Hi everyone,
this is my first post at HDDguru, although I've often found useful advice in your forum.

I have a problem with the 2.5" Western Digital USB HDD mentioned in the subject: yesterday morning I accidentally dropped it from about 90 cm high, while putting it into my bag. About 2 hours later, when I plugged it into my laptop's USB port, the OS (Win7 32bit) took a lot of time to make it appear in the device list, and then a message appeared, asking to format the hard drive. I don't remember exactly, but I also received another message, I figured it was this:
"Request could not be performed because of an I/O device error" (looking in the internet, this seems the right english version of the message I got, which was written in Italian).

After trying to recover files or even partitions with various software, namely Easeus partition master and Easeus data recovery wizard, I tried HDD Regenerator, which began to repair some sectors of the hard drive, although too slowly given the extent of the damage, so i stopped it. Then, at the beginning of a second run, it told me that the MBR was corrupted. I stopped the second run as well (it was repairing at an average speed of one sector per minute, and just in the first GB there were more than 10000 damaged sectors, you do the math). After that, the hard drive seemed just slow but functional (it showed the NTFS partition with the right size and amount of free space, and even its icon in Win7 MyComputer) and then it disappeared completely.
Now, every time I try to plug it, Windows doesn't give any sign: neither the HDD appears in the device list, nor the OS temporarily freezes trying to recognize the device; simply, nothing. Moreover, the type of noise I can hear when the HDD is connected changed a little: it is definitely spinning, but the type and frequency of some little clicks has varied two or three times since it was functioning (I won't try to describe the noises, guess it would be paranoid and useless).

I have to say that this particular model of hard drive was known to have some flaws in USB interface design: in fact I already experienced several minor problems since I bought it in march 2010. So I really hope it is just something about the USB controller that went wrong during the impact: in fact, when I disassembled the case, I saw that the corners of the hard drive are protected with rubber pieces from the hard plastic, and that the USB input port isn't.

What I'm asking you is, given the PDF attachment with photos of the hard drive, which show some pins on the PCB: is it possible to bypass the USB port and create or buy some specific serial-ata cable to get some of the data back? Some of the files are already backed up, some others aren't, specifically some important university learning material and personal files that would be painful to lose.

Thank you all in advance, I trust that this is one of the best places in the web to look for competent help.



Saverio

Bad Move


No way

ur problem is ELSE WHERE

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Kuwait Data Recovery - UNIX GTC
The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once. By: Albert Einstein

Bad move because HDD Regenerator is a dangerous software? I didn't know what to do and it seemed a fairly safe choice.

About the problem being elsewhere, did you mean that the HDD could be damaged inside?

Proper diagnose needed with this special types
no DIY place for it

send it to Pro.

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Kuwait Data Recovery - UNIX GTC
The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once. By: Albert Einstein

@saveriocatena:

Correct, in the same way as any kind of intensive I/O, this s/w is especially dangerous for some kinds of fault.


It isn't a "safe choice" - but unfortunately you didn't know this


I don't know exactly what einstein9 was hinting at, but IMHO internal damage (head / media / bearing etc.) is definitely a strong possibility, based on your description of clicks and unusual spinning noises.

The more you try to use it, the more damage could be occurring inside (see the first comment above)

Il problema all'inizio era risolvibile (seppure non da te) in maniera relativamente "indolore" , adesso e' tutto molto piu' difficile. Se i dati non sono importanti, facci una croce sopra. Se invece lo sono e serve sicurezza, , e' necessario un intervento fisico con opportune conoscenze e strumenti. Scordati tutti i magheggi e le ipotesi e le ca....te che si leggono su internet. Dimenticavo, la USB non c'entra nulla.

In the beginning, the solution (despite no DIY was possible) was quite "painless" , now it's much more difficult. If data is not important, carry on and accept the loss. If not and want 100% safety , physical intervention with appropriate KH and equipment is needed. Forget all "magic" and internet bullshit. Last, USB is not the culprit.

Thanks to you all for your answers, now I'm pretty sure I won't plug the hard disk anymore on my pc. I just have to decide where to send the drive.

And thanks for the bilingual answer, BlackST!

i think BlackST is closer to u

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Kuwait Data Recovery - UNIX GTC
The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once. By: Albert Einstein

Hi everyone, I'm updating the thread in case someone is interested in WD RMA policy: since I managed to recover a good part of the lost data (thanks to both other PCs and Megaupload, just days before its shut down), I decided to try and get another HDD from WD. Following the instructions about packaging, I sent the broken disc to WD Collection Centre in Italy, and about a week later a new replacement was shipped to me.
I went lucky and I received a 1TB unit, by the way.