zip-lock bag and put it in the freezer for overnight. Then while it's still cold plug it into the computer and you may be able to view it in 'my computer'. And if needed, run the recovery program to recover your data on it.
If it fails, you will have to go to a recovery office where supply data recovery service but let's hope not because it will cost you a lot of money and whether they can recover data is not guaranteed.

Anonymous

  • 11 Answers
  • Posted on Oct 15, 2011

SOURCE: i have a 500GB WD

It is probably corrupted or crashed, try formatting (quick format or complete format) it under your PC. But before you do this, use WD data recovery tool to rescue data as soon as possible. After formatting, re-use it to see if more data can be found. Usually it helps. Best regards.

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