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WD hard disk not detected on My Computer, I/O device error

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I have a 1 and a half year old WD 1 TB hard disk which was giving great service. Recently, it has started showing errors and I really need to recover the data.

The laptop gives the sound notification when I plug it in, and also the "remove device safely" option gets enabled. But the drive does not get displayed on My Computer. I checked the device manager, and the hard disk is shown


The disk management shows the hard disk 1 as unknown and not initialized. I tried initializing it, but it shows I/O device failure.




Please help, as I really need to recover the data available on the hard disk before I format or ask for a replacement. Various data recovery software have been tried unsuccessfully (Ease US Data Recovery, Recuva, PC Inspector, Stellar Phoenix, Yodot Hard Drive Recovery, iCare Data Recovery)
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I suggest that you may find this Kioskea How-to very helpful:

https://ccm.net/faq/26351-western-digital-hard-disk-not-being-detected
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 151 > Nits
Hi Nits,

Are you facing the same problem as the other users above? If your drive is not recognized by more than one PC and you have tested it with another cable, sadly, it may have failed. Are there any strainge noises coming from the drive, like ticking sounds? These noises indicate serious mechanical issues which are not repairable. If you are using a WD drive, contact the local support and ask for further guidance:
http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=TXcOSQ

Hope this helps
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Hi there,

I have same problem with WD external disk, It is not detecting while shown in Disk Management with Unknown and Not initialized.
Please suggest what to do next?
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 151 > Pankaj
Hi Pankaj,

I am sorry for the trouble caused by your WD drive. Is this a new drive or you have been using it without any problems? Do you have important data on the drive? If you do not have, try to format it, by right clicking the drive in Disk Management. If formatting is not an option, connect the drive on another PC and with another USB cable. Can you feel the normal spinning noises coming from the drive and is there a beep signal when you connect the drive to the PC?
If you manage to successfully format the drive, I recommend you to check its condition with Data Lifeguard Diagnostic. I leave you a download link below:
http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=jNQXrc

Hope this helps
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I'm Too facing the same problem ,....??'
what is the solution
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 151 > Jan
Hi Jan,

Could you give us some more details about the issue? Is this a new drive or you have been using it in the past? Please test it on another PC and with another USB cable. Search for the drive in Disk Management. If it appears with wrong file format or as not initialized, run Command Prompt as an Administrator and type the following commands:
Diskpart
List disk

Check if the drive appears and if it has a correct file format. Do you remember dropping the hard drive or hitting it by accident? Do you have important data stored on the hard drive? If you do, try using some recovery tools in order to save the most important files. I leave you some suggestions below:
https://ccm.net/download/file-management-53
Once all data is saved, try to test the drive with Data Lifeguard Diagnostic:
http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=jNQXrc

Unfortunately, if the drive keeps giving you the I/O device error, even on another PC, you may need to replace the drive.

Hope this helps
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