Graham88
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Registered: 16th Apr 07
Location: South East Kent Drives: E46 M3
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I've had this for a while now with no problems, took it to Nurburgring with me to transfer all my Go Pro videos onto using my mates laptop. Now we watched a film one night, then the next day it plugs in, light comes on the device, you get the sound of it being recognised, but it doesn't come up to say open files like normal, then you open My Computer and it's just a blank white screen where the devices normally show, it then crashes unless you unplug the hard drive in which case it loads up like normal?
Why is it suddenly doing this? I have LOADS of films and videos from trackdays etc and latest Ring trip which I really don't want to lose, anyone have any ideas?
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_Allan_
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Registered: 24th Mar 04
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It could be the control board of the actual WD case. I'd be removing the HD itself from the caddy and putting it into a PC as a secondary drive and be making a back up as soon as.
Unless there is a problem with the drive itself then it's a whole new world of hurt, trying to recover the data if at all 
[Edited on 15-04-2012 by _Allan_]
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Graham88
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Registered: 16th Apr 07
Location: South East Kent Drives: E46 M3
User status: Offline
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Way beyond my capabilities, will take it to my local computer shop this week then, was hoping there might be something I could do, but I really don't want to lose the data! Films are no big deal, just have to download them all again, but I've got 2-3 years of trackday films 
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_Allan_
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Registered: 24th Mar 04
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Graham it's really easy. Inside that case is a simple HD. No different than what's found in a PC. A couple of screws to open up the case. If you open up a pc then chances are you'll already have a spare sata or IDE connector for it to plug into.
Google adding a seconday HD (IDE or Sata). Loads of vid clips on how.
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Graham88
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Registered: 16th Apr 07
Location: South East Kent Drives: E46 M3
User status: Offline
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There are no screws though Allan?? It's a sealed unit by the looks of things?
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_Allan_
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Registered: 24th Mar 04
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hmmm not sure then. The few WD external drives I've had I've been able to access the drive. The screws are sometime hidden under a sticker or the rubber feet. See if you can find a You Tube vid of your model or google to see if there is a tutorial etc.. If you don't fancy having a go then by all means take it to a local shop but your obviously gonna get charged.
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Graham88
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Registered: 16th Apr 07
Location: South East Kent Drives: E46 M3
User status: Offline
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Seems I have a sealed unit that nobody opens :S Don't mind paying, they're cheap in there anyway, will let you know what the outcome is, cheers
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Toby
Premium Member
Registered: 29th Nov 05
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You can open it. there are little plastic tabs located in the grills at the top and bottom. go on YouTube for a guide if you don't want to take it to a shop., just have to be careful. I pulled one apart and back together pretty easily
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noshua
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Registered: 19th Nov 08
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I've got a Buffalo external hard drive that just pulls apart (no screws), took quite a bit of force the first time, more than I was expecting anyway.
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Sam
Moderator
Premium Member
Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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Does it work if you plug it into another USB port on your computer?
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Graham88
Member
Registered: 16th Apr 07
Location: South East Kent Drives: E46 M3
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Sam
Does it work if you plug it into another USB port on your computer?
Nope, and does exactly the same on a mates laptop & my girlfriends desktop computer, freezes my computer when you open it until you disconnect it
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Sam
Moderator
Premium Member
Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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Hmm, might be the controller board as Allan says. If you've had it less than a year you could get it changed under warranty - however the problem is you'd need to copy your files from the drive to another one first and if you can't do that you'd have to open the case up and connect the physical drive to another computer or stick it into an external drive dock, this would void the warranty! 
If it's not in warranty then I would be opening it up an extracting the drive. You can get an external drive dock (or even a case for it) for literally a few quid, I'd be going down that route - but have a go at opening it up yourself first because the money a computer shop would charge to do it for you would cost more than getting a brand new replacement to be honest.
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