Let me explain the "normal way":

I have another 1TB WD (same model as my 2TB WD) which behaves in a "normal way". Just plug and play. Nothing weird! Once I connect it, the LED blinks for a few times for successful connection. Done. I can find it in explorer

Let me explain the "bizarre way:

The 2TB WD behaves in a "bizarre way". If I connect it in the "normal way", it will not show up in explorer, Diskpart, or Disk management no matter how long I wait. In order to make the 2TB WD to show, I have to process the following steps every time I connect this 2TB external hard drive: First, plug in the USB cable halfway through any one of my desktop computer's USB ports. Then, wait for the drive to show up in explorer. Finally, I can push the USB completely into the USB port. The difference is that the successful connection of the 2TB WD happens when the USB cable is half way into the USB port.

Troubleshoots:

————— USB Port Test —————

That particular 2TB WD behaves in the "bizarre way" on all usb ports of my Win 8.1 desktop and my Win 10 Surface Pro 3.

—————— Cable Test ——————

Since my 1TB WD is working properly, I try to switch the USB cables between them. The 2TB WD still behaves in the "bizarre way". Thus, I can tell it's not a USB cable issue.

———— Partition Table Test ————

Also, I have tried to reformat the 2TB WD based on GPT or MBR partition tables. It still acts in the "bizarre way”.

==========================================

Last edited: 08-06-2020

Temporary Solution: Halfway-in-USB trick

For Windows machines, first push USB half way through a USB port just tight enough for successful connection (you’ll hear the classic Windows sound effect), then push it down completely. The solution may not work for you depending on your situations (For example, different Operating Systems). As some visitors commented it worked, you are welcome to try. If this “Halfway-in-USB“ trick is for you, backup your data after you have access to the hard drive. I am not sure how long the method will last.

For future visitors: Looks like the post had helped some people having the same issue. I just leave it at that. Please read other comments as well because you may find the surprised solution just for you. Thanks everybody for participating in discussion.

⟐ Commented October 30, 2022 at 10:40 MST

What I observed:

The light is on and it is blinking. It is vibrating very lightly, like it always does. There is no unusual noise.

What I have done so far:

I plugged it on another Macbook, but it did not show there either.

I tried using a different usb cable and it still did not show in my Finder.

What could possibly be the problem? How do I know if my files are still there? How can I troubleshoot? Where can I have it repaired?

⟐ Answer accepted July 10, 2021 at 21:08 MST

⟐ Commented November 16, 2021 at 20:56 MST

I had the same problem. I was trying to update to the new Mac OS and the update failed. For some reason it screwed my Macbook Pro and I had to wipe it and return it to factory settings.

After that my WD external hard drive won’t get recognized when I plug it in my laptop. I tried plugging to other MacBook pros as well but the external drive still won’t get recognized. I even tried plugging on a Windows computer but no luck. The light on the external drive comes on when I plug it in a Mac though .

Any help would be appreciated.

Forgot to add that my external has my life contents in it (pics, videos, music) and I need to recover it. So any suggestions or comments is greatly appreciated.

⟐ Answered October 19, 2018 at 20:54 MST

⟐ Answer edited May 01, 2019 at 6:14 MST

I believe that yet another WD drive is about to fail on me, but wanted to check expected read/write rates for my drive. I’ve used CrystalMark and I’m getting sequential rates around 100MB/s but random are down to 500kB/s. I’ve run a few diagnostic tools including WD tools like DLGDIAG that say that it’s fine for the quick and basic tests and haven’t run full all out tests yet.

I’ll do that, but it would be good to get a feel for what y’all would expect.

⟐ Answer edited January 03, 2019 at 9:14 MST

I'm worried if I need to recover my picture files there won't be there. I would we willing to reformat external drive and start over if need be! Thanks!

⟐ Answer accepted January 26, 2017 at 14:22 MST

⟐ Answered July 31, 2023 at 18:47 MST

I did notice some issues with the drive after a fall and downloading PNG files from a suspicious website (both around the same time). The drive was slow and sometimes made clicking noises. My question is, would a virus or a fall make it harder for a data recovery service to retrieve my data? Or would they both have similar effects? I'm only interested in recovering a few important files before disposing of the drive.

⟐ Answered March 03, 2023 at 22:22 MST

⟐ Answer edited January 14, 2023 at 22:18 MST

1. It does not recognize on my laptop at all. There's ample power coming through the USB port, and there's nothing even signifying that there's a device connected to it.

2. It recognizes on a desktop that I use everyday, but it doesn't copy more than 150-200 MB at a time. It starts the copying at around 15-20 MB/s, but then just shuts down. I've tried this on Windows 10, both the laptop and desktop.

3. Anything beyond that, the files all appear, but there's no copying that can be done until I remove the drive and reconnect it.

The copying in point 2 isn't enough for me to salvage all the data, since there are hundreds of files there that are well beyond that file size.

Can I connect this to a desktop and see if the problem is the USB port? I have read reviews where it says that the USB port of this particular model can be loosened easily, making connection difficult. But from the videos that I've seen online so far, there doesn't seem to be any SATA ports on this particular model.

I'd appreciate any help with this matter, since a lot of that data is irreplaceable. Thanks everyone.

⟐ Commented August 10, 2017 at 15:31 MST

⟐ Edited by author December 27, 2024 at 3:37 MST

⟐ Commented January 03, 2017 at 17:29 MST