Data Recovery From Non-Detecting Western Digital Hard Drive by Stellar

The Situation

Recently, a concerned client reached out to us with an external HDD. For them, the drive was more than just a storage device as it held years’ worth of treasured memories. Family get-togethers, travel experiences, and personal milestones—all seemed to be safely preserved.

One fine day, while looking to forward some old photos to a friend, the client could not find any of the folders. Upon reconnecting the drive, they found that the hard disk was not showing in Disk Management. A routine endeavor to quickly share some files turned into dread and fear. Because there was no backup, the client believed the memories were lost forever. The disk was then brought to Stellar Data Recovery – Kolkata for expert evaluation and potential recovery.

Drive Specifications

• Device: Western Digital External HDD
• Capacity: 5 TB
• File System: NTFS
• Issue: Not detecting
• Data at Stake: Personal data

How Stellar Recovered Data From a Non-Detecting WD External Hard Disk

The client brought the non-detecting hard disk to the nearest Stellar Data Recovery service center. As soon as our professionals received the drive, they performed a preliminary examination to look for physical damage and ascertain whether any previous attempts at recovery had been attempted. There was no sign of physical damage or tampering, which allowed us to proceed with the next steps.

🔍 Disk Imaging

Our experienced technicians made a sector-by-sector clone of the undetected drive and stored the data on a donor drive to ensure no further damage to the original media. While cloning, they concluded that the hard drive had a single partition.

📊 Analyze the Partition Table

Our HDD Data Recovery team analyzed the GUID Partition Table (GPT). Using proprietary tools, they accessed the disk’s initial sectors, including Sector 0 and LBA 1, to identify and verify the partition table structure required for accurate data recovery.

The missing partition was identified and manually reconstructed. Stellar’s experts scanned all allocated sectors and compared known partition signatures. Since the data still existed, the partition was manually reconstructed to restore access to the stored files.

🗂️ Manually Inspecting the File System

Then we moved to the next step, where our experts found out that the NTFS boot sector and Master File Table (MFT) were intact. We used our proprietary tools to extract critical files through file signature analysis.

✅ Data Verification and Delivery

We successfully recovered the data and made a directory listing of it for verification by the client. Upon verification we delivered the data to the relieved client on a new hard drive.

While every data loss case is unique, the uncertainty and fear experienced by clients remain the same. In a similar incident, another customer approached Stellar when their Western Digital hard drive became unreadable, leaving critical data inaccessible.

In the video below, the client shares their real experience and how Stellar successfully recovered their data despite the drive no longer being readable.

Conclusion

Stellar Data Recovery successfully recovered the client’s lost photos from the undetected hard drive using a methodical and cautious recovery process. Our professionals ensured the full recovery of priceless memories by carrying out thorough diagnostics, fixing file structures, and safely retrieving the data. The case emphasizes how professional data recovery services like Stellar can transform an apparently irreversible data loss scenario into a successful recovery outcome, returning clients’ priceless memories with assurance and transparency.

To understand more recovery scenarios, explore additional real-world data recovery cases handled by our experts:

• Video Recovery from Corrupted Pendrive(SanDisk) by Stellar
• Pen Drive Data Recovery: Small Design Studio Back in Business
• Deleted Video Footage Recovered From Corrupted SSD at Stellar – Nehru Place
• How a Hospitality Company Recovered 5 Years of Overwritten Tally Data
• Data Recovery From an Outdated 80 GB PATA Hard Drive | Stellar – Chennai
• Video Repair and Recovery From HIKVISION 1TB External SSD

About The Author

Urvika Tuteja

Urvika Tuteja is an SEO Executive at Stellar® with a good understanding of online marketing. She is known for her quick and enthusiastic learning abilities. Urvika contributes her skills to managing operational activities and driving the growth of organic traffic.