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WD 3TB EXT HDD won't show up on "My Computer" but is in the device manager

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  • Western Digital
  • Storage
  • External Hard Drive
Last response: in Storage
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February 24, 2014 5:13:39 PM

A couple days ago I was converting several .mkv files that were on my Western Digital My Book Essential 3TB EXT HDD to .avi files, also to be saved in a different folder on the EXT HDD. It took about 7 hours. I was using a program called Xilisoft Video Converter Ultimate. After I checked, the computer said there was some read/write failure.

Since then my EXT HDD will not show up in my computer. When I access the device manager, under disk drives, it shows "WD My Book 1140 USB Device". The light is blinking on the device and I can hear the drive spin up when I turn on the power. The device manager also says it's working properly.

I've also tried removing and unplugging the device. Restarting my PC then reconnecting. It didn't help. It still shows up on 2 different computers under "device management" and says it's working but still won't appear under my computer.

I'm at a loss of how to access my HDD again. Any help would be appreciated.

More about : 3tb ext hdd show computer device manager

a c 358 G Storage
February 25, 2014 4:41:43 AM

Look in Disk Management, it may just need a drive letter assigning to it (Windows may have "lost" it):
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/change-add-r...

If it's not possible to do that, test the drive with WD Data LifeGuard Diagnostics for Windows:
http://support.wd.com/product/download.asp?groupid=307&...

Note: ignore the drive pictured on the page. You can test any WD hard drive model with the LifeGuard Diagnostics software.
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February 25, 2014 9:45:33 AM

The drive doesn't appear in Disk Management at all. I tried the LifeGuard program and my External Hard Drive wasn't on the list. In Device Manager it still appears under Disk Drives and the safely remove hardware icon appears in the lower right of my screen whenever I connect the EXT HDD. I'm tempted to remove the Hard Drive from it's casing and try to connect it directly to my computer's motherboard.

UPDATE:
I closed and reopened the LifeGuard Program a few times and this time my EXT HDD showed up on the list as a USB. The Serial Number, Capacity and SMART Status were all unavailable. When I started a quick test it would start with "Running Cable Test" then an error would come up that reads "Cable Test::Read diagnostics sector error!".
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May 5, 2014 7:36:23 AM

Any follow-up Tripper511? Did you figure out a solution? I'm having a similar issue...
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3 minutes ago

Here are some ways what I tried to fix mine:

1. Physically clean the interior.
2. Update drivers. Had to update Intel usb 3.0 drivers before it would work on another computer. On a different computer using the same my book I had to actually update the my book drivers for it to work properly.
3. Use system restore just in case there is a conflict from an update.
4. Give it a love tap (sometimes the actual head arm can get stuck) read this article: http://www.cnet.com/news/mybook-not-working-smack-it/
5. Uninstall the driver, unplug the usb, reboot the device, then plug in usb. This worked for me. Not sure why it stopped working but it was fixed.
6. Restart your computer and the device
7. If the device is verified but isn't mounting then you need to run diskmgmt.msc to see it. Use right click to assign it to a drive letter.
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