WD Elements Desktop 500GB Not Recognized in Any USB 2.0 Port or Even USB 3.0 Hub

Hello All

Was updating a folder on this drive last night, then suddenly it went not recognized, restarted Windows 11 Pro Desktop, and still wasn't, tried other working front 2.0 port and nothing, then tried usb hub--also nothing. Did this drive die? it was from 2003 so i guess its possible.

Guess to get the files off later on, will try it on PC 2 Gaming Laptop and hopefully recognizied on that one is my only hope at this point

Unless folks have other suggestions?

bikemanI7 said:

Did this drive die

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Could have... or the circuitry in its enclosure did. That happened to me years ago in a WD Essentials drive. In my case, the drive itself was still viable and worked once I removed it from the WD case and installed it into another enclosure. I remember it being a pain to get inside. I had to very carefully take a dremel tool to it. It seems WD doesn't believe in screws in these old external drives and gave the user no way of getting inside.

Happened to me once. Also happened later on with a 1TB My Book but it was static electricity when I inadvertently touched it that killed the interface in the case, lost everything. Took the drive out and and it was still good and reformatted to put in a computer. The problem arises when an external drive is packaged for use on 2 or more Operating Systems, the interface does the format interpretation between the differing formats. The My Book was boxed as for PC and Macintosh.

Yes, try it on another working PC. If possible post a screenshot of Windows Disk Management. If it does not show in Windows Disk Managment then it is a hardware fault. Two possibilities - 1. The SATA to USB bridge circuit inside the enclosure has failed. 2. The HDD itself died a sudden death. Please furnish the exact model no of the WD Elements.

Well working So far on PC 2 Gaming Laptop

Will get exact model in a few moments here

do know this drive was a Christmas Present in 2003 many many years ago lol
Model is

WD Elements Desktop (Starts with WDBAAU)​

Very unsupported by Western Digital nowadays lol

It may or may not be dead, but it's nothing unusual for a WD External drive to just die.
Now the disk inside the elclosure, but the SATA to USB circuitry inside the enclosure.
Only fix is to open the enclosure and remove the actual drive, then it can be connected to the Motherboard in a Desktop PC or to a USB docking station on a laptop.
I have several WD drives that were originally in USB, External enclosures. Same old crap, different day!

bikemanI7 said:

Well working So far on PC 2 Gaming Laptop

Model is

WD Elements Desktop (Starts with WDBAAU)​

WD Elements Desktop (Starts with WDBAAU) | Western Digital Product Support

With Western Digital product support, you can find an order status, register a product, check warranty status, and check on returns & replacements on your storage device.

support-en.wd.com

Very unsupported by Western Digital nowadays lol

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If it it works well in PC2, there is no problem with the external disk. The problem is with PC1. Not my cup of tea. It's for other experts to resolve the issue in PC1.

{The model must be WDBAAU5000EBK. Anyway not relevant now. I wanted to know whether it is a compact model in which the HDD does not have a SATA connector and soldered directly to the bridge circuit)

jumanji said:

If it it works well in PC2, there is no problem with the external disk. The problem is with PC1. Not my cup of tea. It's for other experts to resolve the issue in PC1.

{The model must be WDBAAU5000EBK. Anyway not relevant now)

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Yeah I've had off and on usb issues, especially front 2.0 ports on PC1 since got that PC, shop fixed the ports one time after the cooler install in May 2022.

But haven't got back over to there to get them to fix the ports again.

Might see if I can fix myself on next dust clean out soon, and if not then guess just continue with only 1 device connected at a time in front