Whether for the restoration of lost digital data, a mishandling error or a mechanical incident, data recovery is essential. It requires know-how and advanced equipment in order to carry out certain tasks. In this article, discover how to recover data from a Western Digital hard drive.
How does the Western Digital hard drive work?
With the exponential growth in the availability of digital media, files need to be stored in a safer place to minimize lost data. Of course, the most widely used storage medium is the hard drive built into a computer. Western Digital is among the most renowned hard drive manufacturers in the world.
On the market, it is known as the Western Digital My Passport Ultra. This device, often called a “WD external hard drive”, comes with a range of features, such as different memory capacities to choose from, a 5-year warranty and a durable design.
Whatever model of hard drive you use, even if it is not a Western Digital hard drive, you should first know the data recovery procedures. This component can experience data loss issues. However, manufacturers do not build in a function to recover your data.
What are the causes of data loss on a Western hard drive?
It is true that the Western Digital My Passport Ultra offers robust performance compared to other drives. Nevertheless, it is not always a 100% safe solution for storing your files.
Here are some incidents that can affect the data on your drive:
- Accidental deletion or formatting of data;
- Physical damage to the drive;
- Cancellation during a transfer or loading operation;
- Virus or malware attacks;
- Resizing or deletion of a partition on the drive.
In some cases, it is necessary to format or delete a partition if you want to reinstall the operating system. However, some people delete or format the wrong partition out of carelessness.
Please note that the obsolescence of a Western external hard drive also leads to data loss.
Western hard drive: what are the recovery steps?
In some cases, it is difficult to recover files if the drive’s platters are too badly damaged. For the Western Digital My Passport Ultra, you can follow these 4 steps to restore the data.
- First step: first of all, it is important to stop using your device so as not to damage it further. Then select the “Western Digital external device recovery” mode.
- Second step: you must make sure your hard drive is detected by your computer. Once this step is done, select it and click the “Start” button to begin scanning for data.
- Third step: select the Western Digital My Passport Ultra external hard drive for your deleted files to launch a quick scan. If your files do not appear after the scan, you can run it again using the “Universal Recovery” mode. This process searches for more files (recovering photos or videos), but will take longer.
- Fourth step: all data found, such as photos, will be listed in the window once the scan is complete. You can preview them and select the ones you are interested in. Click “Recover” to save them back to your computer’s hard drive.
You can also use data recovery software to make the process easier. Good recovery software should have a few features to help you:
- Recover lost files, over 550 formats, from any storage device safely and quickly;
- Support data recovery from a storage medium, a hard drive, a recycle bin, a USB flash drive, a memory card, a digital camera and camcorders;
- Work with operating systems: Windows 11/8/7/XP/Vista, macOS, 10.10 macOS 12 (Monterey) on iMac, Mac Pro, MacBook, etc.
What precautions should be taken to avoid needing recovery?
It is necessary to take preventive measures in order to better anticipate your needs. To help you recover lost data, simply follow a few guidelines.
- Always back up the data on your hard drive to another location.
- Do not unplug or interrupt the hard drive during a copy process from your computer or any other device.
- When deleting one or more files from your hard drive, avoid adding additional data if you are recovering Western Digital files.
- Do not connect the Western Digital My Passport drive if your computer is infected with a virus, as this can easily infect the files on the hard drive.
Keep these simple practices in mind to reduce the need for Western Digital data recovery. However, you can always turn to our services to maximize your chances of recovering your data.