I'm not using my external hard disk for quite sometimes. just now, when I plug in, its' shows no connectivity. When I click the 'safely remove your hardware, its shows that my external hard disk need to do formatting before use. i agree then click format, or click cancel for not to proceed formatting. What would be happened if I proceed with format? All my data will lost? Please advise what should I do....

Hello Elio,

Use MySafe to back up the files stored on the Ethernet Disk mini Home to an attached USB storage device. This way, if files on the Ethernet Disk mini are damaged or accidentally deleted, you can restore them to their original locations.
There are three main steps to using MySafe,Connecting an external USB hard drive,Backing up files to the external USB hard drive,Restoring files to the Ethernet Disk mini (if necessary)
Before you can back up files, you need to connect a hard drive to your Ethernet Disk mini via the USB port on the back. Use a hard drive that is USB 2.0 compatible.
While connecting an external hard drive make sure your Ethernet Disk mini is turned on and connected to your network.Turn on the external USB hard drive.Connect the external hard drive's USB cable to the USB port on the back of the Ethernet Disk mini, just like you would connect the external hard drive to your computer.Confirm that the drive is properly connected. Log in and click on the Administer HipServ link. Click on USB External Storage under System.
To back up files, navigate to the file or folder you want to back up to the external hard drive and click on the disk icon in the "Backup" column of the file list.When you back up files to MySafe, the Ethernet Disk mini duplicates the file path in MySafe so that everything you back up is organized in MySafe just as in its original location. So, if you copy a file from MyLibrary, a MyLibrary folder will appear in MySafe, with all folders leading to the backed up file.

Always click the Safely Remove Drive button on the USB External Storage before unplugging your MySafe external hard drive. Wait for the interface to change and for the Use Drive button to appear before disconnecting the USB cable from the Ethernet Disk mini. Failure to safely remove your external hard drive before disconnecting the USB cable can cause data loss and/or damage the drive. Always use the Safely Remove Drive feature when disconnecting an external hard drive.

reinstall it back on computer theres a start up file missing on page.

External hard drives don't need any program installed on your computer to run. Your operating system Windows, Linux should handle it as soon as you plug the usb in your computer. The programs included in your WD external hard drive are tools to backup your data.

If you try to hook up your hard drive to a Windows prior to XP, maybe your computer will not handle it.

It is always safer to safely remove your drive using the green arrow icon in the lower right corner of your screen. This way, the drive is shut down properly and you minimize chances of fails when you plug it again on another computer.

Hope this helps!

Check if drive letter associated or a folder in MMC disk management

Should wait a couple of minutes giving laptop a time to recognize the disk.

Has the hard drive been formated?
To format the drive, plug the external drive into the USB port - go to the Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Computer Management - Storage - Disk Management. The External drive should be listed as USB drive. On the lower panel, right click on the USB Drive and click on Format, and format it in NTFS.
After formating you will be able to use it as a normal hard drive.

Connect it to your computer.
Right click on my computer and select Manage
On the left side click on Disk management.

Now on the right side, look around and see if you spot the external drive there.

What do you see there?

Also look into device manager, then look for anything with ! or ? yellow marks.

Go to manage, refresh, and then asign a letter to it.
--- tuljo

if you are not getting any broken noise from the hard disk its not ded so ushut down the computer first then connect the hard disk to the power and then connect the hard disk to your system in the usb 2 port then connect the start the system if still dosent detect go to manage by right clicking on the my computer icon the go to disk management check your hard disk shows ther if shows forign just right click on the forigen and say import forigen hard disk if shows the drive helthy and dosent show up on my computer then just right click on the helthy place and say change drive letters and choose one of the letters and should show up on the my computer if still dosent see at all then change the usb cable....
if still dosent work remove hard drive from the external case and put it directly to your computer for this u need a sata cable and a sata power if it detects and work this way your data is safe but you casing of the external hard drive has probs ...
thanks

Try these steps: - Right-click on "My Computer" - Click "Manage" - Click on the "Disk Management" icon in the left column (Under the "Storage" category" - If your disk appears on the right-hand side, then try to right-click on it and create a partition. The issue may just be that, since the disk is not partitioned/formatted, a drive letter has not been assigned, which would cause it to not show up in the "My Computer" list Good luck!