I can't get the drive to show up on my computer anymore, it was my F drive, simpletech model 96300-400001-001 what can I do I need my important info

SOURCE: External Hard Drive Not Regonized

Hello,
I can help you with this. Follow these instructions--> Start-->Control Panel-->Administrative Tools-->Computer Management, under the Storage section select "Disk management". Locate the external harddrive, and then change the drive letter.

Select the external drive. Right click, and select "Change drive letters and paths"-->Highlight the driveletter to change-->Click the "Change" button-->From the drop-down list choose an unused drive letter, and hit Ok.
The external drive should be recognized and accessible at this point. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Thank You, Raph30

SOURCE: Computer won't recognize hard drive and I have a lot of data

I devised these simple steps that tend to remedy quite a few issues with most portable / external hard drives (though not always)
A few things to check but assumes USB and Windows for other interfaces / operating systems similar steps may be adapted to suit.

1. Ensure it is connected directly to the computer to a USB 2.0 port not a USB 1.0 port as this can have effects on performance and reliability
2. Use only the cables that came with it NOT one that fits that may have been lying around or is longer. Not all USB cables are equal even though they should be)
3. Do not connect through an external USB HUB unless that hub is USB 2.0 AND has its own power supply.
4. Use ONLY the power supply that came with it if it has an external power supply
Don’t use any other unless you know it has both the same voltage and current rating e.g. 12V 500mA anything rated below that would not work properly.
5. Always use the same port for connecting your devices. Some devices do not like being switched about. If switched they may want to install software / drivers again.
If you checked and fixed anything there and still have issues carry on reading.
Go to your control panel and then administrative tools, select Computer Management.
Now select Disk Management and expand the window.
Your drive should be listed here, if not then you need to check your computer hardware has not got any issues before proceeding.
If your drive is listed and says healthy then right click on it an select Properties, click Tools and then Error Checking, Check now, tick the two boxes and then Start.
This will attempt to fix most minor / common errors on the drive. It may also ask you to restart which is fine. Allow it to finish its work or you could corrupt the drive. If all went well you should be able to use it normally again.
If you drive was listed but did NOT say healthy then right click and select Format. Choose NTFS as the file system and do not tick any boxes you do NOT want quick format. Again start and let it do its thing. When it is done restart your computer and you should be good to go.
If you still have problems with the drive you might want to look at other areas.

SOURCE: External Hard Drive not showing on My Computer? [URGENT]

Hello there Mansoor.

First, I have to commend you on how clear and extremely well articulated your problem is presented. You give every detail necessary to grasp your current situation. Good job! I can also clearly see you're at least a fairly proficient user. I only wish I'd reviewed your question before now, so I could have replied sooner. That notwithstanding, here's my GEEK-steer ...

Good job testing the drive against other "known good" systems. Because (as you probably already know) based on that, it's a virtual certainty it's the drive itself that's the source of the problem (UNLESS you used the same USB cable in all tests ... rule that out by using a "known good" cable). Its trouble could be caused by any number things [e.g., deleted partition, virus related, "sector" (file/folder structure related) errors, etc.]. At this point you've utilized all the tools that Windows avails you to work this problem (e.g., you obviously can't perform a Windows "chkdsk" on it unless there's an assigned and known driver letter, "Disk Managment" was no help, etc.). We therefore need additional software tools in order to proceed further.

Per the manufacturer's webpage, "Acomdata does not have any Windows XP, Windows Vista or Mac OS drivers because all products use the built-in driver support already supplied by the associated Operating System". Therefore, they design all their devices to be supported by Windows' database of generic drivers. However, here's their offered driver package for "All Platforms". It's a long-shot, but it couldn't hurt to start by giving this driver a try (you can always "Roll back driver" from within "Device Manager" if necessary).

== CAPTURE AN IMAGE BACKUP ==

If, as you state, data recovery is of the utmost importance, then I would strongly advise your very first objective to be (if at all possible) creating an image of the problem drive, then backup that image onto another drive. I would do that FIRST to lock in it's current state as an insurance policy, BEFORE I ran any testing/diagnostics, or attempted any alternate means of data recovery. Keep that image intact throughout this process until resolution. There are several disk image "Backup Tools" (e.g., "DriveImageXML", "Acronis True Image", etc.) in "Hiren's Boot CD" you can use to accomplish this.

== BREAK OUT THE TOOLBOX ==


Refer here for complete list of its available tools. There are far too many to cover in any detail here. Particularly when the nature of your problem is yet known, as each may, or may not be THE one for the job. However, you can simply Google each to obtain background and usage instructions. Also, tools reside in either the DOS or mini-Windows boot portions of the CD, as some are DOS executable and some Windows. You may have to venture into both until you find the tool that works for you. I know there's a lot in that puppy, but that is intentional because it's a good thing ... affords wide range of choices/options.

== HOW-TO CREATE 'HIREN'S BOOT CD' ==

1. Download "Hiren's Boot CD".
2. Extract/unpack/unzip/decompress (<-choose your term, they all mean the same thing) the .ISO disk image file ("Hiren's.BootCD.#.ISO") located within the downloaded "Hirens.BootCD.#.zip" archive file (where # = version of Hiren's).
3. Burn the disk image to a CD using whichever capable disk image burning software (e.g., Nero, Roxio, etc.) you may have. Don't have one? Then download and install the very capable, yet lightweight FREEWARE "imgBurn"

Burn the extracted .ISO image file ("Hiren's.BootCD.#.ISO") to CD using imgBurn:

1. Insert a blank disk (R/RW) into your disk burning capable CD/DVD drive.
2. Launch "imgBurn", then select "Write image file to disc".
3. Browse for and select the "Source" .ISO file above.
4. Ensure the applicable disk burner drive is selected as "Destination" (you may have more than one).
5. Click the burn icon.
6. When burning completes, close "imgBurn".

== RECOVER THE DATA ==

Next I would attempt recovering the data using any number of Hiren's "Recovery Tools" category of tools (e.g., "ProSoft Media Tools", "GetDataBack for NTFS", "TestDisk", "Ontrack Easy Recovery", etc.). Many of these include diagnostics/repair facilities you can use in the course of your recovery efforts.

== RECOVER/FIX THE DRIVE ==

Then once/if you've successfully recovered the drive's data, you can (if applicable) use any number of Hiren's (hard-drive related) "Testing Tools" and "Hard Disk Tools" categories of items in order to fully test/diagnose and hopefully recover the drive to working order.

TIPS:.

• Be aware that you MAY discover you'll HAVE to perform testing/diagnostics/maintentance related actions on the drive first, just in order to get it into recognizable shape for any of the drive image and/or data recovery related tools to perform. That's OK, 'cause "you gotta do, what you gotta do".
• "Partition Find and Mount" might be particularly helpful in recognizing, then mounting the drive

I apologize in advance for any logic-sequence or grammatical errors this reply may contain. I culled together a few differing draft stage portions of some "Tips & Tricks" I'm intending to post in the near future.

Good luck, and please do post back to ...

• to let me (and interested others) know how things worked out,
• to provide clarification or feedback,
• if you have ANY further questions.

"Today's the best day of my life ... and NOW you're part of it!"
Via-con-Dios and Godspeed -- Geekinator (aka Craig).

SOURCE: I have a SimpleTech 500GB external hard drive

ext hard drives, once enabled, should be seen like any other logical drive, on the system. this one appears to have an issue with the usb connector. Go to control panel, system, hardware profiles and see if there are any of the items with a yellow ? mark on them, and let us know your results.

Testimonial: "yes you are right there is a item that is yellow. VIA bus master IDE driver. I clicked on it to update the drive but it can't find what is needed. "

SOURCE: toshiba 1tb external hard drive won't connect

One or more of the hints below will probably sort out most USB problems with most USB portable / external hard drives and OTHER devices (though not always)

1. Ensure it is connected directly to the computer to a USB 2.0 port not a USB 1.0 port as this can have effects on performance and reliability

2. Use only the cables that came with it NOT one that fits that may have been lying around or is longer.

3. Do not connect through an external USB HUB unless that hub is USB 2.0 AND has its own power supply.

4. Use ONLY the power supply that came with it if it has an external power supply Don’t use any other unless you know it has both the same voltage and current rating e.g. 12V 500mA anything rated below that would not work properly.

5. Always use the same port for connecting your devices. Some devices do not like being switched about. If switched they may want to install software / drivers again. This can be especially true if you move a HUB to another port

6. If none of the above steps help look at updating the drivers from the manufacturers web site in the support section.

7. If you checked and fixed anything there and still have issues then check your hardware from CONTROL PANEL / SYSTEM / HARDWARE.
Any exclamation marks by hardware need fixing before you investigate any further

8. ensure that you have set removable drives for "quick removal" or that you use the "Safly Remove Hardware" option often shown on the lower toolbar.It is possible that files my not be fully written to external devices before they are removed. This corrupts the file itself and even on occasion the drive.

SPECIAL NOTES
USB hard drives should be treated with extreme care.
This is a real hard drive ! and knocks and bumps can quite literally kill them.

Note that if you hear a drive clicking or pinging this could be the worst thing you would hear.
Known as "The Click Of Death"

Hope this gives you the information you need