My external hardrive is not found anywhere on my computer, including disk management or in any other control panel links. It has read it before and I can't understand why it wont now. ....?

w7

First, please disconnect all USB devices and then perform the following steps:

Click "Start" button, type "devmgmt.msc" (without quotation marks) in the "Search" bar and press "Enter". Click "Continue" if necessary.

In Device Manager, double click to expand "Universal Serial Bus controllers", right click on the Host Controller, click "Uninstall" and click "OK".

Repeat the step 2 to uninstall all items under "Universal Serial Bus controllers".

Then, restart your computer and Windows 7 will reinstall all USB controllers automatically.

for xp

click start control panel administrative tools computer management device manager scroll down universal serial bus controllers you could see a yellow question / exclamation mark? ! or a red X

you will need to update/reinstall drivers

right click to reinstall drivers

if you can see your usb but its not working

ports(com&lpt)right click update driver

sometimes the wires inside the cable will be damaged due to bending or stretching or placing heavy equipment upon the cable

just replace the cable of the hard disk, when you plugged the external disk drive you got that windows could recognize the USB device change the cable everything should work fine again,

if you can see your usb drive but its not working

ports (com&lpt) right click update driver if this fails to fix the problem

check the USB leads that attach to the motherboard usually red white green black make sure they are securely seated and have no dust build up on them dust will cause static and a lot of unforeseen problems to a computer and its parts

if this fails to fix the problem
Downloads to Recover Your Files and Save Your Bacon and 10 Best Free Hard Drive Utilities.

Some addition links found on Google
http://www.datarecoveryreview.net/

http://www.cleverfiles.com/

http://www.easeus.com/resource/hard-disk-data-recovery.htm

hope this helps

the music cant just dissapear without your input unless you have a virus or malware


click start control panel scroll to folder options view place a tick in show hidden files folders and drives
this may vary depending on your operating system

click start control panel administrative tools computer management disk management right click on your drive select properties click tools you should see click check now click start two boxes

automatically fix files and scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors place then a tick in both boxes then select check now start

you might tick one box then return after its finished the first repair then return and tick the second box you should not do anything while the chkdsk utility is in progress any input may damage this drive

I found that you get best results by ticking one box then returning after it has finished then tick the other box

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Microsoft_Security_Essentials_for_Windows_d6242.html

microsoft security essentials your operating system must be registered

http://download.cnet.com/malwarebytes-anti-malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html

malwarebytes free with a pay upgrade available

hope this helps

Connect the external disk-drive to another computer.
If it still is not recognized, then you have a problem:
* the USB-to-disk-drive interface inside the case is faulty,
* the disk-drive inside the case is faulty.

If the former, disassemble the casing, and extract the disk-drive,
and temporarily connect it as an "internal" and "slave" disk-drive to your desktop, and see if you can read the files.

You need to format the external drive. Format the drive as primary drive ans in FAT32.
Insert the external hard drive into the USB port then Click on Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Computer Management - Disk Management.
Then right click on Disk 1 removable drive and click Format. After the flash drive has been formatted it will indicate that its Healthy.

It could be that the OS is not assigning a drive letter to your removable drive. To do this, go to disk management and assign one.



Right-click My Computer then Manage
Click on Disk Management
Right-click the removable drive and click on Change Drive Letter
Assign a drive letter and click OK
Your drive should now show up on My Computer

Hope this helps.

Does it show up as a drive in the Device Manager?

You might look in Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management

Go in Disk Management along the left side...

You might have to make it into a Basic Disk ... before it gets a drive letter. Trying to remember what I just did in Vista when I got a Seagate FreeAgent external USB drive. Mine was already NTFS formatted, I would imagine yours would be too.

there are a couple of reasons for this. Likely the drive has not been setup in Windows. Hard drives need to setup in Disk Management. Disk Management can be found under Computer Management in the Control Panel. After you run Computer Management, expand the Storage tab and Disk Management is located there. At the bottom of the screen threre is a listing of all drives (hard and CD) located in or attached to system... You will see your new drive listed, but not active. Right click on the new drive in the bottom window and Windows will prompt you on how to configure the drive. You'll need to activate so Windows can assign a drive letter to the drive, partition and format. Once this is done, you will be able to see and use the drive under windows.

I've attached a link from Western Digital that provides their FAQ response to your issue.....

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1017&p_created=1055796499&p_sid=7R8631pj&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MTQsMTQmcF9wcm9kcz0yMjgsMTAxLDIxOSZwX2NhdHM9JnBfcHY9My4yMTkmcF9jdj0mcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJjaF9ubCZwX3BhZ2U9MSZwX3NlYXJjaF90ZXh0PXJlY29nbml6ZWQ*&p_li=&p_topview=1

You didn't mention what type of connection it uses (USB, etc). According to Western Digital, if you have a USB External Drive, you should get a prompt to install drivers by Windows when a new device is installed. Similar for Firewire device.... Did Windows "recognise" the new device by opening a New Device Found window? If not, try using a different USB port and/or ensure the USB port is enabled in WIndows.... The Quick Start guides for all models can also be found from the link provided above.

go to control panel.. go to Administrative tools.. then .. go to computer management.. on the left pane.. click disk management.. u can detect all ur drives in here including those who are not seen by your MY COMPUTER..

goto Control Panel, administrative tools, Computer Management, Disk Management, If it pops up a new disk install wizard follow the directions in it. If not then find the new disk that has no partition on it, right click on that drive to create a partition, then right click on the drive to format it, if it hasent done so already.