I have to (try to) get data off a WD My Book 250 GB external drive. It's attached via USB 2.

After connect and switch on, it takes about 1~2 mins to display anything at all, as shown below.
So far all I've tried is a different USB cable (as if expecting a miracle) with no change,
and HardDiskSentinel reported that it's "99% OK".

For my next trick I will remove it from the case and connect it via a dock. I expect it'll be SATA
and that it has a USB-SATA board inside (at worst, IDE, but still OK).

I suppose I'm expecting "something wrong with this board" which the removal of "will fix".

Anything else I can consider? (Yes, it's garbage night here tonight )

What a Naughty Drive looks like. (I'm told it's about "half-full")...
naughty-drive.jpg

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PS: File Manager says...

Location is not available.
X E:\ is not accessible.
Access is denied.

(Do you think there's a message there somewhere )