I want to copy files from windows 7 to hitachi external hard drive

Eortiz, did you try to read the files with a windows PC? Because when you connect the external drive to a PC you should be able to view the files and even be able to change the attributes like read only and hidden.

Connect your simple drive to the computer with the usb and power lead if applicable.

Click start all programs accessories open windows explorer my computer you should see your drives C: usually your hard drive D: your cd dvd drive and your usb drive E: or F: click to open it from there you select the files right click on the file/s right click copy navigate back to the drive right click select paste or hold the mouse cursor the file/s drag them to your usb drive disc then drop them Hope this helps.

Plug the external hard drive into your laptop or desktop computer.

Most external hard drives do this through a cable connecting the hard drive to the USB outlet on a computer.

Plug your external hard drive into a wall outlet if it receives power from an AC adapter rather than your computer.

Click on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop, and open the external hard drive.

It will be located under the USB connecting drive, which is labeled with a letter ranging from "E:" to "K:".

Open the folder on your external hard drive where you would like to save the photographs.

usually in my documents my pictures or if you want to save them to a specific spot so as not get them mixed up.

Create a folder if one is not present right click in my documents select new folder and name it lets say my pics 1

Move this window to the bottom right corner of your screen to be used in future steps.

Open the folder on your home computer where the files are being stored that you wish to transfer to the external hard drive.

These may be on the desktop, in "My Documents" or elsewhere in your computer.

If you are unsure where they are located, you can always search for them by file name by going to "Start" then "Search."

Right-click on the photo file, and select "Cut."

Click on the window showing your hard drive files to bring it into use on the screen.

Right-click on the white space in the window where you would like to transfer the files, and select "Paste."

Your files have now been deleted from their original location and transferred to your external hard drive in the folder you selected

hope this helps

hmmm what backup software are you using, from windows or hitachi? seems if the computer can see the drive, then it's a file formatting issue that you are facing.

Hi there,

Connect the external hard drive to your computer using a USB cable. When you have done that, go to 'my computer', click open it. You would see your hard drive(C:\ ), and you would also see the external hard drive. Click open the external, go to the location of the files on your external, ie, they might be in a folder, right click the one you want to transfer, select copy, go to 'my documents' on yor pc, and paste.
If what you are copiying is quite many, select the first, then while holding down the control key, select the others, while still holding down CTRl, right click and select copy. Then paste in 'my documents'.

Hope this was helpful?
Have a nice day.

Test this out on another computer to see if it does the same thing. If that doesn't work, then send the drive in to Hitachi under warranty because it is failing.

-you did not mention what process you used to save the files. Did you use the software that came with the drive to save data? or built-in software of windows? -If you still can, try the manual way of saving files like highlighting files/folders then copying them to the external drive.

How to Copy Files to an ExternalHard Drive

External hard drives provide great storage space for movies, music, picturesand other documents you want to keep safe over time. The drives generally comewith either USB 2.0 or Firewire connectors, so they also offer reliable datatransfers at high rates of speed. Setting the drives up is usually astraightforward process, and copying files to them from your computer is a snap.

1. Set up your external hard drive according to its instructions. The two majorsteps in setting one up are connecting it to your computer and plugging it intoan external power source. 2. Install any drivers that camewith your drive so your operating system will recognize it. If the drivers areoutdated, download and install new ones from the manufacturer's website. 3. Open the "MyComputer" panel. You'll see both your regular hard drive (the C: drive)and the external hard drive listed. 4. Double-click the externalhard drive's icon to open its window. 5. Drag and drop any files youwish to copy to the external drive into this window. 6. Right-click the "SafelyRemove Hardware" icon in the System Tray and eject the drive once you'vefinished copying your files. Read more: How to CopyFiles to an External Hard Drive ' eHow.com

I have a 640 GB easy drive. It hit the floor and now when I turn it on, all I get is beeps and hear movement in the harddrive but it does not work

create a new folder in your hard-disk and first try to copy 1-2 files from the external hard-drive to the new folder (copy any data/work/images you have stored/created not any files of windows folder or root of c: drive)

if the above copy works then copy back all except the c: root and these folders - Windows folder, Document & settings, Program Files