Hello all,

First post after a lot of searching and reading. I have a WD hard drive that tries to spin up but fails and is not detected by my computer. This is a 500 GB drive that I purchased about 20 years ago. I haven’t used it in 16 years, so the data is functionally gone for me anyway, and I won’t be using a data recovery firm. I’m just trying to diagnose what’s wrong and am hoping that someone can point me toward a possible solution.

Background info:

The hard drive is from a WD MyBook, which I last used in 2010. It was working fine at the time, was shut down properly and has never experienced physical trauma to my knowledge.

The drive was placed into a storage facility with the original antistatic bag and plastic spacers, and that’s where it stayed from 2010 until now.

Upon connecting the drive, it didn’t seem to spin up. The drive made an extremely quiet noise that sounded like “ssss — ting — ssss — ting — sss — ting.”

My research suggested that this pointed to a possible power delivery issue, so I removed the drive from the enclosure and put it in a new one.

In the new enclosure, the drive does try to spin up. I can hear the “whoosh” and feel vibrations. However, the drive is now making a clunking noise. The noise sounds like “ca-clunk ca-clunk ca-clunk.” The drive then spins down, spins back up, makes the clunking noise again and then turns off.

Once again, this data is functionally gone for me either way. I’ve been without whatever is on this drive for 16 years. I’m looking for the likely cause of the problem so I can try a “one shot” fix before I write the whole thing off.

Is it possible that it’ll just start working if I keep trying?

Freezer trick? (Yeah, I know — but still, any chance?)

Is it possible that the enclosure is the problem?

Is this a head replacement scenario?

The behavior described indicates a damaged head block.
The WD startup sequence consists of three boot attempts, during which it attempts to find the SA servo markers. If this fails, the drive shuts down.

Connecting a mechanically damaged drive will not magically make it work. However, it may cause additional damage.

Freezing the drive can cause moisture to condense inside the housing, causing further damage.

This isn't a case problem, as you seem to have already learned. However, it's possible that the original WD housing is encrypted, and changing it even under favorable conditions may not allow access to the data.

Yes, the head damage scenario is the most likely, and any DIY attempts will increase the final price and complexity if it turns out that the data is indeed needed and the assistance of a competent company will be necessary to recover it.

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At least replace original board with donor board. replace the original rom on donor board.

Likely the disk media has degaussed rendering the disk unable to work anymore. Hard disks should be powered up about once every 5 years to be sure the platters can be refreshed etc,

SSD bit rot makes them pointless for archival needs.

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USB 3.5" enclosures are $19 USD postage paid from China, I own several

The only thing I'd try as a last resort is removing the control board and cleaning the contacts leading to the head assembly. After 16 years of not using it, I'm almost certain they've become heavily oxidized and have poor contact, which could also cause similar clicking sounds.

If this doesn't help, then unfortunately, data recovery is only possible with a head replacement; these sounds are a clear sign of problems with the heads.

Oxidisation on WD PCBs:

https://www.hddoracle.com/viewtopic.php?f=86&t=649

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A backup a day keeps DR away.