How to get USB external hard drive to work in Win 7

Solution
If this is a new external drive, you need to format it NTFS.

Go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Disk Management - then find and select the new drive, right click and format NTFS.

SirSub42

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Aug 31, 2013
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Did any drivers come with the device? Most of the time, they are plug n' play, but I suppose it is possible to require drivers. Are you plugging the external drive directly into your motherboard or are you using some sort of USB hub? One last thing, while plugged in, can you open your control panel and click on "Devices" (I believe this is the option, it has been a while since I have been on a Windows machine, but you will need to access your Device Manager). See if you can locate your device and look for any sort of yellow or red icons next to the entry. This may indicate the device is not functioning correctly.