Can I safely run DISKPART clean in this situation?

I have a Western Digital USB portable drive that has become corrupted and I'm trying to repair it.
1. It appears in the "Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media" menu
2. It does not appear in File Explorer
3. The initialize disk window pops up when I open Disk Management. Attempts to initialize fail due to a fatal device hardware error.
4. It appears in DISKPART as disk 2 with a size of 0 B

I was planning to run DISKPART clean on disk 2 but became concerned when DISKPART list volume displayed all volumes on the other 2 disks. I had expected that command would display "There are no volumes on this disk to show."

Is it safe to run DISKPART clean on disk 2? I don't want that command to run on the other 2 disks as well; that would ruin my whole day!



If DISKPART clean succeeds on Disk 2, I would then create a primary partition and format the drive.

Thanks in advance for your guidance.

Windows 11 version 24H2 Build 26100.6584

The only time I ever got a drive like this to read properly in DISKPART is when I swapped out controllers. This means physically removing the controller from the back of the hard drive and swapping it out with an identical controller. Since Western Digital provides no shortage of these I had one handy. Howbeit, if your hard drive is clicking, making loud humming sounds, or just not spinning at all this might not be an option. More than likely your drive is dead.

The C: appears to have had a bypass of Windows 11 minimum requirements.

If there is no important data on the drive then it can be cleaned.


It's best to first test drive before cleaning.


There are multiple types of drive tests.

A drive can pass multiple tests and fail with another test type.



Find a flash drive that you can format.

Find a working Windows computer.

Create a bootable Sea Tools flash drive.

Run the Sea Tools bootable Long generic test > take pictures > post images or share links

The simple answer to your question is, YES. You can run the clean command on disk 2, it won't do anything to the other disks. Just make sure you have disk 2 selected. My guess is that it won't work, though, but worth a try.

Hi @futbolfan

Download, install and run the latest version of CrystalDiskInfo v9.7.2 and check the health of your faulty external disk - which in all probability is dead with hardware fault. Post a screenshot.
You can download CrystalDiskInfo v9.7.2 here CrystalDiskInfo

From my own experience, when a drive is identified as zero capacity, it is a hardware issue and running diskpart clean command won't fix it. As others suggested you have to buy the controller on eBay or elsewhere and replace it. Needless to say this will void the Warranty, but if you succeed you will get your data back, so it's worth trying.

Sounds like you're in the realm of data recovery software and/or services. Is (or perhaps was) there important data on that drive that you have nowhere else?

spapakons said:

From my own experience, when a drive is identified as zero capacity, it is a hardware issue and running diskpart clean command won't fix it. As others suggested you have to buy the controller on eBay or elsewhere and replace it. Needless to say this will void the Warranty, but if you succeed you will get your data back, so it's worth trying.

Click to expand...

^

The consensus is that the drive is dead. Sadly, that conclusion is correct. The data on the drive is not critical. I will purchase a new drive rather than fussing with replacing the controller board. I've just noticed that the drive does make an occasional clicking sound so replacing the controller might be a wasted effort anyway.

Anyone want a free WD 2 TB My Passport usb drive?

Regards,
John

futbolfan said:

The consensus is that the drive is dead. Sadly, that conclusion is correct. The data on the drive is not critical. I will purchase a new drive rather than fussing with replacing the controller board. I've just noticed that the drive does make an occasional clicking sound so replacing the controller might be a wasted effort anyway.

Anyone want a free WD 2 TB My Passport usb drive?

Regards,
John

Click to expand...

STOP RIGHT THERE. I missed that little tidbit of information: MY PASSPORT USB drive.

Before you completely throw in the towel: The bridge to your controller could be shot. This is a common problem with those sorts of external drives. I highly recommend opening the encasement and removing the USB bridge. The process is known as 'shucking'. Once you have done this you might try connecting the drive to conventional SATA power and data cables. (Of course you do this when your PC is turned off.) Once you boot up your PC you can have a look in Disk Manager and see what you have.

Get back to me.

Scannerman said:

STOP RIGHT THERE. I missed that little tidbit of information: MY PASSPORT USB drive.

Before you completely throw in the towel: The bridge to your controller could be shot. This is a common problem with those sorts of external drives. I highly recommend opening the encasement and removing the USB bridge. The process is known as 'shucking'. Once you have done this you might try connecting the drive to conventional SATA power and data cables. (Of course you do this when your PC is turned off.) Once you boot up your PC you can have a look in Disk Manager and see what you have.

Get back to me.

Click to expand...

Sorry to bring you the bad news but WD solders (connects permanently) the SATA to USB controller on the circuit board. You cannot just remove the controller and connect the drive inside your PC or in a third-party USB enclosure like with other brands. Yes, it sucks, I know. Your only solution is to replace the whole circuit board. However, it doesn't harm to break it open and check before you throw it away.

spapakons said:

Sorry to bring you the bad news but WD solders (connects permanently) the SATA to USB controller on the circuit board. You cannot just remove the controller and connect the drive inside your PC or in a third-party USB enclosure like with other brands. Yes, it sucks, I know. Your only solution is to replace the whole circuit board. However, it doesn't harm to break it open and check before you throw it away.

Click to expand...

I think it depends on the age of the unit. I've rescued a few from Western Digital myself this way so it can't hurt to check. They're probably soldering them now to stop people from shucking their drives.

I popped open a WD 1TB USB drive and found a WD drive with the USB interface soldered to the board.

This means that it's not easy to find only the circuit board on eBay. See if you can buy the same model as cheap as possible so you can swap the board. Otherwise, if the data aren't worth your money and effort, just throw it away.

gunrunnerjohn said:

I popped open a WD 1TB USB drive and found a WD drive with the USB interface soldered to the board.

Click to expand...

WD 1TB portable external HDD - Which model?

Be aware that WD My Passport portable external HDD is hardware encrypted. In the WD My Passport the SATA to USB bridge circuit incorporates a encrypt/decrypt chip with the encrypt/decrypt key embedded into it . It encrypts the incoming data and writes it to the disk and decrypts the outcoming data. So what? If the Sata to USB bridge that contains the encrypt/decrypt chip fails, you wont be able recover the data even if the HDD itself proves to be good. You will only recover the encrypted data which will be unusable. Replacing the SATA to USB Bridge board from another WD My Passport portable will not work since the encrypt/ decrypt key in each Batch manufactured willl be different.

Only WD Elements model ( both Desktop and portable ) does not have hardware encryption and data can be recovered if the HDD tests good.

My post here 3TB WD MyBook Live hard drive stopped responding - Windows 10 Help Forums

spapakons said:

This means that it's not easy to find only the circuit board on eBay. See if you can buy the same model as cheap as possible so you can swap the board. Otherwise, if the data aren't worth your money and effort, just throw it away.

Click to expand...

Please see my above post.

jumanji said:

WD 1TB portable external HDD - Which model?

Be aware that WD My Passport portable external HDD is hardware encrypted. In the WD My Passport the SATA to USB bridge circuit incorporates a encrypt/decrypt chip with the encrypt/decrypt key embedded into it . It encrypts the incoming data and writes it to the disk and decrypts the outcoming data. So what? If the Sata to USB bridge that contains the encrypt/decrypt chip fails, you wont be able recover the data even if the HDD itself proves to be good. You will only recover the encrypted data which will be unusable. Replacing the SATA to USB Bridge board from another WD My Passport portable will not work since the encrypt/ decrypt key in each Batch manufactured willl be different.

Only WD Elements model ( both Desktop and portable ) does not have hardware encrytion and data can be recovered if the HDD tests good.

My post here 3TB WD MyBook Live hard drive stopped responding - Windows 10 Help Forums

Click to expand...

Didn't know that detail.

Meh, I'd shuck the drive anyway. It couldn't hurt. If the USB bridge isn't soldered to the drive then there's a chance I'll still have a working hard drive. I got a 3TB Western Digital Green to last me another 6 years that way. Yes, that is right. It was a USB external hard drive. Sure, it was only 5400 Rpm. Sure, it didn't have the fancy firmware, and reliable RAID capability, but it sure made for a heckuva scratch drive and here's the irony: I kept it in a Sabrent external drive enclosure and I could read ALL of the original data on it. BUT WAIT, there's more! I gave it to my daughter who has now left the nest. She uses it to make Windows System Images and ye olde Windows 7 backups. She says it has never given her a problem. I told her to only use that as a last resort. So boys, as far as I know that olde 3TB Western Digital Green is still running to this day. (Likely because it is mostly off duty.)

And now for the caveat:

User experience may vary. User preference prevails. Myself, I would NEVER USE a Western Digital mechanical hard drive for keeping any critical data.*

TODAY, Western Digital makes GARBAGE hard drives ... I mean really lousy mechanical hard drives. Most of these are SMR drives.

and they will keep on making garbage hard drives because it is in the best interest of their shareholders to make garbage hard drives.

IF you're looking for reliable and affordable mechanical hard drives (aka "spinners") I don't recommend buying anything with Western Digital's name on it.

1) Buy CMR. Always avoid SMR (shingled) drives. Seagate has some good ones but so does Toshiba. CMR will cost a wee bit more.

2) If you know you're going to be doing a lot of work on the drive, constant writing and rewriting over the drive on a consistent basis, consider getting a drive that is made for enterprise class, or at least a NAS drive. Sure, it may be a little more expensive but what is your data worth to you?

3) Consider mirroring your data. IF your storage is valuable why are you not making duplicate copies of it? RAID1 will do this automatically. Sure, it's a bit slower but can pay off in the long run. In nowise do I recommend running your operating system in RAID1. I am referring to storage. You can run your OS at regular speed while your storage runs in RAID1. Yes, it will require a duplicate drive of the same capacity (I recommend same make and model) but in the long run you may be glad for this. Example:

Today, I have to swap out a 1TB Seagate Pipeline drive for my daughter. No, not that one, the other one, the blonde one. (I have four daughters.) She uses her "archives" a lot. I instructed her to keep a storage drive archiving all her personal files and set her up with a RAID1 archives. Well, after many, many years of use the Pipeline finally bit the biscuit. I mean it absolutely cratered. It's dead. She never noticed because her "archives" was still functional but the second drive in RAID1 was spent. Had she only been running a single drive for her archives and the drive died like this old Pipeline did she would have lost all of her archives. I got her to reboot her PC and to check the IRST GUI interface and sure enough there was the text in yellow > "Degraded. Bootable Yes". Indeed. Bootable because it is a RAID1 array and one drive is still functional. Fortunately, I have an identical drive for it on hand which I robbed from another PC.

4) I don't advise buying these pre-configured in the encasement external hard drives. You never know what you're getting. Companies reserve the right to swap out the guts whenever they wish and sell it under names like "My Book", "My Passport", "My Albatross", "My little PITA", or whatever. IF you must use an external hard drive just get an enclosure that you can open up and pop in a drive of your choice. These companies like to peddle such devices under the guise of security to rope your data and eventually hold it hostage for when your My Little PITA shuts down on you. Data encryption is only one of the methods they use. In fact, in a way, it works much like legalized ransomware. IMO of course. In fact every thing I've typed here is my opinion. I'm a very opinionated kind of guy. Have fun!





*Exception: Western Digital Velociraptor Enterprise SATA/SAS drives. Which, to wit, they no longer manufacture.
15 years old and still humming without issue. But those are from another time, and I am from another time.

I have rescued an external USB hard disk many times by removing it from the damaged original enclosure and putting it in a third-party enclosure or directly inside the PC. I could rescue 2.5" models until recent WD models had soldered the USB to SATA controller on the circuit board. I said I would not buy external WD disks again because of this, but they were the cheaper in the shop after some unknown brands.

spapakons said:

I have rescued an external USB hard disk many times by removing it from the damaged original enclosure and putting it in a third-party enclosure or directly inside the PC. I could rescue 2.5" models until recent WD models had soldered the USB to SATA controller on the circuit board. I said I would not buy external WD disks again because of this, but they were the cheaper in the shop after some unknown brands.

Click to expand...

I hear you loud and clear and have done the same as you. I have to keep in mind that times change and so do hardware manufacturers. I'll still buy silicon from Western Digital (if the price is right) but I am so done with WD spinners. My experience has been that Western Digital mechanical drives fail the most frequently of them all. Another thing that I neglected to consider was the size of the drive. All my rescue missions consisted of the larger 3.5" drives so perhaps that is the reason I managed it.

As one PC repair guy to another I'm curious as to what mechanical drives you have noticed fail the most of all. For me, it is Western Digital 500GB and 1TB drives (red, green, blue, doesn't matter) followed by the Seagate "ultraslim" 500GB drives, all of which are SMR drives.