Hello.
I'm trying to pinpoint the problem on a friend's drive and hopefully fix it using software instead of some recovery service (priced out of range for us).
The disk is "My Passport Ultra" (500GB).
He shuts down the system and removes the disk every night. He reconnects it next morning to work.
It was working fine until yesterday night but this morning it refused to start. Its light keeps flashing and eventually Windows claims that the disk needs formatting. It also did some clicks during the time this was going on. He claims that it did the same sounds when it was getting shut down for some time before today.
I took it to my laptop to check it.
1) Windows 7 saw it and installed the drivers for it. When i tried to start it up, I also got its flashing light but no clicking sounds. Windows assigns it a drive letter but claims that the drive needs formatting.
2) I downloaded and run the WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostic 1.31.
It sees the assigned volume letter but not the drive.
3) I downloaded and run the WD Drive Utilities 1.4.3.13.
It saw the drive and its size.
I run its SMART status and it passed.
Then I tried the Quick Drive Tests. Instead of taking a few minutes, it has been at it for a few hours. It went a bit slow but it got stuck for good at 90%. No idea what it's checking at this point.
Next I will try some other utility to see if it finds any data so I can back it up.
As is, can anybody make an educated guess where the problem might be and if there's a chance for it to be fixed with some software.
Assuming he didn't leave the drive on top of some magnetic source and everything has actually been erased
Thanks in advance for any pointers.
P.S.
I forgot to mention.
In the WD site they refer to Power Booster Cable. In the case the drive needs more power to startup for some reason.
I can't find it anywhere so if anybody knows of a source for it, I wouldn't mind getting and trying it.