Comments on: Western Digital My Book – Opening the Case – Removing the Drive http://carltonbale.com/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/ A personal take on tech and home theater Tue, 22 May 2012 03:28:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Karen http://carltonbale.com/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/comment-page-7/#comment-3211 Karen Tue, 01 May 2012 20:50:04 +0000 http://carltonbale.com/2008/01/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/#comment-3211 Hi, I have a 500GB WD Mybook and ever since my husband accidentally knock it over it hasn't been in the very best condition. It has been working on and off the past weeks but this morning when I turn it on it just wouldn't recognize. I see the power light on and the lock light on, but the USB isn't in lock. Sometimes I can hear the USB running but the hard drive won't show up on my laptop. How can I solve this? And if I were to open it up and do as the video show, will I lose all of my stuff that I save in the USB? Please help, I have alot of important stuff on my usb and I can't afford to lose it. Hi, I have a 500GB WD Mybook and ever since my husband accidentally knock it over it hasn’t been in the very best condition. It has been working on and off the past weeks but this morning when I turn it on it just wouldn’t recognize. I see the power light on and the lock light on, but the USB isn’t in lock. Sometimes I can hear the USB running but the hard drive won’t show up on my laptop. How can I solve this? And if I were to open it up and do as the video show, will I lose all of my stuff that I save in the USB? Please help, I have alot of important stuff on my usb and I can’t afford to lose it.

]]> By: BrunoBozic http://carltonbale.com/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/comment-page-7/#comment-2970 BrunoBozic Mon, 16 Apr 2012 08:47:13 +0000 http://carltonbale.com/2008/01/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/#comment-2970 Hello, I have a 2x1TB WD MyBook and the circuit board is dead, considering that the drives are in RAID, what would be the best course of action for salvaging the data? I was thinking of simply connecting the drives to my desktop PC, but I dont know if the drives will be properly paired that way and the data accessible, any suggestions? Hello, I have a 2x1TB WD MyBook and the circuit board is dead, considering that the drives are in RAID, what would be the best course of action for salvaging the data?

I was thinking of simply connecting the drives to my desktop PC, but I dont know if the drives will be properly paired that way and the data accessible, any suggestions?

]]> By: Harold R. Luper http://carltonbale.com/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/comment-page-7/#comment-2969 Harold R. Luper Sat, 07 Apr 2012 17:33:30 +0000 http://carltonbale.com/2008/01/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/#comment-2969 Thank you - exactly what I needed. After over a year of using this drive, the on-board circuit quit maintaining the USB connection. Nothing wrong with the drive. Western Digital is willing to replace the unit - but I told them I need to retrieve the data and reformat the drive prior to returning it. They offered that they will destroy it - but I insisted that I need the data and wipe the drive prior to retuning it. They gave me permission to crack the case and remove the drive so I can copy the backup data and then wipe the drive before returning it on an RMA. Their support on my registered product has been excellent. Loved your comment about "off-site" backup for redundancy. I invested in a Netgear NAS server for that purpose.... I use Ghost - an excellent backup utility (for Windows) Anyway - Thanks Thank you – exactly what I needed.

After over a year of using this drive, the on-board circuit quit maintaining the USB connection. Nothing wrong with the drive. Western Digital is willing to replace the unit – but I told them I need to retrieve the data and reformat the drive prior to returning it. They offered that they will destroy it – but I insisted that I need the data and wipe the drive prior to retuning it.

They gave me permission to crack the case and remove the drive so I can copy the backup data and then wipe the drive before returning it on an RMA. Their support on my registered product has been excellent.

Loved your comment about “off-site” backup for redundancy. I invested in a Netgear NAS server for that purpose….

I use Ghost – an excellent backup utility (for Windows)

Anyway – Thanks

]]> By: Alex Chaihorsky http://carltonbale.com/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/comment-page-7/#comment-2968 Alex Chaihorsky Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:19:25 +0000 http://carltonbale.com/2008/01/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/#comment-2968 Hmmm... But I need this drive to be removable. Certainly it will work as an internal drive, its not the question. The trick is to make it work as a USB removable drive. Hmmm… But I need this drive to be removable. Certainly it will work as an internal drive, its not the question. The trick is to make it work as a USB removable drive.

]]> By: Carlton Bale http://carltonbale.com/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/comment-page-7/#comment-2967 Carlton Bale Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:38:55 +0000 http://carltonbale.com/2008/01/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/#comment-2967 Alex, I suggest opening your workstation and connecting the drive directly to the motherboard using an SATA and power cable. There should be extra power cables inside; you may need to get an SATA cable to attach between the motherboard and the drive (just like with the main hard drive already installed.) Alex, I suggest opening your workstation and connecting the drive directly to the motherboard using an SATA and power cable. There should be extra power cables inside; you may need to get an SATA cable to attach between the motherboard and the drive (just like with the main hard drive already installed.)

]]> By: Alex Chaihorsky http://carltonbale.com/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/comment-page-7/#comment-2966 Alex Chaihorsky Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:42:34 +0000 http://carltonbale.com/2008/01/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/#comment-2966 II would be very grateful if anyone can help me here. I work in Afghanistan for US military and here we do not always have immediate access to computer hardware so often we have to be creative... I need to put a 3T Seagate SATA HDD (the only 3T available here) into existing MyBook Essential enclosure (origonally 2T WD SATA HDD). I opened the case and was able to re-attach the board to my new drive. My Computer (DELL workstation Win 7 Ultimate)recognized the drive but cannot initialize (the error message sez that the drive is write-protected). DiskPart attribite however sees no readonly attributes. There is no pins on the board that could be something like J6 jumper that was mentioned here as possible on-board memory reset. Thanks in advance for any help. Alex. II would be very grateful if anyone can help me here. I work in Afghanistan for US military and here we do not always have immediate access to computer hardware so often we have to be creative…

I need to put a 3T Seagate SATA HDD (the only 3T available here) into existing MyBook Essential enclosure (origonally 2T WD SATA HDD).
I opened the case and was able to re-attach the board to my new drive. My Computer (DELL workstation Win 7 Ultimate)recognized the drive but cannot initialize (the error message sez that the drive is write-protected). DiskPart attribite however sees no readonly attributes. There is no pins on the board that could be something like J6 jumper that was mentioned here as possible on-board memory reset.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Alex.

]]> By: Marc http://carltonbale.com/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/comment-page-7/#comment-2965 Marc Sat, 10 Mar 2012 11:45:46 +0000 http://carltonbale.com/2008/01/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/#comment-2965 My question is. Is there any other enclosure that's compatible with the WD. My enclosure failed on me so i am trying to see if they have one available. My question is. Is there any other enclosure that’s compatible with the WD. My enclosure failed on me so i am trying to see if they have one available.

]]> By: Dave Johnson http://carltonbale.com/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/comment-page-7/#comment-2964 Dave Johnson Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:52:29 +0000 http://carltonbale.com/2008/01/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/#comment-2964 Thanks for the information. Mine had to be pried open like a flat tire, but it came open. All the data is safe, but I don't really need it as this was my backup drive and all I need to do is make a new backup. Unfortunately, the problem was the case. I would have liked to salvage that. It had E-Sata, Firewire and USB connectors. Anyway, thanks again. It was interesting anyway and the 500 is okay. Thanks for the information. Mine had to be pried open like a flat tire, but it came open. All the data is safe, but I don’t really need it as this was my backup drive and all I need to do is make a new backup. Unfortunately, the problem was the case. I would have liked to salvage that. It had E-Sata, Firewire and USB connectors.
Anyway, thanks again. It was interesting anyway and the 500 is okay.

]]> By: Ryszard http://carltonbale.com/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/comment-page-7/#comment-2963 Ryszard Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:51:37 +0000 http://carltonbale.com/2008/01/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/#comment-2963 Thanks very much for very good instructions and video. I was able to open MyBookWorld in white enclosure with ease the first time around. Thanks very much for very good instructions and video.
I was able to open MyBookWorld in white enclosure with ease the first time around.

]]> By: Ed http://carltonbale.com/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/comment-page-7/#comment-2962 Ed Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:24:40 +0000 http://carltonbale.com/2008/01/western-digital-my-book-opening-the-case-removing-the-drive/#comment-2962 Thank you for your time and expertise, Carlton. I have My Book Essentials 3.0 and the 3.0 doesn't work. Other Q&A have called for case replacement. Now, the computer sometimes recognizes the drive, sometimes it does not. I have three 1TB drives all the same, backup photo image data but the primary has my retouch files. I switch drives and the other ones work. Can you recommend a case for this so I may just change out the case and or do you recommend transferring the data to new external? WD was said to have encryption in the chip in the case. Second question: Does the encryption only effect the data through the case ports or is the data on the drive encrypted, and does this affect the success of the process of changing cases or transferring the data? Thanks for your help. Thank you for your time and expertise, Carlton. I have My Book Essentials 3.0 and the 3.0 doesn’t work. Other Q&A have called for case replacement. Now, the computer sometimes recognizes the drive, sometimes it does not. I have three 1TB drives all the same, backup photo image data but the primary has my retouch files. I switch drives and the other ones work. Can you recommend a case for this so I may just change out the case and or do you recommend transferring the data to new external? WD was said to have encryption in the chip in the case. Second question: Does the encryption only effect the data through the case ports or is the data on the drive encrypted, and does this affect the success of the process of changing cases or transferring the data? Thanks for your help.

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