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Help with computer reconizing External HDD
Aug 26, 2012 09:39:06 #
I have not had this problem before building smaller capacity drives. I am using a Dell laptop using Windows XP Pro. I purchased a Western Digital 500G laptop hard drive and a HHD enclosure. Assembled it and plugged it in to a USB 2.0 port.
Problem: it will not appear in "My Computer" as a drive. I have never had this happen before. It does appear in "Devise Manager" and that says the devise in running properly. Unless I can get it to appear in "My Computer" I cannot format it and cannot write to it.
I have built smaller drives and had no problem. WD website says that they use drivers inherent in XP Pro... There is nothing available from them.
I have Googled the problem and none of the workarounds seems to work.
I have a friend running Windows 7, maybe I'll plug it in to her computer and see if Window 7 reconizes it.
Anybody have any suggestions.
Problem: it will not appear in "My Computer" as a drive. I have never had this happen before. It does appear in "Devise Manager" and that says the devise in running properly. Unless I can get it to appear in "My Computer" I cannot format it and cannot write to it.
I have built smaller drives and had no problem. WD website says that they use drivers inherent in XP Pro... There is nothing available from them.
I have Googled the problem and none of the workarounds seems to work.
I have a friend running Windows 7, maybe I'll plug it in to her computer and see if Window 7 reconizes it.
Anybody have any suggestions.
Aug 26, 2012 09:57:49 #
I have a Dell XP630 and a 27 inch monitor with USB ports. At times, for whatever reason, my external drive will not be recognized. I have 5 USB ports so I just click on the task bar to 'unrecognize the device', let Win7 loose it and then plug it in again. Drivers install and voila, it's there. I also have a USB ATA/IDE spare drive setup for old IDE hard drives and it's sometimes the same.
Sarge
Sarge
Aug 26, 2012 10:26:54 #
The only thing that comes remotely near that is the "safely remove hardware icon" down on the lower left. I clicked it and then removed (unplugged) the drive, waited and plugged it back in---- NOTHING !!!
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Aug 26, 2012 11:08:29 #
Aug 26, 2012 11:27:39 #
XP can handle a 500GB drive. While the drive is plugged in:
Right click my computer.
Click manage
Go to Disk Management on the left side.
Does the drive show up there? It probably does.
Maybe you need to assign it a drive letter. if it says healthy. If it says No partitions defined or something similar, try the next step.
Maybe you need to create a partition (make it "primary" ), format (NTFS is best), and then assign a drive letter if it doesn't do that during the format.
Reply with results. The fact that you just purchased the drive seperately tells me you need to make a partition. If you bought the whole thing assembled, they would have done that for you. Buying the drive bare, they assume you are putting it in a machine and installing an Operating System which takes care of the partition creation in the process.
If you have Internet Access, PM me if you need me to remote in and do it for you. I use TeamViewer.
Right click my computer.
Click manage
Go to Disk Management on the left side.
Does the drive show up there? It probably does.
Maybe you need to assign it a drive letter. if it says healthy. If it says No partitions defined or something similar, try the next step.
Maybe you need to create a partition (make it "primary" ), format (NTFS is best), and then assign a drive letter if it doesn't do that during the format.
Reply with results. The fact that you just purchased the drive seperately tells me you need to make a partition. If you bought the whole thing assembled, they would have done that for you. Buying the drive bare, they assume you are putting it in a machine and installing an Operating System which takes care of the partition creation in the process.
If you have Internet Access, PM me if you need me to remote in and do it for you. I use TeamViewer.
Aug 26, 2012 11:39:57 #
GC likes NIKON wrote:
Problem: it will not appear in "My Computer" as a drive.
Isn't it great using Windows? :D That's happened to me a few times - very frustrating. It eventually fixed itself - somehow.
Try the steps below.
Changing Drive Letters
1. Right click on My Computer.
2. Click on Manage.
3. In the right half of the window, click on Storage., then click on Disk Management.
4. Highlight the drive whose letter you want to change.
5. Right click the drive letter and select Change Drive Letter and Paths.
Aug 26, 2012 13:07:17 #
I had the same thing happen with a drive I was using on my Dish reciever. The computer recognised the format in disk management but nothing else. I did as Jerry has suggested, eliminated all partitions and reformatted.
jerryc41 wrote:
quote=GC likes NIKON Problem: it will not appear ... (show quote)
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Aug 26, 2012 22:55:51 #
jerryc41 wrote:
quote=GC likes NIKON Problem: it will not appear ... (show quote)
Thanks Jerry, I did use your steps and figured it out and now have a functioning 500 Gig back up drive !!
Thank you so much !! Gary
Aug 26, 2012 22:57:56 #
Aug 26, 2012 22:59:18 #
Thanks guys, I got it fixed using your steps and some patience !! Now have a 500 gig back up drive !!!
Aug 26, 2012 23:50:53 #
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Aug 27, 2012 07:12:34 #
Wish you guys were around about 6 years ago - Bought an Iomega external to store images. Within 6 weeks Windows no longer listed the drive - it was gone; this was a gradual thing - one attempted access it was there, the next it wasn't - I was able to save my images. Talked to some computer professionals who told me that the drive had failed. Bought a Western Digital - same thing. Bought a Buffalo Terrabyte external; had no problem until its power supply failed after six years - was replaced and working - lost nothing
Aug 27, 2012 08:40:56 #
Aug 27, 2012 16:37:18 #
I had the same problem once and I solved it by changing the USB extension cable I was using. The funny thing was that the same extension cable worked ok with a WiFi dongle I have but would not work with the external hard drive. Like you I could see the drive in the device manager but not in windows explorer. If you have no luck then trying it in a friends computer is a good idea as that could help you eliminate a few possibilities. Good luck, Dave.
Aug 27, 2012 18:05:30 #
Drigby1
Loc: American Fork, UT
Macintosh has these tissy fits too. It's just the world of imperfect computers.
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