Hi,
Overview:
1) My desktop, Desktop_1, has suddenly stopped seeing 3 external USB drives.
2) All 3 drives are visible by and operable on other machines.
3) When I use workarounds (e.g., DiskMgmt, DevMgr) to find the drives on the desktop, they have no volume data, and attempting to open them crashes Window Explorer (and sometimes Disk Management).
Details:
As of about a week ago...
*on the desktop in question, Desktop_1, can't see/operate external hard drives (testing with three different drives)
--drives were visible until a week ago
*drives are visible and operable on other computers
on Desktop_1...
*sometimes letters are assigned to external drives, sometimes not
--when letters are assigned, clicking on external drive crashes Windows Explorer
*even after finding disks via Disk Management, no volume data visible
*drives usually show as Hidden Devices
*malwarebytes, kaspersky, sfc /scannow, and perfmon all report that the desktop is fine.
*they also report that the externals are fine... though sometimes without scanning any files on them
---other data:
-- one USB port on desktop seems completely dead
-- previous desktop, Desktop_0, showed similar behavior before dying
-- connected hard drive from dead desktop to current desktop, via external hard drive enclosure (again, no virus/malware found)
-- USB wi-fi started operating very badly two weeks ago; will "connect", while sending little to no data (problem is intermittent)
-- Desktop_1 is 64-bit; Desktop_0 was 32-bit; one of the user profiles on Desktop 1 and Desktop 0 had the same name and used the same programs
-- Desktop_1 is a used Win 7 desktop that I bought in early April; it just started failing Win 7 activation about two weeks ago, and I used a reg hack to extend activation period for another 30 days.
Questions:
How do I get my external drives visible/operable on Desktop_1 again?
Is this likely a
--Win 7 problem?
--USB problem?
-- virus/malware problem?
-- a hard drive problem affecting 3 different drives that all work with other computers? (Seems unlikely...)
Thanks!
Overview:
1) My desktop, Desktop_1, has suddenly stopped seeing 3 external USB drives.
2) All 3 drives are visible by and operable on other machines.
3) When I use workarounds (e.g., DiskMgmt, DevMgr) to find the drives on the desktop, they have no volume data, and attempting to open them crashes Window Explorer (and sometimes Disk Management).
Details:
As of about a week ago...
*on the desktop in question, Desktop_1, can't see/operate external hard drives (testing with three different drives)
--drives were visible until a week ago
*drives are visible and operable on other computers
on Desktop_1...
*sometimes letters are assigned to external drives, sometimes not
--when letters are assigned, clicking on external drive crashes Windows Explorer
*even after finding disks via Disk Management, no volume data visible
*drives usually show as Hidden Devices
*malwarebytes, kaspersky, sfc /scannow, and perfmon all report that the desktop is fine.
*they also report that the externals are fine... though sometimes without scanning any files on them
---other data:
-- one USB port on desktop seems completely dead
-- previous desktop, Desktop_0, showed similar behavior before dying
-- connected hard drive from dead desktop to current desktop, via external hard drive enclosure (again, no virus/malware found)
-- USB wi-fi started operating very badly two weeks ago; will "connect", while sending little to no data (problem is intermittent)
-- Desktop_1 is 64-bit; Desktop_0 was 32-bit; one of the user profiles on Desktop 1 and Desktop 0 had the same name and used the same programs
-- Desktop_1 is a used Win 7 desktop that I bought in early April; it just started failing Win 7 activation about two weeks ago, and I used a reg hack to extend activation period for another 30 days.
Questions:
How do I get my external drives visible/operable on Desktop_1 again?
Is this likely a
--Win 7 problem?
--USB problem?
-- virus/malware problem?
-- a hard drive problem affecting 3 different drives that all work with other computers? (Seems unlikely...)
Thanks!