WD Mybook worked for 1 year...

[WannaBMW3]

I have a WD5000P032 hooked up via firewire 400...yes I'm running time machine on it as well. It worked for the first year with minor issues (not being recognized, failed backups, etc.) but always showed up on my desktop. Now when I power on my MBP (w/ Leopard), the drive just blinks about 4 times then stays lite and never appears on my desktop again.

I have no problem buying a new drive but I want my time machine backups as well as my data erased. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks everyone

 

[geoffreak]

WD should have a warranty program that is good for 3 years on most of its drives. If you get the MyBook replaced through that program, they claim they securely erase/destroy data on faulty drives.

There is no way for you to erase the data short of completely destroying it.

 

[WannaBMW3]

I called and the guy looked up my serial number...said the warranty expired. I bought it at Costco and I want to go exchange it but afraid of info being stored on it still

Thanks anyways...

 

[geoffreak]

Once a hard drive stops working, really only forensic experts can recover data off it. These same people will be able to recover your data regardless of what you do to it, short of all out destruction.

If you open up the enclosure and the drive inside, you can get at the data platters and cut/break them up and bury them in your yard if you are really paranoid.

You really shouldn't worry too much about your data unless the FBI or CIA is after you.

 

[WannaBMW3]

You really shouldn't worry too much about your data unless the FBI or CIA is after you.[/QUOTE]

LMAO

 

[therealkaizoku]

This topic has been covered before...the drive is probably good to go, but the controller board has probably died. This is a known issue with WD MyBook drives. The components they use on the controller boards are garbage. I had to return a 1TB MyBook after 2 days of use because the controller board went bad.

If your MyBook is out of warranty, buy an external drive housing with FireWire support, crack open the MyBook housing, pull the drive, and put the drive in the new external housing. Problem solved.

You really shouldn't worry too much about your data unless the FBI or CIA is after you.

I'm new here so I'll say this nicely: You have no idea what you're talking about.