I am so frustrated with WB Passport products!!! Once again I’ve purchased a portable WD. This time a 2 T with a padded case for extra protection in case the failure of 2 out of 4 previous purchases was due any actions on my part. No, it’s not my fault! I am a photographer and purchase these for back up of my photos. Feeling confident of the last purchase just a few months ago, I deleted many of the photos from my laptop for needed space.
Now the WD is not recognized by my computer or my husbands laptop. Can a product like this be so finicky that it’s almost worthless?? Is there any was to recover my photos??
I need help with this and feel like these are so worthless, they should be taken off the market because they are designed for backup and security and the user is fooled into thinking they do just that.
What have you tried so far other than connecting the hard drive? Since you are posting in the WD My Passport Wireless board, is the wireless broadcast signal still detected by other laptops? Did you try replacing the USB cable?
Since the source computer is still working I’d recommend browsing online for a data recovery program.
I’m confused. Are you using the drive as a Backup (second copy) or as primary storage?
Was using primarily as backup but when my laptop got a little low on space, I deleted some of them from my laptop.
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OK - so first off let me preface with “Always keep a second copy of your data” - I personally keep 3 copies of my most important files (photos, tax documents, etc.)
Hard Drives are fragile instruments. The best way to envision the device inside your passport is to think of a record player. When the drive gets bumped or shaken the “needle” can strike the “record”. This can cause damage even when the drive is off, but is significantly more damaging while it is running.
There are also software considerations - things can cause both data and the filesystem on the drive to become corrupted. For example, i’ve heard of cases where simply pulling the cable without ejecting the drive can cause the drive not to mount the next time it is connected to a computer. This isn’t a problem with the drive. It’s an issue with the operating system and the same problem would occur no matter who made the drive or even what kind of storage medium it was (flash sticks, ssd’s etc.)
None of this even takes into account the possibility of malware or other nefarious software that similarly can damage either the software or in some cases even the hardware of the drive.
Because so many of these things are outside of WD’s control, we do not perform data recovery services. We do however maintain a list of - Before going to DR, I would create a post here on the Community showing exactly what is going on - provide screenshots and a clear detailed description of the problem. I would also test the drive using Data Lifeguard diagnostics to make sure it isn’t failing.
I do understand things can happen and the need for more than 1 backup. However I’m so very careful and f the devices are this fragile they maybe should be discontinued strong strong warnings that data is easily lost. Seems like a lot of folks have the same issue and this is more than once for me. Think I’ll go back to the old DVD backups. Have never failed. Thanks for your time.
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