It does not recognize the unit. This is the
It does not recognize the unit. This is the second WD external drive that I have lost. I can't retrieve my data
Computers & Internet - Western Digital - Passport - WD Passport 250GB Portable Drive 250 GB Hard Drive
Answers & Comments
The first thing to try is plug it into another computer. See if you can read it there.
If that doesn't work, all may not be lost: you can buy generic external hard disk cases for around $30 (if memory serves). Take your WD passport into the shop and make sure that you get one that is compatible with the disk drive (SATA or IDE). If you ask nicely, the guy in the shop may even put the hard disk into the new case for you.
If the disk appears dead in the new case, the only option is extremely expensive data recovery services.
If you can see the disk, but you're having problems reading the data there's a bunch of free utilities you can use to try to get some or all of your data back:
http://www.piriform.com/recuva
http://www.micware.110mb.com/micp.htm (encopy)
http://www.officerecovery.com/ (freeundelete)
http://www.roadkil.net/listing.php?Category=1 (unstoppable copier and undelete)
http://tokiwa.qee.jp/EN/PartitionRecovery/
I hope that's helped some. Good luck!
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