Help needed, WD500AAKS not detected

[tcutchi]

Hi guys, here's the HDD: http://imgur.com/a/UJoId (Top and bottom)

Earlier today it just.. Ceased to exist from windows. I pulled the power cable and put it back in and it started working, only to disappear again a couple hours later.

Now it won't start at all. It sometimes shows up in Device Manager as "ATA Device" or "Disk Drive" but not as the model number like all my other drives. (http://i.imgur.com/nGHqH2g.png)

Nothing has been changed physically on the PC, nor has it been bumped. It just... Stopped. All other drives are fine.

When it first gets power it makes this odd clicking noise for around 45 secs before getting quiet again: http://vocaroo.com/i/s0l5MlwPoMRR (You may have to turn the volume up a bit, it's pretty quiet and was recorded on my phone)

I don't feel it spinning.

I've tested both it's SATA and power cables on another drive, which worked, so I know it's not the connections or cables. Putting the other drive's cables on the WD makes no difference.

What can I do to recover the data on it? Or possibly get it working?

[tcutchi]

I don't feel it spinning.

Update: The drive is now spinning, but still won't actually show up in Explorer. (Still shows up in Device Manager as ATA Device)

Does NOT show up in BIOS, I forgot to mention that in the original post.

[data-medics]

Ah yes, the familiar click of death. The drive's read/write heads have almost certainly failed and it'll need clean room work. If the data is valuable, send it to a professional. (let me know what state you're in and I can recommend someone). The longer it's powered on, and the more times it's power cycled the less data you'll get back.

If it's not valuable, probably best to just trash it and get a new drive.

[tcutchi]

Thanks for the reply.

The data is somewhat important, but definitely not worth the $300+ estimates I've been getting (I'm in the SW Chicagoland area in IL). It was being used as a misc stuff drive (Downloads and whatnot).

I'll try to contact WD once their site is back up, but if I don't get any help from them (since it most likely IS out of warranty period anyway I couldn't blame them), I've watched some videos on possibly opening up the drive and freeing the head myself just for the off chance it MIGHT work since I realistically have nothing to lose.

I've already bought a 2TB WD Black to replace it, which is much better anyway and I can likely get most of the useful data back by just re-downloading as I need it.

[tcutchi]

Oh, no, I have nowhere near enough experience to even attempt actually swapping anything out or back in. I was just gonna nudge the read head back to home if the issue is it being stuck, that's all. I'm not investing any more money into it since most of the data was just programs, music, and pictures (which are auto backed up anyway). Stuff like that, quite easily replacable. That's why I'm not all that worried about it.

And the stuff that can't be replaced is honestly not worth putting any money into recovering anyway.

The reason I posted the issue here was in case I was missing something simple I could do to skip the hassle of having to re-download everything is all.

In fact the thread can be marked "solved" if there's a way to do so.

Thanks for trying and the info, guys, I do appreciate it.

[northwind]

I was just gonna nudge the read head back to home if the issue is it being stuck, that's

Hi
It's not a heads stuck case, otherwise the drive would beep/buzz and not click and spin down.

Having said that, there is nothing for you to do inside the drive (no offense! ).

I'll agree with Spildit on this, just store the drive and forget it. You may find yourself realising that there's "something" in there that you'll need in a few months/years.

Just don't waste the drive by opening it. My $.02
Good luck.