I have WD 160GB external hard drive. when i plug in to the computer.it shows on the taskbar as USB storage device but without an assined letter . on my computer window shows nothing about the external hard driver

An external storage-device has four major components:

* the USB cable

* the power-adapter

* the disk-drive inside the enclosure

* the USB-to-disk-drive adapter inside the enclosure.

One of these components has failed.

Try a different USB cable.

Try connecting to a different USB port on your computer.

Try connecting to a USB port on a different computer.

Take a "multi-meter" and measure both the voltage and amperage output from the AC adapter, and compare with the specifications on the label on the adapter.

Open the enclosure, and remove the disk-drive, and then connect it as a "slave" disk-drive in a desktop computer, to see if it works at all.

Purchase a new, compatible, disk-drive, and install it in the enclosure, to "revive" your external storage device.

Get the part-number and serial-number from the label on your disk-drive, and access the manufacturer's web-site, and use "check warranty status", to see if they will replace the device, at minimal cost to you.

Note that W.D. has a "Customer Loyalty" program -- you can buy a new W.D. device, through the W.D. web-site, at a significant discount.

There exist commercial "data recovery" services that can try to repair your device, just long-enough to rescue and copy your files. For example, see: https://services.seagate.com/index.aspx?lng=en-US for a "no data - no charge" guarantee.

The Passport has four major components:

* the USB cable

* the power-adapter

* the disk-drive inside the enclosure

* the USB-to-disk-drive adapter inside the enclosure.

One of these components has failed.

Try a different USB cable.

Try connecting to a different USB port on your computer.

Try connecting to a USB port on a different computer.

Take a "multi-meter" and measure both the voltage and amperage output from the AC adapter, and compare with the specifications on the label on the adapter.

Open the enclosure, and remove the disk-drive, and then connect it as a "slave" disk-drive in a desktop computer, to see if it works at all.

Purchase a new, compatible, disk-drive, and install it in the enclosure, to "revive" your external storage device.

Get the part-number and serial-number from the label on your disk-drive, and access the W.D. web-site, and use "check warranty status", to see if W.D. will replace the Passport, at minimal cost to you.

Note that W.D. has a "Customer Loyalty" program -- you can buy a new W.D. device, through the W.D. web-site, at a significant discount.

right click START ,choose properties,choose taskbar then customize ,and select power surge...and select ALWAYS HIDE

this way you get rid of the pop-up message and just don't worry about it :))
Or
Delete all the USB ports in the devices manager, 
then restart the computer to let XP install all the USB ports again. Then go to the first USB port and right click on it and go to properties. Then on the advance tab click on do not show warnings

You might just need to assign a drive letter to it. Although this is generally automatic, something may have happened to cause it to lose it's format or drive letter. Check out the below link. I am pretty confident this will fix your problem.

http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/how-to-change-the-drive-letter-in-windows-xp-for-an-external-usb-stick-or-hard-drive/

It is very possible that your BIOS will not support a large hard drive. Without more information on your system it will be hard to diagnose your problem.

Btw, I’m available to help over the phone in case u need at https://www.6ya.com/expert/sean_54c3a3dc48a7773c

dougv52

If the drive is not showing up in My Computer but is showing in Device Manager then you most likely need to assign a drive let you the drive. The links below will help you do this.

How to change your drive letter in Windows Vista and Windows 7

How to change your drive letter in Windows XP

Let me know if you have any more problems or questions

Issken
http://www.fixya.com/users/issken

When starting the external drive there is not much more than just plugging it in to a USB port and turning it on. The computer should recognize it ( showing something like the window shown here http://attachments.techguy.org/attachments/66120d1129787805/new-device-found2.jpg ) and it will show up in the My Computer area and a green arrow looking icon ( http://home.krb.nsw.edu.au/start/images/USB2.jpg ) When disconnecting an external drive the correct procedure is to left click the arrow in the system tray and select Safely Remove Mass Storage Device (X:) (whatever letter you device shows here)
You may want to test if another computer recognizes the device being plugged in to see if it is still functioning. You may want to also try plugging the device into a different USB port on your computer.

Since it an external device. dependent on the BIOS, some machine will assign a drive letter and some will not, either way, if the machine detect the device. you can use it as is.

I had a simliar problem. This is how I fixed it in XP;

Remove any attached external devices except the one having the
problem.

Go to:
1. Control Panel
2. Administative Tools
3. Computer Management
4. Under Storage right click on "Disk Mangement"
5. The bad drive should show up as Disk 1 with a black bar across
the top.
6. Right click on the bar.
7.Select " change drive letter and paths " and follow the instructions.
8. If number 7 does not work, go back to the menu and select
"Format". During the FORMAT I believe you will be asked to assign
a drive letter.
9. GOOD LUCK

I acutally had this problem with two different drives. I fixed the first one using the instructions above. But the second drive didn't even show up in Disk Management. I had to return it for a new one.

When remove the drive do this steps properly first when you want remove the drive remove safley than remive it