iFixit - Answers With Device "Western Digital My Book"

Western Digital My Book 2020: How can I replace the USB Port after being damaged

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 01:18:36 -0700

My MyBook fell to the floor right where the USB connector plugs into the USB port. It has no symptoms of hard drive damage but I believe it needs a new connection port that is unique.

⟐ Answer edited March 26, 2026 at 1:18 MST

Western Digital My Book: will my hard drive still work after reformatting?

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 04:22:57 -0700

so got hit with the no power problem. i got that problem fixed by getting a new power board. and saved all the important things on my hard drive. so my question now is if i remove it and plug it into a external hard drive trey or plug it directly into my pc via sata and reformat it will it work or will the wd encryption brick it?

⟐ Answered March 11, 2026 at 4:22 MST

Western Digital My Book 2020: How can I fix my wd "my book" and recover what's inside?

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 09:19:17 -0700

i bought this a month ago and the light doesn’t turn on anymore neither my mac can read the hard disk. i can hear the disk spinning but it doesn’t read…. could anyone help me. is there any way to reset it? …like in the older versions of it?

thx

⟐ Answer accepted March 09, 2026 at 9:19 MST

Western Digital My Book: Does anyone know the way to get open a My Book Duo?

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 07:47:03 -0700

I accidentally dropped my My Book Duo ( the one with the glossy top and lined lower) and I think the circuit board has moved slightly so one of the connectors for the HD does not line up. I am trying to open it up to re-align it, but I am not sure how the two halves of the enclosure are connected. Think it's clipped, just wondering if anyone had any advice. Many thanks.

Hi All, I have worked it out, it needed a thin flat screwdriver wedged in and twisted to pop it apart, and the clips didn't break either, which is a bonus.

⟐ Commented November 03, 2025 at 7:47 MST

Western Digital My Book: My harddrive fell off a table and is now buzzing...

Wed, 21 May 2025 23:44:21 -0700

My harddrive fell and is now making a buzzing sound.......when I plug it into the computer nothing pops up anymore. Is it broken? Or has the disk just maybe gotten off track? Where can I take it to hopefully get it repaired?

⟐ Answered May 21, 2025 at 23:44 MST

Western Digital My Book: will not power up I have tried a external hard drive reader nothing

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 04:15:52 -0700

It will not power up so I removed it from the case and used an external Hard drive reader and it still won’t power up.

⟐ Commented March 10, 2025 at 4:15 MST

Western Digital My Book: My Book won't power up

Sun, 14 Jul 2024 05:32:06 -0700

My MyBook 3T Drive, less than 1 yr old, only used for Time Machine backups, refuses to power up now. Have no idea why; I haven't even backedup that many times so it's got plenty of space.

I've tried different outlets, also subbed in the power cable from my older MyBook Studio, all to no avail! This is especially maddening since I have many externals, one from 2006 even, that I no longer use but still powers up! makes me think newer is less reliable - !! This really blows!

so if I tear it down, what am I looking for?

is there a way to access it w/o a power source?

fyi, it's barely 1 yr old - bought it in Aug 2016

⟐ Answered July 14, 2024 at 5:32 MST

Western Digital My Book: HD not powering up

Fri, 18 Aug 2023 20:28:22 -0700

I have four WD External HDD’s that are dead. I am wondering if there is any place I can send them in to get the data recovered and put onto a new HDD. I live on an island far away from any computer tech’s and just want to send them in somewhere possibly in Canada.

⟐ Answered August 18, 2023 at 20:28 MST

Western Digital My Book: WD My Book Studio Edition II (2xHDD) with wrong power supply

Sat, 26 Nov 2022 03:35:47 -0700

Hi guys,

I have My Book Studio Edition II (2x500GB) and this external HDD should be powered with 12V 3A 36Watts but it's working with 12V 1.5A 18Watts - should I get the right one power supply ? Or it's OK how it is ? What can go wrong wit is not powered enough ?

Thanks a lot for any ideas/advice.

EDIT: also if anyone have this drive, can you please post picture of the power supply specs.

⟐ Commented November 26, 2022 at 3:35 MST

Western Digital My Book: Lost connectivity to my drive and something burnt

Wed, 13 Apr 2022 21:40:26 -0700

I have a WD my book world that is around 9 years old and the network control card / board is dead. Some part has blown can see black deposits around the enclosure.

The issue is when you power it on with or without the hard drive in it, i get a solid bottom light and slowly flashing top light.

Hard disk seems to be detected with a sata to usb cable with external 12v supply. So I guess would need to boot it via Linux and transfer the data.

Has anyone tried to fix the board? Someone mentioned a blown capacitor, any idea which one it is?

⟐ Answered April 13, 2022 at 21:40 MST

Western Digital My Book: WD 20tb my book duo no power

Thu, 20 Jan 2022 15:00:32 -0700

hello, i have a WD 20tb external harddrive.

it is 2 10tb red drives set up as a raid 1 system. (mirrored)

no encryption was set by me

there is no power to the case/enclosure.

replaced the power adapter and still no power.

have removed the drives and still no power in the case…no leds ,no fan.

have contacted wd about this but drive is just out of warranty (3years).

they have no help…said to replace power adapter.

does anyone have an answer…i just want to get access to the data to transfer to ssds

the encryption is this thing is a real pain and had no idea they did this when i brought the drive… i thought whether to encrypt or not was up to the buyer.

contacted a data recovery place and they said 700 dollars of the bat… all i need is the case/enclosure. tried looking on ebay but no luck

any suggestions would be appreciated, thank you

⟐ Answered January 20, 2022 at 15:00 MST

Western Digital My Book: My 8TB drive won't stay connected on USB3, but will on USB2

Sat, 25 Sep 2021 19:14:47 -0700

I have two 8TB WD Easystore drives. Both behave the same way. Connected to USB3, both are recognized and work, until there is no activity. Both go to sleep and disconnect. I get “drive disconnected” error on my Mac. I tried connecting them through a USB2 hub and they stay connected. I tried connecting one to the USB3 port on my ASUS wireless router. I set it up as TimeMachine storage. All was well, until the activity stopped. Then I got a “device not connected” error when TimeMachine tried to run again. Any help is appreciated.

⟐ Answered September 25, 2021 at 19:14 MST

Western Digital My Book: If I take my computer laptop with me do I have to take the my book

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 15:35:55 -0700

I’m leaving on a short vacation and I’m wondering if I have to take my book with me along with my laptop? And if not when I come back can I just plug it back in

⟐ Commented September 15, 2021 at 15:35 MST

Western Digital My Book: Cannot find the reset button on WD My Book, need a photo

Sun, 23 May 2021 21:05:14 -0700

Cannot find the reset button on this external drive, can someone providsea photo to show where it is, many thanks.

⟐ Answer edited May 23, 2021 at 21:05 MST

Western Digital My Book: 2012 WD My Book Studio 1 TB FireWire 800 Drive Won't Power On

Mon, 21 Dec 2020 23:05:01 -0700

Hey guys, I’m unable to power my device on. I ordered a new power adapter but worry it’s the PCB. Any chance I can fix this thing? It’s highly unlikely that the HD itself is damaged since I have barely touched it / moved it in years.

⟐ Answered December 21, 2020 at 23:05 MST

Western Digital My Book: Why is my WD on but not being seen by my computer?

Tue, 21 Jul 2020 07:41:23 -0700

I have an old My Book Pro II and plugged it in for the first time in awhile. The blue circle light on the devices “spine” lights up and stays on. The machine starts whirring for about 7 seconds then goes quiet. It’s not showing up on my disk utility for Mac. Notes: It’s also plugged into its own outlet. The USB cord was sitting in storage awhile, no physical damage that I see. Is it possible the cord just would stop working regardless of that?

⟐ Commented July 21, 2020 at 7:41 MST

western digital my book: How to open the case on a WD My Book Essential?

Fri, 03 Jul 2020 11:03:44 -0700

There no apparent screws or fasteners, so I believe it is 'plastic snap' lock.

This drive has intermittent power problems and I believe 'something' is loose inside, or I will put the drive in another case (hopefully, at worst).

Regarding the power problem, sometimes when it fails, a light tap on the case makes it power back on.

⟐ Commented July 03, 2020 at 11:03 MST

Western Digital My Book: replace capacitors on WD external USB control board

Tue, 17 Dec 2019 05:17:54 -0700

So my WD USB controller board has 3 burnt capacitors on it after years of use i found the cause after cracking the case open. Now my main question is can i replace those capacitors by soldering in new ones or just find if they even make a replacement USB control board. the drive itself is fine i plugged it straight to my mother board it did manage to be recognized but it disappears after a few moments i did read there is something built in to the controller that protects your data.

⟐ Commented December 17, 2019 at 5:17 MST

Western Digital My Book: Why isn't my WD My Book external hard drive being recognized?

Sat, 06 Jul 2019 16:17:27 -0700

Unlike some other people with this problem, my hard drive isn't showing up on my PC (Windows 7) or my husband's Macbook Air, and although it has a flashing blue light when plugged in, it isn't making that spinning sound, which has me worried it might be a gonner. It's about 10 years old and has ALL my kids' photos stored on it. I just went to back up my PC and it isn't working. Feeling worried. I tried several of the solutions that involve checking for bad drivers and trying to see about renaming it or moving it to another place, but I just don't see it in there, so I don't know what to do. I can try to order another power cable, but if the light is flashing blue, is it even possible that's the problem?

Thanks for any help you can give!!!

Whitney

⟐ Commented July 06, 2019 at 16:17 MST

Western Digital My Book: Doesn't work after reformat.

Mon, 24 Dec 2018 07:38:13 -0700

HINi donjave this WD Myboom Essential 2tb and after I reformat this one, it turns into RAW Drive format, it doesn't open or show in the my computer section but it shows in Disk Management theres no size shown in my compuyter also I tried to change it to fat32 but still doesnt work. Please help mem

⟐ Answer accepted December 24, 2018 at 7:38 MST