Western Digital My Book Essential 1TB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive Logo

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Posted on Jan 14, 2011
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I have had this external drive on my computer connected thru USB. It is not powering up and is not showing on my list of drives. It was drive F: What do I need to do? I tried the other USB ports.

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Sean Burke

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  • Expert 161 Answers
  • Posted on Jan 14, 2011
Sean Burke
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Are you sure it doesn't need a power cord?

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Anonymous

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SOURCE: adding mhv2060ah ide drive externally with usb connection

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Anonymous

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SOURCE: External HDD wont show up in My Computer

you need to install driver for it on your pc

Anonymous

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  • Posted on Sep 27, 2010

SOURCE: external wd5000ks stopped working

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Okay , so there are some steps to figure out what is wrong with your external.

Firstly , if your computer makes a sound when you plug in your external , go to Start-Control Panel-Administrative Tools-Computer Management-Disk Management , and see if your external drive is listed here with your local drives. If it is listed , right click on the drive and change the drive letter to make it appear in "my computer".

If your drive does not make a connection sound when connecting to your computer and also does not show up , please follow the next step.

Remove the hard drive from the casing if possible and install it in your computer case or another external case.If the drive works , the problem is with the casing and you can ignore the drive.

Now , if the problem is with the casing , there are still 3 possibilities.

  1. The USB cable between the drive and the computer may be damaged.
  2. The circuit board which connects your drive to the interface of the external may be blown.
  3. The power supply (if applicable) may have a blown transformer.
The latter is the easiest to diagnose , does your external light up at all when you plug in the power? If not , then this is probably your problem. On the bottom of the adapter is a label which you will be able to use to have a new adapter made at your local electronics shop and this will cost about $30 max. They will also be able to test the adapter with a clamp meter to see if this is really the problem and this should be free.

The second component you want to test is the USB cable. If you have a printer , swop out the cables and see if your printer functions normally. Most externals use the same connector so you should be able to test it in this manner. If the cable works go on to the last step. If the cable is defective , replace it with a new one which you can find for about $10 at most electronics and chain stores.

The last component to test is the circuit board. This is a bit of a grey zone as you probably won't be able to spot the blown component unless it failed really badly. With the casing already opened , locate the external's circuit board and check to see if you have any blackened components or fluids leaking from some components. If all the other components of the external worked perfectly , then this is the faulty part. It is not really economical to replace the circuit as most of the time it is out of production by the time you need to replace it and it still costs a lot even if it is available so if your drive is working perfectly when connected via sata or IDE on your computer , the best is to buy a new casing and place your old drive in the new casing.

A casing costs about $50 and you could get it at most tech shops and big chain stores like Best Buy.

I hope this solves your problem and please reply if you need more help.

Kind Regards
Andrea

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Click Start, type Device Manager in the Search box
Click Device Manager from the returned list.
Click Disk Drives from the list of hardware
Right-click the USB external hard drive with the issue, and click Uninstall.
After the hard drive is uninstalled, unplug the USB cable.
Wait for 1 minute and then reconnect the USB cable. The driver should automatically load
Check for the USB drive in Windows Explorer

Note: Connecting your USB external hard drive into a non-powered USB hub can cause a lack of enough power to operate the external drive. Instead, plug it directly into your computer.
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Leave it connected to your computer and try a restart.
If the folder is still showing as empty, power down the computer then disconnect the external drive.
Power on the computer and connect the external hard drive to a different usb port.
I had this exact problem with a 1000 Gb external drive that was full of movies and music. I thought it had all been lost .. After 2-3 days and repeated attempts of restarts and power-downs/different usb ports it suddenly was recognised again and has worked perfectly since
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STEP 1
Check the Power and Data Cable

  • Check that the power cable is securely connected to the external drive and wall socket (applies only to desktop external hard drives).
  • Do not connect the drive through a USB hub, connect it directly to the PC or laptop. Make sure the power adapter is connected directly to a wall outlet, not to an extension cord.
  • Ensure the cable is securely connected to both the drive and computer.
  • If your external hard drive came with with a Y-cable, use both USB connectors to ensure the drive is getting the appropriate power.
  • If you are connecting to a PC, use the USB ports found on the back of the computer. Avoid using USB ports found on keyboards, monitors or the front of the PC.
  • If the problem still continues, try using a different USB port.

STEP 2
Check the Drive Partition in Disk Management

Even though the drive may not be visible on the "Desktop" or in "My Computer," check to see if the drive is recognized in "Disk Management."
  1. Right click on "My Computer" and select "Manage" from the menu.
  2. From the "Computer Management" window select "Disk Management" from the menu on the left.
  3. In "Disk Management" check to see if the drive is visible. If the drive is found, look at the partition for the drive. New drives will be labeled as FAT32 and have a drive letter assigned.
  4. If the drive does not display as "Healthy," or shows the file format as "RAW," then the partition has become corrupt. It could also be corrupt if the bar above the drive is black and shows as "Unallocated."
  5. To make the drive usable again after a partition has become corrupt or lost start by right clicking on the drive in "Disk Management" and select "Delete partition" from the menu. Then right click on the drive again and select "create partition" from the menu. Follow the steps in the partition wizard to create a Primary partition.

    NOTE: Deleting the partition will cause all data on the drive to be lost. If the partition has become corrupt this may be unavoidable. HGST is not responsible for lost data. It is highly recommended that data be backed up in multiple locations on multiple drives to minimize data loss.
  6. After the new primary partition has been created "Disk Management" will display the drive with an NTFS partition. The NTFS partition is unusable on a Mac. If the drive is used on Macintosh and Windows computers, follow the link below to obtain a FAT32 formatting tool which will allow both Windows and Macintosh users to use the drive.

    http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?fat32format.htm

STEP 3
Check the drive status in Device Manager :

  1. Right click on "My Computer" and select "Manage."
  2. From the "Computer Management" window select "Device Manager" from the list on the left.
  3. From the device list, expand the "Disk Drives" category by clicking on the [+] symbol found to the left. If the drive is detected by the system, there will be an entry for your external drive.
  4. If it is not listed under "Disk Drives," expand the "Other Devices" category and see if there is an entry for an "Unknown Device."
  5. Right click the "Unknown Device" and select "Properties."
  6. Under the "General" tab, it will typically display "This device is not working properly" followed by either Code 10 or Code 28.
  7. Code 10 would suggest a potential power supply issue (typically 3.5-inch desktop external drives). If a second external drive with an equivalent power supply is available, try connecting the power supply to the drive.

    NOTE: Before connecting a power adapter that did not ship with the external hard drive, verify that the power configuration matches exactly with the power adapter that was supplied. Failure to use the correct power supply can result in damage to the unit, injury or fire.
  8. If a different power supply is not available, verify the problem by connecting to a different USB port or by connecting to a second PC.
  9. If the same error code is still displayed, create an RMA and return the drive under Warranty.
  10. Code 28 would suggest a driver error.
  11. Expand the "Disk Drive" category in "Device Manager" right click on the drive and select "Uninstall."
  12. Disconnect the external drive, reboot the computer and reconnect the drive when the computer has finished restarting.
  13. If same error is displayed, try connecting it to a second PC to verify the issue.
  14. If the drive fails on the second PC with the same error, create an RMA and return the drive under Warranty.
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Yes, it probably would, so you are better off using a self-powered (one that you plug in to a wall outlet) drive.

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Look at the lower half of the window and scroll down to see all identified disks. If your external drive is listed, something got corrupted in the NTFS or FAT record. Use a third-party drive repair tool before reformatting the drive (which will delete any information on the drive). If your external drive isn't listed here, try connecting it to a different USB port. Make sure that your USB ports are providing enough power to the hard drive. (Some USB ports can be disabled for power savings/security.) If you are using a laptop, try plugging in your AC adapter/charger. If you are using a USB hub, try a direct connection to the computer (or use a powered hub).

If you are still not seeing the drive listed, there is a problem with the connections inside the external drive. Either the wiring between the drive and the controller has come loose, the USB connection to the controller is damaged or the drive failed.

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Or, if you've previously done that, and you've written files onto it, and now cannot read those files, you have an entirely-different problem, namely a "hardware" problem.

An external storage device has several major components:

* the USB cable (which in your case, seems OK, since the device is listed)
* the disk-drive inside the enclosure
* the USB-to-disk-drive adapter inside the enclosure
* optionally, an external power-supply that connects to the enclosure.

Use a multi-meter to measure the voltage/amperage generated by that power-supply,
and compare with the specifications on the power-supply's label.

Disassemble the enclosure, and remove the disk-drive.
Connect it as a "slave" disk-drive in a desktop computer, to see if bypassing that USB-to-disk-drive adapter bypasses the problem.

If the device is still under warranty, IOMEGA will replace it, at minimal cost to you.

If the warranty has terminated, buy a new, compatible, disk-drive, and install it inside the enclosure, to "revive" your external storage device.

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Selah :-)

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