external hard drive problem

cwtech · Mar 9, 2015

i am currently helping a friend find out whats is wrong with her western digital 500gb external hard drive. when she plugs it into her laptop it says that it has to be reformated but when i brought it home and pluged it into my pc it worked just fine. im thinking it may be a driver problem but i am unsure i have not looked at it on her laptop yet just going off of what she has told me when she brought them to me. i have thought about just transfering all the data to a seperate hard drive and formatting it then put the files back but if theres a simpler fix id rather do that. what do yall think?

Jetster · Mar 9, 2015

Sounds like a plan. Does she have a mac? Have her uninstall any WD software and try it

SuperSoph_WD · Mar 9, 2015

Hey there, @cwtech !

Good job with the troubleshooting! I think your plan will work. However, I'd first uninstall all the drivers under USB controllers in Device Manager on your girlfriend's laptop. Indeed, a quick reformat shouldn't hurt as well. I'd also recommend you to test the WD external with Data LifeGuard Diagnostics just to make sure that the HDD is healthy and the S.M.A.R.T. status is OK.
Here's a link to the utility: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=XIErCA

SuperSoph_WD

MustSeeMelons · Mar 9, 2015

Definitely check it's health later - my external surprised me with the same thing a few times and then just died.

cwtech · Mar 9, 2015

Jetster said:
Sounds like a plan. Does she have a mac? Have her uninstall any WD software and try it

No she doesn't have a mac

cwtech · Mar 9, 2015

SuperSoph_WD said:
Hey there, @cwtech !

Good job with the troubleshooting! I think your plan will work. However, I'd first uninstall all the drivers under USB controllers in Device Manager on your girlfriend's laptop. Indeed, a quick reformat shouldn't hurt as well. I'd also recommend you to test the WD external with Data LifeGuard Diagnostics just to make sure that the HDD is healthy and the S.M.A.R.T. status is OK.
Here's a link to the utility: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=XIErCA

SuperSoph_WD

Thanks much will do so. I was looking at going through and removing all the drivers today and see what that did but I didn't think about the lifeguard diagnostics I will do that as well when I get to doing it all. I appreciate the pointers.

natr0n · Mar 9, 2015

This happens on some usb drives too.

Just have to re plug it in usually.

System Name	havent named it
Processor	Intel i5 4670k @ 4.4 GHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H
Cooling	Corsair H100i on CPU exhaust: one 120 rear fan intake: two 120 fans on front, one 120 fan on bottom
Memory	8GB Gskill 2133 RAM 2 sticks
Video Card(s)	AMD R9 290 reference
Storage	ADATA Premier Pro SP900 256 gb ssd and Crucial MX100 512gb ssd
Display(s)	Viewsonic VA2446m 24" LCD
Case	CM Storm Scout 2 Advanced Gaming mid tower
Audio Device(s)	none
Power Supply	FirePower 750W fatl1ty 80Plus Bronze semi-modular
Software	win7 OS

System Name	Juliette // HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard	Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software	Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro

System Name	Pukeko
Processor	Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard	MSI B450 Gaming Plus Max
Cooling	Hyper 212 Black Edition
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB 3000MHz DDR4 CL15
Video Card(s)	Asus RX 5600 XT TUF Gaming X3 OC
Storage	XPG SX8200 Pro 256GB, Crucial MX500 1TB
Display(s)	2x ASUS TUF Gaming VG249Q
Case	NZXT, H510i, Matte Black/Red, Tempered Glass
Audio Device(s)	TUF Gaming H3
Power Supply	Seasonic PRIME Ultra 550W Gold
Mouse	Touchpad + Logitech MX518
Keyboard	Cooler Master, CK 350, Outemu Red
Software	Windows 10
Benchmark Scores	7,42,69 and 666

System Name	havent named it
Processor	Intel i5 4670k @ 4.4 GHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H
Cooling	Corsair H100i on CPU exhaust: one 120 rear fan intake: two 120 fans on front, one 120 fan on bottom
Memory	8GB Gskill 2133 RAM 2 sticks
Video Card(s)	AMD R9 290 reference
Storage	ADATA Premier Pro SP900 256 gb ssd and Crucial MX100 512gb ssd
Display(s)	Viewsonic VA2446m 24" LCD
Case	CM Storm Scout 2 Advanced Gaming mid tower
Audio Device(s)	none
Power Supply	FirePower 750W fatl1ty 80Plus Bronze semi-modular
Software	win7 OS

System Name	havent named it
Processor	Intel i5 4670k @ 4.4 GHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H
Cooling	Corsair H100i on CPU exhaust: one 120 rear fan intake: two 120 fans on front, one 120 fan on bottom
Memory	8GB Gskill 2133 RAM 2 sticks
Video Card(s)	AMD R9 290 reference
Storage	ADATA Premier Pro SP900 256 gb ssd and Crucial MX100 512gb ssd
Display(s)	Viewsonic VA2446m 24" LCD
Case	CM Storm Scout 2 Advanced Gaming mid tower
Audio Device(s)	none
Power Supply	FirePower 750W fatl1ty 80Plus Bronze semi-modular
Software	win7 OS

System Name	natr0n-PC
Processor	Ryzen 5950x/5600x
Motherboard	B450 AORUS M
Cooling	EK AIO 360 - 6 fan action
Memory	Patriot - Viper Steel DDR4 (B-Die)(4x8GB)
Video Card(s)	EVGA 3070ti FTW
Storage	Various
Display(s)	PIXIO IPS 240Hz 1080P
Case	Thermaltake Level 20 VT
Audio Device(s)	LOXJIE D10 + Kinter Amp + 6 Bookshelf Speakers Sony+JVC+Sony
Power Supply	Super Flower Leadex III ARGB 80+ Gold 650W
Software	XP/7/8.1/10
Benchmark Scores	http://valid.x86.fr/79kuh6

external hard drive problem

cwtech

Jetster

SuperSoph_WD

WD Rep

MustSeeMelons

cwtech

cwtech

natr0n