WD External HD USB adaptor gone - recovery?

[northwind]

The HD works fine, I was just an idiot and took it out of it's case and threw the case away without thinking about it. Alright, well I'm just going to have to destroy it then.

1) There are multiple revisions for this model's controller board. So, DIY won't work unless I'm willing to spend $500-$1,000 for each revision.

2) Unless a data recovery company has all the different revisions on the controller board, they are not going to be able to recover the data either.

Well, I learned some valuable lessons, wish I didn't have to lose a decade's worth of files but I need to let it go so I stop making myself sick over it.

I will 100% never buy an external HD again unless it's for my laptop & is one of those passport HDs. I will backup my files twice and I will only use internal HDs for my desktop (no clue why I even used an external HD to begin with as it never moved).

Thanks to those who tried to help. I really appreciate it.

Pardon me saying that throwing away a decade's worth of files just because your drives external case went bad (or lost or thrown away or....) is a little crazy in my humble opinion.

If you don't mind sending your drive abroad, we can check it and assuming nothing else is wrong with your drive, we'll recover it for you for free.

[squishy]

The closest thing I recommend is to find the controller board near the year the drive was made, but also with a hard drive with more less the same SN as the one you have, that controller board might work, otherwise just buy several different boards and try them out. One of them is bound to work and it should not damage your drive or cost that much on ebay.

I believe that WD external drives are all encrypted, so its best to stay way clear of that manufacture for hard drives. I have no idea why they encrypt data like that. I never touch WD.

It's $100 a controller board on ebay so that's way too expensive for me.

[labtech]

Tell us your city in the U.S., please.

Few, if not all (I forget who exactly) WD partners offer free evaluations.

Like Northwind, if your location is near by our service location, I will PM you with a link with where to send your device and we will perform the recovery for free as far as the work goes (as long as it is does not involve parts and so on), BUT you will pay for shipping back and forth and market price for a USB P-n-P device that will accommodate the amount of data to recover. Or you can send your in own device as long as it is brand new with seals intact (this is probably roughly a $80 to $170 value after adding all shipping and P-n-P device)

Not looking for any reviews or anything merit related. Don't really care. It is just a one time "giving back to our customers" scenario if you will.

I would say, you can't beat that.

[northwind]

I will kindly retract my offer for free recovery for this, since it is already 20 days old and I would expect a "thanks but no thanks" from the OP.