usb external hard drive not showing in my computer

sare^baw's · 28 Dec 2007 at 12:27

i have been having problems with hardware showing on my computer, recently it has been when i plugin SD memory into the usb, i get the hardware noise when i plugin and un plug but i sometimes need to do it a few times before it shows in my computer.

i just got a new 500gb external hdd and it is making the hardware noises as i plug it in and unpulg it but it does not show in my computer. i did have it showing in device manager and disk manager but it was not showing in my computer. now its not showing anywhere and all i get is the hardware noise.

i have disabled a lot of services in my o/s lately and not sure if this is what is causing it. i used black vipers guide.

the usb ports on my mobo are not working so all i am using is a 4 port usb pci card, the mouse & keyboard and wireless adapters all work fine on the usb card.

smckay · 28 Dec 2007 at 12:56

one thing to check is the disk management.

right click my computer and manage

then disk management - the usb hdd should appear there, make sure it has a unique drive letter, if not it won't appear.

just change the drive letter and you should be sorted. whilst you are there you will also be able to check it is formated and ready for use.

sare^baw's · 28 Dec 2007 at 13:07

smckay said:
one thing to check is the disk management.

right click my computer and manage

then disk management - the usb hdd should appear there, make sure it has a unique drive letter, if not it won't appear.

just change the drive letter and you should be sorted. whilst you are there you will also be able to check it is formated and ready for use.

thanks ill give that a try

sare^baw's · 28 Dec 2007 at 13:53

ah this is not working im afraid, the external hard drive (lacie 5oogb with samsung drive) is showing in device manager with an exclamation mark besides it, so there is a problem but i cant figure out hwat it is as there is no drivers needed for this.

all i have done is formatted the drive to ntfs.

helmutcheese · 28 Dec 2007 at 13:55

Sometimes you need run the " Add Hardware Wizard " (In Control Panel) a few times, it can fix glitches.

sare^baw's · 28 Dec 2007 at 15:36

helmutcheese said:
Sometimes you need run the " Add Hardware Wizard " (In Control Panel) a few times, it can fix glitches.

just tried this and still not sorted, when the hardware wizard add the device it has the exclamation mark beside it.

Kelt · 28 Dec 2007 at 16:24

sare^baw's said:
just tried this and still not sorted, when the hardware wizard add the device it has the exclamation mark beside it.

Is it detected within the BIOS? If it is, should be seen by windows.
If it isn't, see if you can try and force it to detect it.

sare^baw's · 28 Dec 2007 at 17:57

i tested it on my g/f's laptop with vista, it worked fine and i quick formatted it to ntfs and unplugged it a few times and it worked great, now i plug it into my pc and its working fine, i dont understand this. maybe just a fluke, i cant imagine the format on a vista laptop making any difference. :mad: