Western Digital MyBook data recovery – the DIY method.

So today I was just listening to some music that I keep on my Western Digital My Book ES 500GB external drive and suddenly the music stops playing and worse the MyBook no longer appears in My Computer. Oh dear.

I notice that the drive is still listed in the Device Manager which is strange. All my data is on this drive and my heart sinks.

However, one week on and I have recovered all my data and consider the drive to be rescued. This article describes how.

Things that didn’t work work for me

  • Unplugging the power cable from the MyBook and back in. No show.
  • Restarting Windows. Nope, she’s still not here.
  • Using the USB system tray “Safely Remove Hardware” tool to disconnect the MyBook and reconnect. Still being stood up.
  • Trying Linux – I’m going home.

So what works?

Well, dismantling your MyBook and plugging it directly into a spare SATA slot in your motherboard is what. And that’s because common opinion has it that the USB connector board in the MyBook enclosure is crap and breaks for some reason.

Note! You will likely ruin the enclosure casing in this procedure, so be aware. You will also need to make sure you actually have a spare SATA slot on your motherboard and an additional SATA power cable as you will need both to hook up the back of your MyBook harddrive. If you don’t have those, then you can probably find another USB SATA harddrive connector to do the same thing since it’s the actual USB controller stuff that breaks easily I read on these MyBooks.

Step 1. Remove the rubber seal around the enclosure if you have one.

Step 2. I used a normal eating knife to pry around the casing edges to snap open the catches. You can lift the casing and look for where the catches are then just lever them up to release.

Step 3. Continue releasing the catches until the sleeve pulls off.

Step 4. Voila! You are now ready.

Step 5. Unscrew the circled screws with a Phillips screwdriver.

Step 6. Also unscrew this one.

Step 7. And finally unscrew these 2 and uou will free the harddrive. It probably has some additional casing on it. I didn’t bother to remove that but it’s just a couple more screws if you do want to get rid of it to mount it into a desktop slot.

Step 8. Get your standard SATA data cable

Step 9. And plug it into a free motherboard SATA socket.

Step 10. Hook the other end up to the back of the harddrive and plug in a spare SATA power cable too.

Step 11. Now, I had to activate the SATA slot I used on the motherboard. You may not have to. Best to check in your BIOS to see if there is an On/Off setting like mine had.

Step 12. Boot into Windows and OH … MY … GOD. It’s back and it’s working perfectly. No data loss :) Am so happy.

Hope it works for you too!