HDD failure!!!

[Spectral Morn]

Had drives fail on me, Sky+ box drive, and drive in a Yamaha HD/CD recorder fail, I replaced the Yamaha one, the Sky one I just replaced the box. I keep back ups of computer HDs but to be frank the best back ups are the original physical item, though with downloads and digital photos that is no so easy.

I have audio tapes going back at least 40 years and most I have tried seem to be still ok, but these too will fail in time

I have a few WD HDs not good that folks have had problems with them. Most brands seem to have issues, Seegate having maybe more than others reported.

I hope you recover your data. That Yamaha drive has lots of cool music on it, lost

[struth]

quick count there are 5 ext hdd's in my livingroom all up

[Edward]

not sure which wd device you have Oli, but given that you say 'Plugged in my WD HDD' I guess it is a USB attached device. I would say that either the USB input on your computer is not 'seeing' it or the controller on your WD device has failed. I would, as a first step, try the wd device on a different usb channel or better on a different computer. If it works then great, if not than, as a second step, the controller on the wd device may have failed. If it were me I would then open up the wd device and get the hard disc out and plug it in an internal sata port on your computer (you need to get into the guts of your computer for this). Most likely, but not 100% guaranteed, the computer will now see the wd drive and you will be able to grab the files from it. Of course the actual drive may have failed in which case specialised data recovery is something you may wnt to look at.

In terms of having back ups I agree with the suggestion of having it in three places. I have all my pictures, documents, music etc either twice or three times locally and once in the cloud (unattended incremental back up to crashplan with unlimited storage).

Good luck.

[struth]

not sure which wd device you have Oli, but given that you say 'Plugged in my WD HDD' I guess it is a USB attached device. I would say that either the USB input on your computer is not 'seeing' it or the controller on your WD device has failed. I would, as a first step, try the wd device on a different usb channel or better on a different computer. If it works then great, if not than, as a second step, the controller on the wd device may have failed. If it were me I would then open up the wd device and get the hard disc out and plug it in an internal sata port on your computer (you need to get into the guts of your computer for this). Most likely, but not 100% guaranteed, the computer will now see the wd drive and you will be able to grab the files from it. Of course the actual drive may have failed in which case specialised data recovery is something you may wnt to look at.

In terms of having back ups I agree with the suggestion of having it in three places. I have all my pictures, documents, music etc either twice or three times locally and once in the cloud (unattended incremental back up to crashplan with unlimited storage).

Good luck.

yup thats what i did. got a set of cables for doing it, although they i think are out of date now.

[struth]

something like this might work with laptop etc and some software. you'd need to remove the disk from its enclosure

https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGREEN-Adap...mputers&sr=1-7
or
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B075WTVL...1-518c014959eb

[Bigman80]

i am in the process of sorting a similar situation. mine failed reloading from the back up to the imac with a new ssd. i have a mate trying to recover 10 years of photos. i tried a new caddy for the hdd, then he took it, downloaded some expensive software (which could see the files) and is now trying to work out how to get them off.

a data recovery place quoted £1,100 to do it! Plus VAT!

good luck.

Oh man, that's profiteering madness.

[Bigman80]

Ok guys, thanks for the advice.

I'll try another laptop. Seems logical!

Then I'll definitely find some alternatives to having multiple copies of files. Seems like WD are shite, after reading online.

What a pain.

[Jimbo]

Sorry to hear that Oil very bad news. Unfortunately only too common and happens to best of us. Not sure if there is a way of getting anything off if it is a HDD failure. Just try it with another computer maybe to make sure it is the drive and not some incompatibility with software you have on your computer.

Computer audio!

[struth]

ive 4 wd drives so dont tempt fate by saying they are shoite

[Sherwood]

If it is a usb drive then you might want to try a y-cable that uses 2 usb ports with the second port providing power. Sometimes a drive that has not been used for a while has difficulties booting up properly. Such cables are very cheap so no risk trying this out.