Hi there,

I have a 500GB WD external drive. It worked perfectly fine until today. I bought it in the US, now I'm in Europe. It worked fine though, but now it doesn't turn on and the power light just blinks. Also, the converter has the green light on, but as soon as I plug the drive also starts blinking.
I cannot believe the HD is broken, I'm more inclined to believe it's the USB. I tried plugg/unplugg game and didn't work. I'm a bit reluctant to open the case but it may be the only way to check, I am not that acquainted with the mechanical stuff and I don't won't to f*ck up.

Any idea what else could it be?

thanks!

Is it a WD Passport? I'm guessing not if you've got it plugged into the wall, but it sounds like it is, so I'm not sure what kind of converter you're using. Anyway, it could be a power issue. Are you plugged into a laptop? I can't use my Passport on a laptop for long - it doesn't get enough power. Or it could be a power issue because of your converter. Check the WD website and look through their "answers" (they are numbered answers to "FAQs"). Also, make sure you're using the short little USB cord that comes with it if it is a Passport - long cords reduce power availability.

It all depends on what you're able/willing to do, or what you're willing to pay someone to do it.

I'd start by removing the drive from the enclosure. Just be sure you don't actually open the drive itself.

Hey guys,

thanks for the answers. I'm using a WD 500GB external drive, that worked perfectly fine until yesterday.
I never needed a pwd, here the problem is that it doesn't turn on, does not appear in the laptop and the light blinks. I'll check the FAQs. I'll remove the drive from the enclosure and see if it's ok. Could the whole thing be broken out of the blue? it doesn't make any funny noise, worked fine the day before, now just won't turn on. I use the cord that came with the device and the light is on before I plug it to the USB and then starts blinking too.

Any more thoughts? thanks!

I would contact Western Digital. But definitely check out their answer database first.

I think I missed something... You said a light on the 'Converter' is blinking. Do you mean a 110V to 220V converter? Do you know what the light means? To answer your question, yes, anything can fail at any time for no reason at all. I'm still not sure what's going on from the description, but it could be a problem with the external power supply, the Converter, or the internal IDE-USB board. If it was mine, I'd check the adapter with a multimeter. Second thing I'd do is open the enclosure and test the drive in a computer. You'd lose your warranty, but likely you will lose either that, or your data. If data isn't important, then just send it in for Warranty if you still have one.

Hi man! Pls give me the WD contact info. and thanks very much