I have used the hard drive without any problems for ages on Win 7. I upgraded to Win 8 and plugged in the drive and it recognised it at first but then it stopped and now its there in device manager but I cannot get into it and when I plug it into a Win 7 pc it is not showing at all. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!!!
External hard drives are plug-and-play devices used to store music, video and data files. Once the drive is connected, the computer checks its systems for the appropriate drivers, loads them, and the external drive is ready to use. If the computer does not recognize the external drive, plug it into another computer to ensure the drive is not corrupted. If the drive is good, a few simple steps should help re-enable the drive for use. Disconnect the power cord from any extension cords or power strip, then re-seat the power cord into the hard drive. Connect the cord directly into an outlet and power up the drive. If the drive is powered and still not working, check the data cable.
Power down the hard drive and disconnect the data cable from the computer.
Wait 30 seconds to one minute. Reconnect the data cable and power up the drive. If the drive is not detected, power down the hard drive and connect the cable to a different port. Power up the drive. If the drive is detected but not working, check for a missing driver. Click on the "Start" button, right-click "Computer" and select "Manage." Enter your administrator password if requested. Select "Device Manager" and double-click "Disk Drives." Right-click the yellow exclamation point and install the missing driver. Close the Device Manager. If the drive is detected but not working check to ensure it has an assigned drive letter.
Disconnect all devices connected by USB cables from the computer. Reconnect the drive's data and USB power cables directly into the computer.
Click on the "Start" button, right-click "Computer" and select "Manage." Enter your administrator password if requested. Click on "Disk Management," right-click the external hard drive, click "change drive letter and path," and click "Add." Assign a drive letter. Avoid using A, B or C (C is usually assigned to the computer's internal hard drive). Click "OK" close the window. If the drive is detected but not working, check whether the drive is in sleep mode. Disconnect all devices connected by USB cables from the computer. Reconnect the drive's data and USB power cables directly into the computer. Click the "Start" button, right-click "Computer" and select "Manage." Enter your administrator password if requested. Select "Device Manager" and double-click "Universal Serial Bus Controllers." Double-click the first instance of "USB Root Hub" or "Root Hub." Check for the hard drive. If the drive is not visible, move to the next instance of "USB Root Hub." Continue checking each instance until the hard drive is located. Once located, click the "Power Management" tab and uncheck the "Allow computer to turn off this device to save power" box, click "OK," then close the Device Manager. Power the computer down, wait 30 seconds to one minute, and power the computer back up to ensure the drive is detected. Hope this helps
Switch the power button to "off."
SOURCE: Dane-Elec USB not working!
How I got it to work in XP Pro:
1) Plugged USB Drive in and saw it saw hardware manager install it but didn't see new Drive Volume in My Computer
2) Opened Control Panel
3) Open System
4) Clicked Device Manager from Hardware Tab
5) Expanded Disk Drives
6) Right clicked USB Flash Memory USB Device and hit Properties
7) Clicked Volume Tab and hit the Populate Button. Voila!
HTH
SOURCE: Laptop suddenly stopped recognising my external USB hard drive
I had the same exact problem with a WD2500xms passport. The problem was the USB cable. I went to the store and bought a 6' USB cable ( $26 at Radio Shack) with the same specs and now, no more problems. Also I called WD technical support (800.275.4932) and asked for a new cable. The WD customer serverice was very helpful and said it would sending me a new cable for free. When it arrives I'll return the 6'er.
SOURCE: usb device not recognised
First try this OPTION:
Possibilities:
1) One of your USB devices have faulted, or is causing a resource conflict (or similar)
-- Remove all USB devices, and reboot.
2) Your USB chip/ports have been damaged.
-- Find a spare HardDisk or bacjup your data and re-install Windows and see how that goes.
3) Your Power Supply Unit (PSU) isnt supplying enough power to your PC (usually caused by a Video card upgrade). Try a more powerful PSU ... 400watts should do the trick
4) Bad memory (RAM) can cause wierd problems. run memtest for an hour to make sure your memory is ok
It seems that many people are still getting the 'USB Device not Recognized' problem from time to time. Unfortunately there is no easy fix.
Firstly, it's recommended that you make sure every one of your motherboard drivers are completely up-to-date, but you probably already knew that.
In XP, after a USB port isn't used for a long while the USB driver built into the OS sets the OHCI controller to suspend. When you plug a device back in, it can sometimes fail to 'wake up' properly. This problem was supposedly fixed in SP1 but there is a related registry hack that may still be able to help.
Run regedt32.exe and navigate to;
HKEY_LOCAL_Machine\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Usb
Create the Usb key if it doesn't already exist. Under this key, create a new DWORD value called DisableSelectiveSuspend and give it a value of 1. Then restart the PC.
A long shot perhaps, but I recall having similar problems with a USB hub built into my Microsoft keyboard and adding this key seemed to solve it. It wouldn't hurt in trying .
Alternatively, removing all entries relating to USB in Device Manager and all associated USB drivers will force XP into refreshing the USB driver stack.
Begin by unplugging all USB devices, then use Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel to uninstall any USB driver software. Next, boot up into safe mode and go to Device Manager. Once in device manager make sure 'Show hidden devices' is checked under the View menu. Uninstall all device entries in this order;
1. USB peripheral devices (printers etc.)
2. HID and/or Composite USB (Human Interface Devices) You're using PS/2 input devices so you may not have this entry.
3. USB Root Hub(s)
4. USB Host Controller(s) (Universal or Enhanced Host Controllers)
Then boot back into Windows (not safe mode) and it should populate the Root Hubs & Host controllers again. Proceed to plug your USB devices back in, starting with your powered hub. Be aware that most USB printers and scanners need to have their drivers installed first before you plug them in.
Hopefully some of this may be of help, let us know how you get on.
IF STILL NOT WORKING JUST BUY NEW EXTERNAL ( JUST EXTERNAL NOT HDD )
And rate me as fixya if u got help!
SOURCE: PC not recognising Iomega Prestige 320gb usb portable hard drive
Does the drive show in Device Manager? Right click on 'My Computer' and select properties, the open device manager.. Navigate down to Disk Drives or Hard Drives, click on the plus sign and see if your drive is listed. If it is, then right click on the drive name and open properties for the drive. Click on the 'Volumes' tab and hit the 'Populate Button'. It may be the disk just needs initialising, then reformatting before you can use it. If it does need initializing, a wizard should appear to guide you through the process!
If this doesn't solve your problem, try using a different USB cable and/or USB ports on your computer, and ensure to unplug all other USB devices other than keyboard & mouse.
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