Depends, what drive do you have? Post the model number since some of them can be taken off the case to access the data and some other Passport models won’t let you do that.
I got exactly same problem with this disk. Mine stopped working a month ago (more or less). It may sound strange but I cannot remember exactly how did it happened, it just stopped working in a moment without reason. Now when I try to connect it, it just keeps running but it’s not detectable by any OS (tried Win 7, Ubuntu (USB 2.0 and also 3.0). It does not emit any strange sounds, it just sounds quite normal like a working disk that it was at the time when I bought it. Also on Ubuntu it connects infinitely, shows that its detected but can’t be accessed. Is there anything else I can do except giving it to Warranty Services and losing all my data?
// Sorry if I posted my message in the wrong place, I just thought mine issue have similar symptoms so there may be same reason behind.
You didn’t place this in the wrong spot if we’ve got the same problems. It’s just frustrating that after only a matter of 3 days my drive packed up and joined the choir invisible, with all my files on it.
it happens the same with My WD Elements. They told me western digital was the best making these external drives…“Was”, they were right, but it isn’t anymore. I’m really pissed off, cause I’ve lost a lot of data.
You most likely have errors on your hard drive. If you did not physically damage it then that would be my likely guess. A good test to use is the low level zero method I read on the knowledge base allowing your external to be tested for smart test. If it reads bad sectors then it has to be formatted. This is where I’m stuck too and its pissing me off. If you found out how to format it by a method that erases and formats the drive without failure please let me know. Thank you in advance!