In cases like this it is the actual read write heads of the hard drive that have failed. Each time the drive ticks it is actually resetting the position of it’s read/write head before initiating the self test again. This is the hard drive trying to pass a self test before letting the computer take control of it. When most hard drives develop mechanical failures the result is a repetitive ticking noise that comes from the hard drive when it is first powered on, and the drive will not be detected. If they get knocked, dropped or similar they will eventually fail. Although portable hard drives are built to be more rugged and withstand more knocks than the 3.5″ hard drives that go into desktop machines, it’s important to know that all HDD hard drives are mechanical devices with moving parts. This sounds very much like your My Passport hard drive has suffered some form of mechanical failure. Last week the drive when plugged into a USB port has begun to make 7 beeps, then 3 beeps followed by 3 beeps and a pause before repeating itself.” “I have a WD My Passport Ultra 2TB portable hard drive, which I have been taking back and forth to a clients site. We use a WD My Passport hard drive as an example but the information on this page applies to any beeping hard drive, not just WD. This page is all about unresponsive beeping hard drives, explaining the fault in more detail and exploring the data recovery options available.
