Hi there, I just bought my WD My passport 500gb usb 2.0 last november, it was fine until yesterday when I mistakenly pulled out the cable while it was installing the WD smartware on the laptop, since then the drive has stopped working. The security settings come up, but then the drive light starts flashing and although the drive appears as a Local Disk (K) on My computer on clicking it an error message saying that the location not available..file pathway is corrupt or unreadable..I tried performing the diagnostics using the WD smart ware but its stops at 90%, I still have warranty on the product but i was wondering whether is any other way of avoiding the hassle. Zi

i have Western Digital My Passport Essential 500GB USB - Blue but now shows 2 TB.and hard disk not shows my computer.i can see in device manager.have any solution about it.
plz if anyone help that really kind for me...
thanx

Sadly you don't.
Dropping a hard drive and having it still work is something you should never expect.
You could pry the case open and put the drive it in an empty external drive case and see if it works, or try a new cable, but the most delicate part is the drive mechanism itself, and if anythings broken, that is most probably it.
You could probably get a replacement, maybe not WD, for around $60 and one I got on special $70 including postage from an online seller a few weeks ago had a 500GB WD drive in it.

Does it work when plugged-in to any other PC/Mac? If not, it is DEFECTIVE. Return it, and get a replacement.

Does a different USB device (keyboard, mouse, memory-stick) work, when plugged into that USB port?

hi

go to WD site and get drivers for XP downlod and run that then try hopw fully it will work

I had the same exact problem with a WD2500xms passport. The problem was the USB cable. I went to the store and bought a 6' USB cable ( $26 at Radio Shack) with the same specs and now, no more problems. Also I called WD technical support (800.275.4932) and asked for a new cable. The WD customer serverice was very helpful and said it would sending me a new cable for free. When it arrives I'll return the 6'er.

Try using a Usb 2 cable "The one that came with the WD My Passport " And put it directly to the PC...
In some cases, Like mine, I used an extended cable + the cable that came with the "WD My Passport" and i got the same problem ..
So i simply removed the extended cable and put the put "WD My Passport " directly to the PC with its own cable and the problem was solved to me ..
Samer.F

The problem is that your powerbook G4 does not provide enough power to your 160gb passport HD. This does not happens to the new Macs with intel inside.
There are several ways to fix it:
1) Go to West Digital Website and buy a "Power Buster Cable USB" (that connect your 2 USB ports to your passport HD in order to provide more power). I think that it costs 10$. This is the link: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/accessories.asp?ProdID=170
2) The other solution is easier. If you have an external USB hard drive with two USB ports, or a DVD/CD burner with two usb ports, you can pug your passport in one of the ports while the other HD or DVD/CD burner is connected to you PowerBook. You will be able to see and use your q60gb Passport HD.

I have the 80GB WD passport and it suddenly stopped working one day.  The unit lights up but nothing else.  Finally I cracked the case open and found, as I suspected, that the drive is simply a SATA laptop drive with a SATA-to-USB conversion card built in.  I suspected that the card was **** so I disconnected it and used a USB hard drive adapter (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=3770&name=USB_Hard_Drive_Adapter) and I can read/write to the drive just fine.  Best part is that the adapter I use has its own power supply so I'm not pulling juice through the USB cable for a SATA drive. 
Even though mine "works" again I don't recommend these drives to anyone.  They're just not sturdy enough or well designed.

i need the instalation