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External Drive is being impossible

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Avivius - Apr 17, 2015 at 10:57 AM
xpcman
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 - Apr 18, 2015 at 01:41 PM
Hello,
My external drive (a 500 GB WD My Passport) recently started acting up. It freezes anything I seem to click or try to use and it won't unfreeze until I unplug the HD (tested this while letting the PC try to unfreeze overnight). Whenever I plug the HD it does not show up in My Computer, but I can see in the Device Manager that it does recognize my HD is plugged in because it pops up a USB Mass Storage Device on the list.

Another thing is that whenever I unplug the HD windows pops a message saying my HD needs to be formatted and even includes the hard drive letter it used to assign my drive (in this case, H:). All of these symptoms appear on my laptop as well. I have tried other storage devices I own with both my PC and laptop - works perfectly fine.

I don't mind wiping the HD clean but I'd like to avoid it if possible. Does anyone here have a possible solution for me?

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xpcman
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Apr 17, 2015 at 01:03 PM
My best guess is that your hard disk has failed. Some WD external drives can be be replaced by either laptop or desktop drives. It's worth a try to pry open the case and see if the drive simply plugs into the USB electronics.

Good luck
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Avivius
Apr 17, 2015 at 01:59 PM
I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand. Do mean I should remove the plastic cover and plug it like a small flash drive?I can't do that since my PC does not have USB 3.0 ports.
If that's not what you meant, would you mean elaborating?
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xpcman
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Apr 17, 2015 at 02:46 PM
An external hard drive has two main components:
1. a USB interface (either USB 2 or USB 3)
2. a physical hard drive

I think your physical hard drive has failed.
Some older WD external drives have hard drives that can be unplugged and replace with a standard 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 inch hard drive. The newer WD drives may have the drive soldered to the USB interface.
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Avivius
Apr 18, 2015 at 02:58 AM
Then what do you suggest I do? Can I send my HD to be fixed or is it rendered useless now?
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xpcman
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Apr 18, 2015 at 01:41 PM
I suggest you buy a new drive.
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