My Passport WD10JMVW – 11AJGS2 Dropped Data Recovery

September 14, 2022 by Aaron Hook

Western Digital WD10JMVW Dropped Data Recovery

Dropped WD10JMVW Hard Drive Symptoms I received this WD10JMVW hard drive out of a My Passport from a client that had stopped working after being dropped. There were very important image, audio, and work documents on the drive when it was dropped, so they brought it in for data recovery. They reported that the drive was making a ticking sound when plugged in, but would never be recognized fully by any computer they connected it to. WD10JMVW Diagnosis When a drive has been dropped, my first worry is always that the heads have been damaged and could be causing media damage when the drive is powered on. For this reason, I start with an inspection of the dropped WD10JMVW hard drive in my clean room to check for any damage to the heads or platters. This particular drive looked great under the microscope. There were a few really minor areas with damage from what was likely the instant the drop happened, but no major scratching was present. The heads were damaged and needed to be … Read more

Recovering Data From WD5000AAKS Western Digital Drive

September 9, 2022 by Aaron Hook

This WD5000AAKS model hard drive came into us from California with the symptom being listed as the drive just stopped working out of the blue. It is an older drive from 2007 (can you believe it has been 15 years already?), so age-related issues will not be a surprise during this project. Diagnosing the WD5000AAKS hard drive The first step was to open the hard drive up and complete a visual inspection in the cleanroom. Everything looked pretty good physically, so I connected the drive up to the PC-3000 to continue with the diagnosis. Firmware modules 32, 34, 21, and 22 were all bad. As you may remember me covering elsewhere on this blog, bad module 32 is a common issue with these drives, but in this case, it feels like the issue might be more than just firmware. I believe the issue is likely failing heads and possibly too many bad sectors in the firmware area of the drive to be able to repair the firmware issues as I usually would. I ordered a … Read more

WD10SMZM Western Digital Data Recovery Project

August 25, 2022 by Aaron Hook

This 1TB Western Digital external drive came in with a WD10SMZM model hard drive inside. It had already gone to Geek Squad as well as another computer repair shop. Geek Squad was not able to get any of the data off the drive, and the computer repair shop recommended us after they were also unsuccessful in getting back any data. These newer Western Digital external drives have a USB port built onto the PCB. This can cause some complications, so the first step was to swap out this PCB with an unlocked PCB. I did not have this particular model PCB in stock, so I had to wait for the part to arrive from China. Once the PCB arrives I swapped it out and started the process of testing the WD10SMZM drive. I did find some issues with firmware which I was able to clear, then continued with testing the hard drive’s heads. All heads tested good, so I continued with getting the drive ready for a full clone. Setting the firmware on the drive … Read more

Beeping Western Digital Easystore WD20SMZW Hard Drive Recovery

August 17, 2022 by Aaron Hook

I received a quote request from a client who had been into a local computer repair shop with a failed Western Digital EasyStore external hard drive. Inside the hard drive was a WD20SMZW 2.5″ 2TB hard drive. This particular model has a USB port built into the printed circuit board, instead of a standard SATA connector. The client told me they brought the drive into the repair shop because it stopped working suddenly. They said there was a sound like a beep coming from the drive, but that the computer would not recognize it at all. The shop they brought it to attempted to run software-based data recovery tools on the drive, but they couldn’t get it to scan the drive at all. The repair shop told them to try us, as we have been successful in recovering data from other drives they were not able to successfully recover in the past. We work with a lot of shops that offer our services to their clients. We have a few referral programs available, so if … Read more

Western Digital WD10JPVX Data Recovery

August 3, 2022August 1, 2022 by Aaron Hook

This WD10JPVX Western Digital hard drive came from inside an external enclosure. The client had used it to store their important photos and some sermons, so when it stopped working they knew they needed a professional data recovery service to help. The client first brought the hard drive to a computer repair shop that also advertises data recovery services. This is one of the computer repair shops we work with to help with the recoveries when they aren’t able to complete them. In this case, they were not able to get the WD10JPVX drive to work at all with the recovery equipment they had. The shop recommended the client discuss the case with me to see if it was a drive I would be able to recover. After discussing the drive I told the client it was likely we would be able to recover it. The drive wasn’t making any weird noises and had not been dropped. It had also started acting slow and erratic before it stopped working altogether. WD10JPVX Diagnosis Once I had … Read more

WD2500BEKT Western Digital Scorpio Black Drive Recovered

July 20, 2022 by Aaron Hook

This Scorpio Black Western Digital drive was not showing up for the customer when they tried to access the important photos and work documents that were stored on it. They had initially brought the drive into their local computer repair shop, but the shop told them the drive was not recoverable without advanced lab recovery. The shop they brought it into used to send people to one of the big data recovery companies. The big recovery company had an average quote of about $1500. When they decided to give us a try and start sending customers to us instead, they were pleased to find that their clients said yes to the recovery 10x more often, and our average recovery quote is closer to $400. Not only do they end up earning more commission over the year from sending their clients to us (smaller commissions per client, but more clients say yes, so they end up way ahead), but their customers are pleased that they got a referral that saved them a ton of money and … Read more

Western Digital WD2500JS Data Recovery

June 17, 2022 by Aaron Hook

A shop we have worked with for some time sent this WD2500JS data recovery project to us to attempt to get the client’s important data back. The drive had been used inside an iMac for years before the iMac stopped working. The shop diagnosed the drive as having issues and needing data recovery and they sent the drive over to us for the project to be completed. WD2500JS Data Recovery Project The Western Digital hard drive arrived with the symptoms being described as the hard drive will spin up and sounds good, but won’t show up on any computer for data recovery software to access. Because the drive was reported as sounding good, with no drops, I started by connecting it to my PC-3000. Once connected, the drive spun up correctly just as described, and it got ready. I ran the utility for this drive and did all the standard fixes and got it configured for imaging. Once that process was complete I went ahead and left it connected to the PC-3000 and started the … Read more

Big Western Digital Data Recovery – WD50NDZW

June 6, 2022June 4, 2022 by Aaron Hook

These massive 5TB portable drives continue to amaze me even after seeing them for years. I grew up in a time where having a 1GB 3.5” drive was amazing, so seeing 5TB in such a small form factor is really impressive. Unfortunately, these awesomely large-capacity drives still fail in various ways! This Western Digital Data Recovery was a WD50NDZW model hard drive that came from a client that said the drive wouldn’t mount on his computer any longer. 5TB Western Digital Data Recovery The issues had gotten worse over time, but now the drive would not be recognized by his computer at all. He brought the external USB drive to a local repair shop to see if the issue was with his computer or with the drive, and the shop confirmed that the drive would not show up on any of their computers either. They said they thought the issue was likely with the PCB on the drive. They reported the drive sounded perfectly fine, it just wouldn’t show up on their machine. The shop … Read more

Honest Hard Disk Data Recovery Cost On Western Digital With Heads Issue

May 27, 2022 by Aaron Hook

If the heads issue on your drive requires a head swap procedure, our cleanroom hard disk data recovery cost is a $699 flat rate fee. While we are not the cheapest hard drive recovery service, I believe we offer the best value in the industry. Our safe data recovery methods coupled with years of experience and the best tools possible make our HDD data recovery cost very reasonable. Cleanroom Hard Disk Data Recovery Cost This drive came into us from a shop in Wichita that has been sending us drives that they have not been able to recover themselves. We have been working with this shop for about a year now, and have a very good success rate with the drives they send. They attempt very basic recovery techniques but don’t do any of the risky or unsafe data recovery procedures that so many repair shops attempt. The shop likes that our HDD data recovery cost allows their clients to get their data back without spending $1000’s as they had to before when they would … Read more

Dropped My Passport Successful Data Recovery

May 16, 2022April 29, 2022 by Aaron Hook

Data Recovery From Western Digital Drive This Western Digital My Passport needed to be recovered after being dropped. Data Recovery for My Passports can be a little more involved than average drives due to the USB port that is soldered onto the printed circuit board (PCB) on the bottom of the drive. Most advanced data recovery tools need a SATA connection to perform some of the more advanced procedures, so swapping out the USB PCB for a standard PCB is usually necessary during the recovery process. Our affordable data recovery services cover My Passports as well as other external and internal hard drives. Dropped My Passport In this case, a client contacted us to request data recovery on his 10 year old My Passport which had been working great until it was dropped. The My Passport had stopped working completely after the drop, and it had important photo catalogs and the photo media itself. The customer was further away, so they went ahead and mailed it to us for recovery. Our mail-in service is very … Read more