WD Book 3TB Cannot be Accessed  

Windows 10 Pro - 1909, OS Build: 18363.657

Howdy Folks,
Shortly after a successful Macrium Reflect full backup [SSD Primary Image & HDD Secondary Files & Folders .mrbak] on my desktop the Book failed backing up my laptop.
Disk Manager says it needs to be initialized (attached) and Reflect shows it to be empty (attached).
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It's certainly old enough to be replaced. I will do that.
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I'm hoping one of my friends here can suggest how I might salvage some files. I could take it apart and see if it will fit in my SATA docking station. (?) I'm guessing there *may* be something else to try first.

Much appreciation goes out to all who read this and to those who reply!

@jumanji is really good with this stuff.


I prefer raw drives and a dock for the reasons outlined by Samuria. Some of the enclosed ones are even solder to electronics.


Any chance it is still under warranty. Doesn't do anything for data but helps wallet.


I always tell people that data has to be in two digital places to avoid such data losses.


Pretty sure jumanji will have solid recommendations. It is very late in his timezone.

Samuria,
I never use software that comes with backup drives.
So all should be NTFS format.
Is MiniTools Partition Wizard a good choice? Google presents many sources; is one in particular better than other?
Or, do you recommend a different product? Thanks!

Caledon Ken,
Re: "has to be in two digital places", I have several backup drives, *some* have identical data. I guess it's time to set up a system.
What do you recommend? e.g. Backup on one drive and copy to a 2nd; alternate two backup drives or a different procedure?
Thanks!

Hi @jdUnionngarden

All WD external drives, Desktop or Portable , except Elements model, are hardware encrypted. ( There is a hardware encrypt/decrypt chip in the SATA to USB bridge circuit inside the enclosure, which encrypts/ decrypts the data that goes into/comes out of the HDD.) So there is absolutely no point in taking out the HDD and trying to recover the data. You will only see a garbled encrypted data. If that electronics has failed, only WD Data recovery partners can recover the data for you but then you may have to part with many pounds of your flesh which you will deny to when you get a free quote.

So the only thing you can try is Partition recovery hoping that it is only the Partition table corruption, not the bridge circuit failure or the HDD failure ( any of the two is possible).

Now to get on to the task, download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard Free version 9.1 from here. (Yes, you heard it right - old version 9.1 and not any later version. In later versions Partition Recovery feature is not free)

MiniTool Partition Wizard Free 11.6 Download for Windows / Old Versions Page 2 / FileHorse.com

Please remove all that is plugged into your USB ports,except your keyboard/mouse, plug in only your faulty external drive - we do not want any clutter to remain focussed - , Run Partition Wizard, say NO if it offers a new version, and post a screenshot of how your drives look in it - the very first screen when you launch it.

On the left Pane click on Partition Recovery Wizard > Next > Select your faulty Drive > Next > Full Disk > Next > QuickScan > Next. Allow the quick scan to complete. At the end of the quickscan you will get a window showing all the found partitions Post a screenshot of it ( only that Window. No need of any background). After you have taken the screenshot click on Cancel button on that Window and close PW. You can run it again if need be.

Take your time and do it at your leisure. Whatever has happened had happened. Whatever will happen will happen .

Thank you jumanji
Due to other matters I must attend to I may, indeed, take my time and make sure I follow your steps precisely.
I will post my results when I have them.
Kind regards,

Myself I keep all my data on my system and backup to external drives. (Plural)

We all treat our data differently, I have copies on copies and a NAS.

My data lives in a separate partition on my system. On a monthly basis I copy the partition to a drive and transport it to the Bank where I pick up last month drive. I currently using 1TB SSD's and each hold a least two full copies.

To augment this I back up my dynamic data to a secondary drive every Saturday. I classify my data as either static or dynamic.

Copies of software, pictures, videos and music I put in the static bucket. They change but not very often.

Documents, PDF's, mail I classify as dynamic. This amounts to about 35GB. I start the copy and go about my day.

Then over reaching all of this I backup to a NAS daily using purchased Macrium.

A 4TB WD My Book I got a bit over a year ago came formatted as exFAT, probably because the packaging showed it as usable on a PC and a Mac. Mac OS X does not work well with NTFS unless having a third-party software but usually can read it, don't know about the newer macOS as my MacBook drive controller failed during an Upgrade.

Hi @jumanji,
I want to give you this update before I head off to vacation.
I recalled an incident ~6 months ago when my Desktop backup ran fine, then I started my Laptop backup and after chugging along for a few minutes it crashed. I checked my Book on my Desktop and it was 'good', but the Laptop couldn't see it. I switched to a Passport for that Laptop backup and tried the Book on it a few months later ... it work okay.
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This morning I connected the Book to my Desktop and everything was fine. Using a docking station for a couple 1TB HDDs from previous Desktops I found the critical files that were *only on the Book*. Those I copied to another drive.
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I'll be buying a new external backup (or two) and will upgrade my backup schedule with some guidance from @Caledon Ken.
Still, your instructions are great to have on hand and keep for future reference. Thanks again for that!
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With this new description of my issue, might you have any other thoughts about my Book, or just that it's telling me it is ready to retire?
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Best regards my friend!

Glad you could get your critical data back.

As for your My Book External drive, I would think it is almost on the verge of dying. The magnetic layer on the platters has become weak resulting in weak sectors.. Sometimes it would read and sometimes it would not. It is like gasping for the last breath. It is no longer reliable. When working, try to extract whatever data you may still want to recover and take it out of service.

it will be prudent and preferable that you buy good reputed external enclosure , and a desktop or laptop disk to go with it - HDDs if you want large capacity ( 1TB and larger) and SSDs if you can limit yourself to 500GB.( Personally I would prefer large capacity HDDs for backup.)

(Recently my daughter passed on a 3TB Seagate external drive, which she never used. ( She bought it thinking it is a portable external.) I used it only for a few hours for copying my backups and then the internal SATA to USB Bridge failed. I opened the case took out the 3TB HDD and it is now working on my ORICO dock for my present backups. I now have a spare 12V DC 1.5A AC adapter )