External hard drives not only provide additional storage space on a computer system but also allow data to be conveniently transported from one computer to another.
These drives typically plug right in to a port on the computer and function without any additional setup; however, if you are running into trouble where your external hard drive is not being detected, you must troubleshoot the situation to determine why the drive appears to be missing.
Check the USB connection running from the hard drive to your computer.
If the USB cable is not seated securely in the port, the computer will not detect the external drive.
Disconnect the USB cable from the computer and plug it into a different USB port. Occasionally, a USB port will fail to function with some hardware and changing the USB connection may correct this issue.
Switch from a USB to a Firewire cable connection, if possible.
The USB port on the hard drive may have died; if so, changing to a Firewire connection will resolve this issue.
Install the driver for the external device from the installation disc provided with the product. Older computer systems may require you to manually install this driver.
After inserting the installation CD, follow the prompts from the installation wizard to install the driver on your computer.
Restart the computer.
If you connected the external drive while the computer is powered down, it may not recognize the device when you turn on the computer.
After restarting the computer, connect the external drive to the system.
The drive should now be detected by your operating system.
Connect the external hard drive to a power source and then plug it into your PC computer using a USB or Firewire cable.
Log on to your PC computer using an account with administrative privileges.
Open the Start menu and click on the "Control Panel" icon.
Open the "Administrative Tools" folder and then double-click on the "Computer Management" icon.
Select "Disk Management" from the list of options on left side of the window.
Right-click on the drive you want your computer to recognize and select "Change Drive Letter and Paths."
Select a drive letter for the external hard drive to be recognized as and click "OK."
The drive will now appear in My Computer.
Hope this helps.
2 questions posted
Usually answered in minutes!
50 Questions
40 Questions
10 Questions