I have a Western Digital Passport portable external hard drive that is no longer recognized by any computer. I have data on here that I would like to save, however, I can't afford the several hundred dollar fees that I've been quoted by data retrieval services. Is there anyway to do this on the cheap? Also, I don't want to completely void my warranty becasue the company has agreed to replace the drive but I would definitely loose all of my data. Thanks.
2007-03-01 03:45:47 · 6 answers · asked by mrdilettante 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Add-ons
You spoke to the h/d manufacture at that time did you ask if they could retrieve the data on your hard drive for you? Are they taking responsibility for the defect ask them what you should/can do. It's their product so don't back down, force there hand .
2007-03-04 02:04:16 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Ewww...
The only suggestion I would have to get the data off there without using data retrieval would be to take it apart and hook the drive up to your computer like an internal drive. But that would void the warranty.
You could try to get a hold of a freeware data recovery software, but I haven't seen one of those in ages.
I guess you need to weigh the cost of your two options.
Option #1: Take apart the drive, void the warranty, "Possibly" retrieve the data and still have a usable, though now only internal hard drive.
Option #2: Take it to a service center for data recovery and "possibly" retrieve the data.
Would it cost more to buy a new external drive than to take it to a service center?
2007-03-01 03:55:19 · answer #2 · answered by Bjorn 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
if the h/d itself is dead freezing it might allow you to retrieve data from it if the enclosure died the data on the h/d is still accessible either by putting the h/d in another enclosure or in the computer itself using an unused ide slot.
2007-03-01 04:24:49 · answer #3 · answered by james B 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Freeze it. it wont void the warranty and has a better chance of working than almost any other method.
put it in a paper bag, and set in the freezer for 5-10 minutes. then hook it back up and copy files as fast as possible
2007-03-01 03:56:58 · answer #4 · answered by Scott B 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I have come acrross a brief study on how to retrive data from a defective hard drive. It will be very useful to you. viste http://www.jskproducts.co.uk/harddrive.htm
2007-03-01 23:20:47 · answer #5 · answered by YAN 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're SOL, my friend.
2007-03-01 03:49:46 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋