Cannot access old laptop hard drive/files through external hard drive enclosure/hookup

El Chico

Reputable
Jul 17, 2014
1
0
4,510
My old windows (HP) laptop stopped working, so I have removed the hard drive and set it up with a hard drive case with USB attachment. From what I can tell, the hard drive is correctly installed in the case. However, when I hook it up to my newer Acer, Windows, laptop, I can not see the hard drive under My Computer. The hard drive is showing up as a device under Devices and Printers, but not as a hard drive under My Computer.

I am a total rookie with these things, so I'm asking if anyone knows what is going on here and if there is some other back-end way I can grab my files off of the old laptop hard drive. As I mentioned, I can see it but just not where I should be able to, nor can I access it in any way.

I'm curious if there is some sort of encryption on the hard drive from my old computer, or if there is something else I am doing incorrectly. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
 
Solution
The drive may be faulty or failed, which could explain why your old HP laptop stopped working. You should never leave yourself in a position where all your data is only on one hard drive because they all fail sooner or later.

However, it's just possible that, since it's an external drive, Windows hasn't given it a drive letter, in which case you can do so manually using the Disk Management console: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/change-add-remove-drive-letter#1TC=windows-7

If the drive isn't even shown in Disk Management, try testing it with SeaTools for Windows: http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/downloads/item/seatools-win-master/
The drive may be faulty or failed, which could explain why your old HP laptop stopped working. You should never leave yourself in a position where all your data is only on one hard drive because they all fail sooner or later.

However, it's just possible that, since it's an external drive, Windows hasn't given it a drive letter, in which case you can do so manually using the Disk Management console: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/change-add-remove-drive-letter#1TC=windows-7

If the drive isn't even shown in Disk Management, try testing it with SeaTools for Windows: http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/downloads/item/seatools-win-master/
 
Solution