# Computer won't recognize external hard drive. Any help appreciated,



## Knever (Jul 22, 2011)

Hello. I'm having some trouble getting an external hard drive to be recognized by my computer. I have quite a few already, but I got another one because one of them won't read on my comp, although it will read on my netbook. The new drive I got has the same issue, no go on the comp, but works fine on the netbook.

I tried unplugging all of the other drives and even using the other cables to connect the new drive, but Windows 7 simply won't recognize it being plugged in. No "badump" sound and no icon in My Computer. Tried restarting, nothing. I tried it in all six of my computer's USB ports, but got no better result.

I'm really confused as to how this could be happening. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.


----------



## Heddy123 (Mar 21, 2011)

hmmm... It seems to me that the inbuilt drivers on your computer may need to be updated. I had a similar trouble with my brother's Ipod, but I haven't fixed it. Also, you may have a problem with a USB port. Are you trying to run it through a 4way usb port or similar? if not, Have you tried any other usb ports?(sorry if you answered this, I'm writing without anything of yours to go by) What sort of external HDD is it? and don't forget PC stats and specs. Use the TSG SYSInfo (download here: http://static.techguy.org/download/SysInfo.exe) for this. Then we'll see what we can find out, eh!


----------



## jesseyoung (Nov 30, 2010)

Hi Knever,

You mean that your external HD can be recognized in your netbook but your PC(DESKTOP) CAN'T, don't you?

Have you checked the DM? 
1. Right My Computer, select Manage 
2 .on the left click on Disk Management 
3. If you put the right appear and the almost-capacity removable disk disk, the disk is USB and there is no problem to prove 
4. If the prompt is not initialized, then initialize the disk, remember to type selection: basic disk, if you do not accidentally become a dynamic disk, right click replacement 
5 .If there are no partitions, partition itself 
6. If the above 4 and 5 do not exist, has been able to see the partition, use the right to change the drive name and path, add a drive letter to allow access to the system.


----------



## Knever (Jul 22, 2011)

Heddy123 said:


> hmmm... It seems to me that the inbuilt drivers on your computer may need to be updated. I had a similar trouble with my brother's Ipod, but I haven't fixed it. Also, you may have a problem with a USB port. Are you trying to run it through a 4way usb port or similar? if not, Have you tried any other usb ports?(sorry if you answered this, I'm writing without anything of yours to go by) What sort of external HDD is it? and don't forget PC stats and specs. Use the TSG SYSInfo (download here: http://static.techguy.org/download/SysInfo.exe) for this. Then we'll see what we can find out, eh!


I tried updating all of the USB drivers, but I was given a message saying that they are all up to date and that there are no errors. Like I said in the original post, there's no hub being used. There are 6 USB ports on the computer and none of them were able to recognize the newer drive.

I should probably mention that the drive that this one is replacing is a different model (but still same manufacturer, Western Digital), which used to work on this comp, but now does not. Two of the others that I still use on this comp are of the same model as the older one that now does not work on this comp (but, like I said earlier, works fine on my netbook).

Here is the SysInfo:

Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.1
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate , 32 bit
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E4500 @ 2.20GHz, x64 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 13
Processor Count: 2
RAM: 2046 Mb
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8400, 128 Mb
Hard Drives: C: Total - 953766 MB, Free - 293882 MB; J: Total - 1430127 MB, Free - 141310 MB; K: Total - 953634 MB, Free - 150284 MB; L: Total - 1907260 MB, Free - 547030 MB; 
Motherboard: FOXCONN, Irvine, HP P/N, ULSJ80208054
Antivirus: AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2011, Updated and Enabled


----------



## Knever (Jul 22, 2011)

jesseyoung said:


> Hi Knever,
> 
> You mean that your external HD can be recognized in your netbook but your PC(DESKTOP) CAN'T, don't you?
> 
> ...


I'm sorry but your English is hard to understand. I did understand to check Disk Management, which I did, but the drive was not there. Rescanning the drives also did nothing. The only drives that appear are the ones that I can normally access.

There was one change, though. It seemed as though, at some point in doing all of that, that Windows tried to find a driver for the newly installed drive. Apparently it did, but I still cannot find the drive, and Windows still does not recognize it when plugged in.


----------



## jesseyoung (Nov 30, 2010)

Hi Knever,

Sorry for the English.

Sometimes taking electricity directly through the USB interface may appear insufficient power supply 
whether you are using the USB power cable? If not, you can change a cable to have a try.

If it doesn't work, go to the control panel-->device manager, delete all USB drive, then restart, let the system automatically identify USB devices.

Good luck!


----------



## Hughv (Jul 22, 2006)

Does the drive appear in Device Manager?


----------



## Knever (Jul 22, 2011)

Hughv said:


> Does the drive appear in Device Manager?


It didn't appear at all. Windows would not recognize it at all.

But I just found out the issue. For some reason, the power source needed to be connected AFTER the USB cord was connected. Never had to do that with any of the other drives. But it's working fine now.

Thanks to everyone who helped!


----------



## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

It is really a bad idea to connect power to something that is connected to the computer while it is running. A small surge can lead to damage. And your drive certainly should be recognized if the power is connected first. Check to see if having the new drive as the only connected USB device makes any difference.

Try cleaning up old USB devices so the machine has a bit less to deal with. You may be surprised how many previous devices are still present.

USB Device Cleanup

Click the column header to put all the non-connected devices together. Then, select them all and uninstall them. (This can be done in Device Manager by making hidden devices visible, but it needs to be done there one by one, so is very time-consuming.)


----------



## Knever (Jul 22, 2011)

Elvandil said:


> It is really a bad idea to connect power to something that is connected to the computer while it is running. A small surge can lead to damage. And your drive certainly should be recognized if the power is connected first. Check to see if having the new drive as the only connected USB device makes any difference.
> 
> Try cleaning up old USB devices so the machine has a bit less to deal with. You may be surprised how many previous devices are still present.
> 
> ...


As I explained earlier, I tried having all but the new drive plugged in, with the same results. I tried pretty much everything up until the final solution worked. Bad idea or not, it worked. I do appreciate the extra help, though.


----------



## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

Cleaning out your old USB devices is still a good idea. If nothing else, it will speed the time the machine takes to recognize the devices you have attached.

The machine should also recognize that drive if it is connected at boot time.

We had a poster last week that burned out all of his USB ports by plugging in an adapter. He got USB back by buying a PCI card.


----------

