external HDD not working

WalterMitty

I have a western digital 500gb external harddrive that doesnt seem to be working. It doesnt make any noise like it used to when it is plugged in. the green light still comes on but nothing else happens and laptop doesnt recognised it as plugged in my usb. Anywhere in Dublin i can go to get data off it or can it be easily fixed?
Cheers

bonzodog2

Your best bet is to try another enclosure or USB adapter cable, they cheap on ebay. If you haven't dropped the drive you'll prob be OK.

WalterMitty

Bought a new Belkin usb cable and still doesnt work.

Duckjob

I've had the problem with external drives before where the USB drivers got messed up and windows stopped recognising the connection of the device to the USB port. I found deleting and reinstalling the devices listed under USB corrected the problem.

Just be aware though - if you have other previously installed USB devices, removing the USB devices will probably mean you will have to uninstall/reinstall them to get them working again.

Edit: I would check with diff PC and diff USB cable before trying this. I would only do this if the problem seems localised to 1 particular PC.

bonzodog2

I didn't mean the regular USB cable you connect the drive with (although these could go faulty too); I meant a IDE/SATA -- USB adapter, a bit like an enclosure without the box.

WalterMitty

bonzodog2 wrote: »

I didn't mean the regular USB cable you connect the drive with (although these could go faulty too); I meant a IDE/SATA -- USB adapter, a bit like an enclosure without the box.

where can i buy a ide /sata adaptor to connect the hard drive to my laptop?
The hard disk doesnt move anymore but power light is on.

bonzodog2

here is one, it does IDE & SATA, but at 500GB, I expect yours is SATA.

WalterMitty

https://www.amazon.co.uk/IOMAX-SATA-Adapter-Power-Drive/dp/B001A5SK56/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1289962176&sr=8-4
is that the right thing?

I found a site showing ya what to do.
http://www.ransackery.com/western-digital-mybook-open-case-recover-data.htm
My drive is identical to the one featured and i am gonna follow the instructions. My friend is an engineer so i'll ask him if he has that equipment.
Cheers

Lu Tze

Is it showing up in disk management (Right click my computer -> manage)

See if there is a 500GB hard drive showing up with no letter assigned to it

bonzodog2

The amazon item you link to should do the trick, and the disassembly guide looks good too. Lets hope they sort you out !

WalterMitty

Lu Tze wrote: »

Is it showing up in disk management (Right click my computer -> manage)

See if there is a 500GB hard drive showing up with no letter assigned to it

No, no 500 gb hard drive showing up without a letter