Passport proplems

After 17 years of doing IT full time that type of complaint always turns out to be hard drive failure. To be sure you can open up the enclosure and remove the drive and connect it directly using it's SATA interface or you can mount it using a different USB dock or sata to usb cable (both available to purchase).

If it is a software problem like partition damage than you might be able to use a piece of software to recover it (Google is your friend there). If it is hardware problem inside the drive, it may have to be disassembled and the drive platters have to be transferred to working mechanism in a clean room environment. Lots of place provide this service and it can be quite pricey. It depends on how valuable that data is. If it is really valuable than you should not attempt any repairs yourself and you should go straight to a data recovery place. I have used Drivesavers before and they always tell me it will be $800 to $3500USD for the recovery depending on the type of failure and it always ends up being $3500 =(

I have since found an alternative to that place here in Ontario, Canada where I live, but we are still talking $1000 recoveries.
 
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