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USB drive recognized but not apearing

Forum Storage : General Storage - USB drive recognized but not apearing

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meatymeal   11-15-2007 at 11:03:11 AM

i just backed up my computer before reformating, now i can;t get anything off my ext HD. It doesn;t work on any computer i try, each one recognizes a ext HD been plugged in USB, but then no drive appears in my computer. Each computer WINXP and its a 250gb usb 2.0 drive.

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meatymeal   11-15-2007 at 10:19:36 PM
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i have all my music and years of photos on this can anyone help me get them off?

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DrTeapot   11-15-2007 at 11:06:38 PM
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It could just be that the drive letter the external HDD wants is taken; I've had that happen with USB keys before.

With the drive connected, right-click My Computer, click Manage, and go to Disk Management. Your external drive should show up on the list. Right-click it and select Change Drive Letter and Paths... then pick a letter no other drive is using (Q or something. Your external drive should then show up properly in My Computer.

Hope that helps!

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meatymeal   11-16-2007 at 12:29:39 AM
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thanks but my drive didn't appear under manage anywhere.

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nukemaster   11-16-2007 at 01:25:14 AM
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go looking in the device manager to make sure its not unable to start for some reason?

------------------------------ http://i33.tinypic.com/sw3a5y.png
http://tinyurl.com/26uxxb - C2/i7 Temp? http://tinyurl.com/cj3pw - VGA power?
http://tinyurl.com/5v55wk - C2 Mem performance? http://tinyurl.com/6pmbke - SLI/Xfire?
http://tinyurl.com/yfmxdc9 - Part Guide?
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meatymeal   11-16-2007 at 01:27:39 AM
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in device manager it shows up like everything is fine

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nukemaster   11-16-2007 at 01:45:48 AM
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now that's odd......so the drive shows up as being there.....but no letter...and its not in disk management (start-> run -> diskmgmt.msc <enter> )

have you tried other devices on the usb port in question?

------------------------------ http://i33.tinypic.com/sw3a5y.png
http://tinyurl.com/26uxxb - C2/i7 Temp? http://tinyurl.com/cj3pw - VGA power?
http://tinyurl.com/5v55wk - C2 Mem performance? http://tinyurl.com/6pmbke - SLI/Xfire?
http://tinyurl.com/yfmxdc9 - Part Guide?
 Reply to nukemaster
meatymeal   11-16-2007 at 01:52:34 AM
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thats correct. the safely remove hardware is only thing that sees it.. says whole name without driveletter at end like other devices

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back_woodz   11-26-2007 at 12:39:43 AM
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Hey Meatymeal, try adding a jumper to the external HD to make it a Master, had the same problem and it worked for me.

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g-paw   11-26-2007 at 12:59:00 AM
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If all else fails, can take the drive out of the case and install it as internal hdd

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meatymeal   11-26-2007 at 11:37:11 AM
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was able to recover most of my data with getdatabackFAT my friend had, after going thru 4-5 other programs this was 1 of 2 that could even see my usb drive.

Now what could i do to save my ext hd?? should i try reformatting or do i ned to do something special since its a usb drive?

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g-paw   11-26-2007 at 01:13:40 PM
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If you have all your data, try formatting it. You should be able to just plug it into a USB port on any computer and have it recognized. It's possible it's a problem with the case if it's not recognized on other computers in which case you could buy another case or install it as an internal drive

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joewho   11-26-2007 at 01:39:44 PM
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Another issue I have seen with USB drives, is the USB port is under powered. I would try pluging into the back of the computer were the I/O Shield is. Yes you can just reformat the drive. You can also download a program like System Mechanic Pro from WWW.IOLO.COM for a free 30 day spin. It has a drive scrubber program as well as a program to check your drive.

------------------------------ Gigabyte X38-DQ6
X3220 @ 3.6ghz 24/7
8gig Geil PC2-8500
2ea 2900Pro in Crossfire
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meatymeal   11-28-2007 at 03:26:35 PM
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taking me a while to gett all my files off. When i reformatt do i need to use windows;s cd or run a command prompt?(b/c i don't know who to search for drives with no letters assigned to them)

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g-paw   11-28-2007 at 05:58:56 PM
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You could try downloading and running the diagnostic/repair software from the hdd mfg website. Can you see it in Disk Manager- Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management. If so, you could give it a Drive letter and format it.

Reply to g-paw
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