Hi I found this forum and I like it
This is my problem I have A WESTERN DIGITAL 120 GIG PORTABLE HDD (EXTERNAL) WAS WORKING FINE FOR ABOUT 2 WEEKS THEN in all the pc's I tried the same prob USB DEVICE NOT RECOGNIZED.
According WD the prob is with old PC the USB port only gives you 0.5 amps and you need more than that to make your HDDD to work (they sell an adapter for those old pc)bUT MY PC IS ALMOST NEW I have decent computer skills and I tried with an adapter and external powered USB PORT the problem is the same.
Ok the sad part
The HDD still on warranty and even I can send it back to the store BUT THE PROBLEM IS (I DON'T CARE THE DATA IS LOST ) THE THING IS I HAVE ALL (ALL) MY PERSONAL INFO IN THAT HDD CCards ,SSN,PASSPORT PASSWORDS STORES INFO ACCOUNT,BANK ACCOUNT ,PHONES, DL ,# SAVINGS ACCOUNT AND PASSWORD,BANK ROUTING NUMBERS YOU NAME IT IS THERE. programs back up etc ,etc.
I DON'T WANT TO WASTE $150 BUT IO DON'T WANT TO GIVE THE HDD BACK TO THE STORE UNTIL I ERASE ALL THAT INFO IS WAY TO PERSONAL IF THE THING GOES TO THE WRONG HANDS I'M TOASTED ALL MY FINANCIAL INFO IS THERE TOO FROM MY 401K TO MY CAT VACCINES DATES (BTW ALL THIS INFO IS ALREADY BACK UP IN ANOTHER DEVICE)
I know I can change all my passwords and my CC but SSN still the same and DL the same address etc.
The HDD start to making funny noises (Clicking).
My question is how i can erase,kill,destroy,wipe that info? I know I can nuke the thing I KNOW I can make a hole with a drill But I want to recover my money or just I need to keep the hdd??
Unfortunatelly I was using the thing for only 2 weeks and I didn't have time to encrypt the thing.
Any Ideas??? I need help
Thank you very much

The problem might be with the electronics in the case and not the drive itself. You can try to open up the case and take the drive out...pry it open at the back (where the USB cable plugs in). Once you crack it open, you'll see that there's a small hard drive with a circuit board plugged into the back of it. Take that off, and you'll see the SATA data and power connectors on the drive.

If you have SATA cables/power plugs available in your computer, you can plug the drive into your computer. Or, preferably, you can buy a 2.5" SATA-to-USB drive enclosure and put the drive in there. (Make sure the enclosure is for SATA drives, not IDE.) That way, you can still use it as a portable hard drive.

Of course, doing any of this would invalidate your warranty. You might also be able to do something with a powerful electromagnet to scramble the data on the drive...not sure how to do that, though.

Take that off, and you'll see the SATA data and power connectors on the drive.
sonnerie portable gratuite

I understand that you cannot return a USB drive which is under warranty, because it has personal data on it that should not be available to anyone else. You need to erase that data completely, before you return it.

You are prevented from erasing the data by the fact that your machine, nor any other machine can recognize the drive. Destructive methods do not meet your need because your objective is to return a drive which has the warranty still valid.

You might consider purchasing a strong disk access and data recovery tool, to see if it would at least let you access and test the drive. You have not told us whether you have attempted to use Western Digital's disk management tools http://bit.ly/7a7sy to access the drive. If not, you might want to try those. GRC also sells a tool, at http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm that you could investigate.

Make it clear in requesting service from WD that your issue is cleaning/erasing the disk, not "making it work again". That information might help them think about the problem more accurately.