How to recover data from a Western Digital/WD hard drive

Download Western Digital (WDC) SSD Drivers

Procedure for manual download and update:

This built-in Western Digital (WDC) SSD driver must be included with the Windows® operating system or available for download through Windows® Update. The built-in driver supports the essential functions of your Western Digital (WDC) SSD hardware. Click here to learn how to install built-in drivers.

How to perform automatic download and update:

Recommendation: If you are inexperienced with updating Western Digital (WDC) SSD device drivers, we highly recommend downloading the DriverDoc driver update tool. DriverDoc automatically downloads and updates the Western Digital (WDC) driver, ensuring the correct version is installed for the current operating system.

With a database of over 2,150,000 drivers, DriverDoc not only keeps your SSD drivers updated, but the rest of your PC's drivers as well.

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Download (Western Digital (WDC) Driver Update Software)

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Utilities: Western Digital Data LifeGuard Diagnostics 1.22, Seagate SeaTools 1.2.0.4

Western Digital has released a new version of its proprietary utility for testing drives of its own production. DLDIAG is a fairly small test for the Windows operating system. Capable of reading SMART readings from supported models of hard drives and controllers (mostly standard), indicating critical parameter values, and also displaying information about the model (volume and firmware version). Includes two tests (as well as a separate item for viewing detailed results) and the ability to erase the work area with zeros. The first one is fast, collects data on the SMART state, as well as service information, which determines the degree of defectiveness and performance of the hard drive. As the test showed, it can run not only on drives made by WD, but also by Samsung (although, most likely, also on solutions from other manufacturers). The entire check takes about two minutes. The second test is an extended one, its duration can take from 30 minutes to a whole hour. It differs from fast only in the ability to identify bad sectors under operating systems of the 9x family and fix or isolate them (if possible).

The function of filling data with zeros is designed to completely destroy data on the drive. Works in two modes: fast and long. The latter is more reliable in terms of destruction. Before using the program, it is recommended to make a backup copy of your data to prevent possible loss.

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You can download the test from the manufacturer’s website:

• Western Digital Data LifeGuard Diagnostics 1.22 (0.8 MB, freeware).

Seagate is also not far behind. An updated version of the complex called Seagate SeaTools has become available. This is a specialized application for diagnosing your own drive models, designed to work in MS DOS.

The program can conduct several types of checks: quick, full, structural (by files), controller and system memory tests. The longest of them is the full one, it will take about 2-3 hours, and each sector of the disk will be examined. Several color modes are also used to notify of possible problems: green (everything is fine), blue (test passed, but there are comments), red (test failed), yellow (function or device not supported by the program), gray (skipped) and white ( not tested).

You can download one of the distribution options using the following links:

• Seagate SeaTools 1.2.0.4 (16.5 MB, installer for Windows, freeware)
• Seagate SeaTools 2.22 (7.8 MB, bootable ISO image for DOS, freeware).

Western Digital (WDC) Upgrade Frequently Asked Questions

What are Western Digital (WDC) SSD device drivers needed for?

These tiny programs, called "device drivers," allow your Western Digital (WDC) device to communicate correctly with your operating system.

What operating systems are compatible with Western Digital (WDC) drivers?

Windows.

How to update Western Digital (WDC) drivers?

Western Digital (WDC) drivers can be updated manually using Device Manager or automatically using driver update software.

What are the benefits and risks of updating Western Digital (WDC) drivers?

The main benefits of updating Western Digital (WDC) drivers are proper functioning, increased functionality, and improved hardware performance.
The main risks of installing the wrong SSD drivers include system instability, hardware incompatibility, and system crashes. About the Author: Jay Geater is the President and CEO of Solvusoft Corporation, a global software company focused on innovative services. He has a lifelong passion for computers and loves everything related to computers, software and new technology.

TOP 8 Hard Drive Checker Programs

SeaTools from Seagate | Windows and DOS

SeaTools for Windows

SeaTools for Windows is a comprehensive, easy-to-use diagnostic tool that helps you quickly determine the health of your desktop or laptop hard drive. It includes several tests that will check the physical media on your Seagate, Maxtor or Samsung hard drive and any other non-Seagate hard drive.

SeaTools for Windows should work on both internal and external hard drives. In addition to diagnostic tests, the program also offers several functions that will help you manage your hard drive, and there is also a hard drive test in Russian.

Check Disk | Windows

Check Disk

CheckDisk is a good software for finding and correcting errors on a disk. It is somewhat similar to ScanDisk and chkdsk.exe, supplied with Windows operating systems (Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7,8,10 Server 2012. You can choose either standard or full windows hard drive tests.

The test performs a sector check and is able to find bad sectors on your drive and mark them as bad. The program works with hard drives, including SCSI and RAID, and with removable media.

HDDScan | Windows

HDDScan for Windows

HDDScan is free hard drive diagnostic software (RAID servers, USB flash drives, and SSDs are also supported). The program can test the storage device for errors (Bad blocks and bad sectors), SMART check the hard drive for errors, can change some hard drive parameters, such as AAM, APM, etc.

Supported storage devices - IDE (ATA) and SATA hard drives, SCSI (SAS) hard drives, external USB drives and all mainstream USB devices, FireWire or IEEE 1394 hard drives, RAID volumes from ATA (IDE)/SATA/SCSI HDD (surface tests only), USB Flash (drives) - superficial tests only, and SATA / ATA SSD - solid state drives.

• Read and analyze identification information from ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire/SCSI hard drive.
• Change AAM, APM, PM parameters on ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire hard drive.
• Reporting defects on the SCSI hard drive.
• Spindle start/stop function on ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire/SCSI hard drive.
• Reports can be saved in MHT format.
• SSD SMART and identity reporting.

EaseUS Partition Master | Windows

EaseUS Partition Master for Windows

EaseUS Partition Master can identify bad sectors by scanning your hard drive. When it finds bad sectors, it marks those sectors as bad in red so the system knows not to use them. This may allow them to be read if the data stored in the bad sector is still accessible, but it cannot be written.

Macrorit Disk Scanner | Windows

Macrorit Disk Scanner for Windows

A bad hard drive sector is the most common problem and the drive is no longer safe for storing data. A bad sector will result in the loss of important data and sometimes a blue screen of death. Macrorit Disk Scanner is a third-party portable bad sector disk scanning utility that provides you with better options and better performance than Windows' own disk scanner.

When using the fastest algorithm, this free disk scanning software can usually reach the maximum speed supported by the device. It is compatible with all the latest versions of Microsoft Windows - both client and server and supports major types of storage devices such as IDE and SATA HDD and SSD, SCSI, FireWire, hardware RAID, flash cards and much more.

Abelssoft CheckDrive | Windows

Abelssoft CheckDrive

CheckDrive works like a "Disk Doctor" to scan for symptoms: typical hard drive failures and test hard drive speed. If problems are detected, the tool acts immediately. If the error is not resolved in time, the computer may become unstable and freeze frequently.

The worst case occurs when the hard drives fail completely and the user suffers greatly when all the stored data is lost forever. CheckDrive analyzes all hard drives installed on your computer to increase the security of data storage. The tool displays so-called SMART data and other functions, and also calculates the health status of hard drives.

GSmartControl | Windows | macOS | Linux

GSmartControl

This utility is a hard drive tester and SSD health check tool. Graphical user interface for smartctl (from the smartmontools package), which is a tool for querying and managing SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) data on modern hard drives and solid-state drives. This allows you to check the drive's SMART data, determine its health, and run various tests on it.