Missing driver for WD external HDD

[ceo54]

Hello,

For some unknown reason I am seem to be missing the driver for WD passport 25E1 external drive.

 

Device manager -> https://i.postimg.cc/3NV1X1t8/Capture.png

 

This has not happened before I'm not sure how the driver went missing. Can anyone has any idea how to resolve this or maybe share the relevant .sys file from driverstore folder ?

 

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Cocodile]

It's most likely dead. It doesn't need any *special* driver, it uses the default Windows one.

I had this exact issue in the past, I had to replace the enclosure board, the drive itself was alive.

[ceo54]

Hello @Cocodile

Thank you for the response. The device is fine, SMART reports no issue, I can transfer files to/from device without any issues. Furthermore, the same HDD doesn't have problem on another Windows 8.1 PC.

[Cocodile]

3 hours ago, ceo54 said:

Hello @Cocodile

Thank you for the response. The device is fine, SMART reports no issue, I can transfer files to/from device without any issues. Furthermore, the same HDD doesn't have problem on another Windows 8.1 PC.

Then ignore the warning.

[ceo54]

3 minutes ago, Cocodile said:

Then ignore the warning.

Yes, I would but the issue is the "safely remove the device" option is non-existent in explorer and systray option is grayed out and I don't want to just pull it out without first properly stopping the HDD. It has important data on it I can't afford to lose. 

[Cocodile]

3 hours ago, ceo54 said:

Yes, I would but the issue is the "safely remove the device" option is non-existent in explorer

There are lots of good 3rd party tools, sometimes much better than the default one, to safely remove your device.

[billmcct]

The driver is the SAS driver for all WD external drives and can be downloaded from WDs website.

Also, if the drive light is not flashing your safe unplugging the drive. Windows doesn't use delayed write on any external drives.

[ceo54]

On 11/7/2023 at 9:27 PM, billmcct said:

The driver is the SAS driver for all WD external drives and can be downloaded from WDs website.

Also, if the drive light is not flashing your safe unplugging the drive. Windows doesn't use delayed write on any external drives.

Thank you for the response billmcct. I searched the WD website and found the old version of the driver from 2011, installed it and it did not solve the issue. I also got one from Windows update that seemed identical to the one downloaded from WD website.