Western Digital 250GB MyBook External USB 2.0 250 GB Hard Drive Logo
Anonymous Posted on Mar 14, 2009

WD External Drive Not Working, Not Recognized - I/O Error

A week ago I turned my computer on and it ran a disk check on my external drive, which it does from time to time so I didn't think much of it. After the disk check Windows XP wouldn't load for the longest time. When it finally did my hard drive was no longer recognized.

I can get it to show up in the device manager and it says that the device is working properly. I've tried changing the letter the drive is assigned, which it won't do. I've tried to use system recovery and roll back to a few days before the initial problem, and get an error telling me that the K:/ drive will not be affected by the recovery. When the drive does show up it will not let me access it, rather it tells me that there is an I/O error. I've tried various ports, I've powered up and down, tried new cables, and I don't have anything in my network connections regarding a 1394.

Can anyone help me please? Every project I've done for school, every picture I've taken over the last few years, everything is on this drive.

  • Anonymous Mar 14, 2009

    I ran a diagnostic and it informed me that there are "too many bad sectors." Any ideas on what to do next? I'm really worried about this...

×

1 Answer

Anonymous

Level 2:

An expert who has achieved level 2 by getting 100 points

Hot-Shot:

An expert who has answered 20 questions.

Corporal:

An expert that has over 10 points.

Mayor:

An expert whose answer got voted for 2 times.

  • Expert 41 Answers
  • Posted on Mar 14, 2009
Anonymous
Expert
Level 2:

An expert who has achieved level 2 by getting 100 points

Hot-Shot:

An expert who has answered 20 questions.

Corporal:

An expert that has over 10 points.

Mayor:

An expert whose answer got voted for 2 times.

Joined: Mar 13, 2009
Answers
41
Questions
0
Helped
16495
Points
122

It may be one of two things:
1 broken hard drive - which is tough for you
2 damaged FAT table

to check what's that please download WD Diagnostics (for Windows will be the easiest to use) from WD web site and run it.
It will be able to scan the harddrive easily if it's recognized by the system.
Run extended test and you will now is that problem related to hardware.
If the results are OK then it's just data corruption.
In this situation you should be able to recover the data by some of the recovery software like "get data back", "easy recovery" etc. However for most of those you will have to pay so may need to buy it or go to some tech that has it.

  • Anonymous Mar 14, 2009

    At this stage you should go to someone or some company that may get the data from the harddrive for you (it won't be cheap) because the harddrive has broken electronic board or mechanics and you won't be able to recover anything on your own. Sorry.

×

Add Your Answer

×

Uploading: 0%

my-video-file.mp4

Complete. Click "Add" to insert your video. Add

×

Loading...
Loading...

Related Questions:

0helpful
1answer

I have a WD10EVDS and the computer has quit seeing the drive I have tried an external usb cable to no avail. Ran WD inspection software smart drive not recognized.

Its very possible the hard drive is bad.

Depending on which version of windows you have, you need to right click on My computer and go to manage, then to Disk Management and see if it sees the drive. If it does not, I would guess that the drive is bad.
0helpful
1answer

Installing 7200.10 with a Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1, 32 Bit OS,. Have placed drive into an external case with USB connection and external power source. Laptop Computer does not recognize this...

it is impossible to install windows 7 to an external drive on any PC. to install it you will have to remove the drive you have in the laptop and then run the setup for windows
0helpful
1answer

The WD my passport is not recognized by the computer .. It was wroking fine couple of weeks ago and am pretty sure it didn't fall or something.. its not recognized and not showing on my computer .. please...

Assign a drive letter for the External drive.

  • Right Click on My Computer
  • Scroll to Manage
  • Select Disk Management
  • Locate the External drive in the lower bottom Right corner, Right Click, Select Assign Drive Letter. Ok/Close

Open up My Computer, and you should see your External drive with your new drive letter assigned to it.
0helpful
1answer

Hd will not read and puts up error code 43

I had the same problem with a WD external hard drive. I tried it in multiple computers and it was never recognized. I uninstalled the driver from the same screen where you see the error 43 message, then swapped the USB cable connecting the drive... and then the computer detected it. It suggested a chkdsk which I ran, it looks like its back to normal now
0helpful
1answer

We bought some time ago an WD External Harddisk and now the Adapter doesn`t work anymore! What can I do?

Try connecting it to a different computer.

Any external storage device has three major parts:
* USB cable
* disk-drive
* USB-to-disk-drive adapter

Try a different USB cable.

Disconnect the disk-drive from that adapter, and connect the disk-drive as a "slave" disk-drive in a desktop computer, and see if you can read the files, which implies that the adapter is the part that has failed.

If you cannot read from the disk-drive, check its WARRANTY status. W.D. will replace it, if the warranty is still valid.

Otherwise, W.D. has a "Customer Loyalty" program: find the serial-number of your unit, access their web-site, and purchase another W.D. external storage unit, at a significant discount, by citing the serial-number.

Or, if the adapter is OK, then replace the disk-drive by a new one, and close-up the casing, to create a "revived" external storage device for your use.
0helpful
1answer

My wd elements external hd is not recognized under windows 7. The pc diagnostics say that the device is working properly and the correct drivers are installed?

Go to Administrative Tools in Control Panel. Computer Management then Storage, Disk Management. You'll probably have to recognise it and assign a drive number.
0helpful
1answer
0helpful
1answer

I have a WD external hard drive USB 2.0 750 GB. It was working just fine for many months, and suddenly, my laptop won't "read" it -- it's not listed/detected in "my computer." I thought there was something...

If the device is recognized and not listed as a driver in the Explorer, then the disk is not recognized as having been partitioned and formatted. You can use the Disk Manager to see if there is anything listed on the disk.
Start - > right-click My Computer -> Properties
In the management console, go to disk management and check your disks. The external disk should be there and then you can see the partitions and drives assigned to it.
If there is nothing on it, your MBR could be damaged, which needs to be restored.

Alternatively you could partition and format it, but then you'd loose the data on it, so that is a last resort.

I think a program called Acronis Disk Director Suite can restore MBR's. Have a look at this external hard disk troubleshooting article.

2helpful
1answer

USB hard drive not recognized by Mac and by PC

Does the external drive work when connected to some _other_ computer? (Friend? Office? Home?)

It could be a failure either in the "hardware" inside the external-case (the USB adapter & interface)
or in the disk-drive "inside" the external-case.

So, a qualified technician can open the external drive, remove the disk-drive, and connect it directly to a computer, to see if the files can be "directly" read from the disk-drive.

If not, then you should search online for a "data recovery" service -- they are expensive, but they physically repair a damaged disk-drive, just long-enough to copy your data to another disk-drive.
Not finding what you are looking for?

805 views

Ask a Question

Usually answered in minutes!

Top Western Digital Computers & Internet Experts

Grand Canyon Tech
Grand Canyon Tech

Level 3 Expert

3867 Answers

Sean Wright
Sean Wright

Level 3 Expert

2045 Answers

Paul Bade

Level 3 Expert

1818 Answers

Are you a Western Digital Computer and Internet Expert? Answer questions, earn points and help others

Answer questions

Manuals & User Guides

Loading...