Hi all,

My External Caviar Green HDD is not working. When plugged in you can hear the drive try to spin up and then there are 3 sweep/click noises with about a second gap in between. It does this another 3 times after that, and then the drive powers down.

I connected it internally on my desktop PC and it does the same thing.

It shows in Device Manager as just "WD Elements" only, whereas before it used to have the whole code after the title.

WD10EADS-00M2B0
Date of Manufacture: 15 AUG 2009
DCM: HBRCHV2CBB
R/N 701640

I took some pics of the PCB, and wanted to ask some advice on what to do next to try and recover my data. Do you think a replacement PCB will help me, and if so does anyone know of a good place in or near the UK where I can buy one?

Many Thanks all
T

No, sounds like a physical problem

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

Agree with DRC this happens a lot with WD and more times than one they are head problems on these drives. Not too stable these drives. Changing out the PCB will not help you in this one. Sorry but you will either have to RMA this HDD or take it to a recovery shop who knows these drives well and the head alignment issues inside of them to get back your data. Not much choice and more than likely not what you wanted to hear on this one.

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Iorana Haraharaini

Oh dear,
Well thank you very much for the words of wisdom.

Do you think it would make a difference on the ability to recover, if I waited a year or two before going to a recovery shop? It's just down to my financial situation at the moment.
thanks
T

Not if the drive is stored safely (not just bumping around in a drawer or something)

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

Usualy, those type of drive (M2B) has only one or two unstable heads, so you could avoid expensive headswap operation, and if you are satisfied with partial recovery, it will be much cheaper but still you have to contact with experts.

Also, you should consider the problem, that your drive was hardware encrypted with encloser (WD Element).

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Angel Data Recovery

Thank you for the expert replies folks,

Well seeing as this is indeed a community of experts, does anyone know someone reputable that is based in the UK, that could help me recover data from this drive?

If so, please do PM me.
thanks
Tiny

I think we would all recommend Sean at pcimage

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.