ExPCUser
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Recover files from Western Digital MyBook hard drive
I have a freecom hard drive which does not seem to have a regular file system (its a Western Digital MyBook USB drive).
I have taken it out of the enclosure and run various PC recovery tools but the most I have managed to get is some files that dont work (it seems to just be clusters that are recovered ratehr then whole files)
Does anyone have any advice
I have taken it out of the enclosure and run various PC recovery tools but the most I have managed to get is some files that dont work (it seems to just be clusters that are recovered ratehr then whole files)
Does anyone have any advice
John
Is the drive working? That is, what happens when you plug it into a PC? If regular tools will not read the data when plugged into a PC, you may need a utility like SpinRite to fix the data so you can recover it (or part of it). ... Thinkpads_User
ASKER
I think the drive is working - I think it just uses a proprietary fromat that isnt regular NTFS so the PC does not recoginise it.
I don't understand that. I have a WD MyBook Drive at a client and it can be seen and used with a standard PC. The fact that it cannot be recognized suggests the drive is not working properly. ... Thinkpads_User
ASKER
Have you extracted the drive from within the WD MyBook enclosure?
The issue is that teh MyBook enclosure was damaged so I took out the drive and attached it as a regular IDE drive tot eh PC
The issue is that teh MyBook enclosure was damaged so I took out the drive and attached it as a regular IDE drive tot eh PC
I think you probably should try to get a new enclosure. I am not at all certain you can do what you are trying do. I don't think so, but I don't know for sure. ... Thinkpads_User
ASKER
To do that I would have to buy the same device again right? - problem is i dont know if it will work in any other enclosure tehn one of the same model?
Do you have any advise or experiance here?
Do you have any advise or experiance here?
It also occurs to me that it may not be an IDE drive at all (which does not have a bearing on the formatting). ... Thinkpads_User
I have no experience with changing enclosures. If it is the same drive (same model) it should work, otherwise who knows? Have you contacted Western Digital? You really are into a hardware repair here. ... Thinkpads_User
ASKER
ok thanks
All Western Digital MyBook drives (black book like enclosure) are pre-formatted as FAT32 so they can be seen by Macs and Linux systems. First thing you would do as a Windows user, would be to convert it to NTFS to optimise its use and be able to save files larger than 4GB. I would imagine Freecom drives would be similar.
simple command, START, Run and type: CONVERT volume letter /FS:NTFS /V /X
If it was under its warranty, removing from the enclosure just invalidated it. If the enclosure was damaged, was the drive running at the time, if so the drive may have been mechanically damaged - like a record player being kicked while it plays the vinyl. hooking it up to the PC as a slave drive might be your only option to try and recover the data - try this software:
http://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm
simple command, START, Run and type: CONVERT volume letter /FS:NTFS /V /X
If it was under its warranty, removing from the enclosure just invalidated it. If the enclosure was damaged, was the drive running at the time, if so the drive may have been mechanically damaged - like a record player being kicked while it plays the vinyl. hooking it up to the PC as a slave drive might be your only option to try and recover the data - try this software:
http://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm
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Hey! do not give up dear rather try Kernel for Windows data recovery software, which supports multiple file systems, such as FAT 16, FAT 32, and NTFS. Just download its trial version from - http://www.nucleustechnologies.com/Windows-Data-Recovery-Software.html and execute it to know whether it be a help for you or not. If you get satisfactory output only then purchase the software.