my book not detected

[batgirl]

An update,

Somehow managed to the 'my computer' to recognise the driver. Showing that the data is there (which was good), but when I open any of the folders, it says that they are empty. Folders can be opened, to show sub folders, but individual documents not being shown. Documents on the hard drive, which aren't in an individual folder are shown, however when I try and access them, they either tell me the document has been moved or that it can't be recognised.

Getting frustrated with the whole thing now. Why oh why did I not back up recently!!!!

[KSparx]

My 500gb 'My Book Home" did about the same thing last week. Right after installing latest windows updates, the drive would intermittently vanish from my computer, disk mgmt, remove hardware..everywhere. It did this for about a day and a half, then vanished and never came back. It doesn't click, I can hear it spool up, sometimes I get the USB 'beep', the lights seem to work, but it's gone. And I've tried everything in an attempt to find it. Of course the warranty ran out 5-6 months ago. (It's only 3 1/2 years old).  I got this to back-up a PC and a laptop, both of which are older than this thing. In fact, the PC is twice as old. Both work just fine. This just seems totally wrong IMHO. If I'd known these only last half as long as I expected, there's no way in **bleep** I would have purchased it. Definitely not after reading online that hundreds, at the least, have had similiar problems with the WD 500gb drives. Seems like they've got a big problem with them.

AND: After checking the WD website, it says my drive would be eligible for a discounted upgrade as part of the WD customer loyalty program. An out-of-warranty upgrade for a 1TB My Book Essential  is $144.90. However, if I just go to the WD store, the same unit is $129.99. Can someone explain the "customer loyalty" in this deal??

[Wizer]

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KSparx wrote:

My 500gb 'My Book Home" did about the same thing last week. Right after installing latest windows updates, the drive would intermittently vanish from my computer, disk mgmt, remove hardware..everywhere. It did this for about a day and a half, then vanished and never came back. It doesn't click, I can hear it spool up, sometimes I get the USB 'beep', the lights seem to work, but it's gone. And I've tried everything in an attempt to find it. Of course the warranty ran out 5-6 months ago. (It's only 3 1/2 years old).  I got this to back-up a PC and a laptop, both of which are older than this thing. In fact, the PC is twice as old. Both work just fine. This just seems totally wrong IMHO. If I'd known these only last half as long as I expected, there's no way in **bleep** I would have purchased it. Definitely not after reading online that hundreds, at the least, have had similiar problems with the WD 500gb drives. Seems like they've got a big problem with them.

AND: After checking the WD website, it says my drive would be eligible for a discounted upgrade as part of the WD customer loyalty program. An out-of-warranty upgrade for a 1TB My Book Essential  is $144.90. However, if I just go to the WD store, the same unit is $129.99. Can someone explain the "customer loyalty" in this deal??

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Well you got a good run out of your drive...

If the Customer Loyalty does not interest you.. you can look for better deals online

[KSparx]

3 1/2 years is considered a "good run for a hard drive'?

[HDDRS]

3 1/2 years is average. usually drives that come in to us for data recovery are 2-3 years old

[Joe_S]

The use the drive gets will also have an impact. A drive in constant use like watching movies or listening to music will probably have a shorter life that one used strictly for backups.

Joe

[KSparx]

That's what it was used for, strictly back-ups, for a PC and laptop. It didn't get moved, and I was lucky if I backed up every other month. It really didn't have many hours use on it. Really didn't know the life exp. was only 2 1/2 - 3 years for a drive or I would have done something else. Never had an internal drive fail, and I've had some computers for many years. In fact, the PC in the guest-room was built in Feb.., 1998 and it's all original parts. Guess I should have bought a back-up to back up my back-up. Thx for the info though.

[HDDRS]

it all comes down to what kind of problem your drive has. Drives fail in many different ways.

[blacky]

Ok, so these drives don't last forever.

What's to be done with these enclosures when the drives fail. 

Is it impossible to replace the bad drives with new ones?