Hitachi SimpleDrive Mini 250GB USB 20 Portable External SDM250RW (Red Wine) 250 GB Hard Drive - Answered Questions & Fixed issues

Check the device manager when it is connected and look for indications that something is wrong with the device also check the event viewer log in the system folder for any errors related to the issue and let us know.

The only thing left is the USB cable and the conversion circuitry between it and the drive connector. Listen to the drive. If it clicks a lot it isn't getting enough power from the USB port on the PC anymore. If it's OK, then it's back to the cable or the conversion circuit.

take the hard drive to a computer repair shop but from your description , it may be dead if it is a disc type hard drive , then continually moving it around is not good for the delicate workings if it is dead , replace it with a solid state hard drive which has no moving parts and is a lot more robust

Open file explorer Select files to transfer Select copy or move http://static.highspeedbackbone.net/pdf/Simpletech-Signature-Mini-MN.pdf

Sounds like a disk error and it cant read the start of the drive. If it still detects it you might be able to repair it with a partition recovery or partition repair tool available online.

Problem may simply be with USB cable used. Try another cable, preferably a known good cable. Problem may be with the socket on the device itself where the USB cable fits in. Try (with known good cable) on a flat surface with the both the device and the cable resting on the surface - i.e cable should not hang down and put weight on the socket. Hope that fixes it. Further advice. Even if problem seems fixed, immediately back up the drive if you can!

If it is new you may have to format it.Go to may computer right click hit format. If it contains your files etc do not do it as it will erase everything.

It doesn't require a power supply You may need to install a mass storage driver. What operating system are you using? Vista? XP? Win7? Win8? 32 bit? 64 bit? Was the drive used on a Mac? Are you on a PC right now with it?

Yes, but there are many recovery software that you can download from the internet.... so don't worry, try 4shared.com by searching Recover My Files which is very effective. Please note to format your HDD using Quick Format rather than Full Format.. Good luck..

try other usb port, or other computer and see whether the hdd is detected. If still not, try to go to device manager ( http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000833.htm ), and then assign a drive letter to the hdd. After that, try to access it from Computer, if not able to access it, format it (use quick format) and then use this program to recover your files.http://www.asoftech.com/adr/

I'd recommend that you download asoftech data recovery to recover files from hard drive. you can download the program fromhttp://www.asoftech.com/adr/

try to format it in other way like ntfs or fat32....

you may have to assign a letter to the unseen drive manually: goto start menu and right click on my computer/ select manage/ select storage/ select disk management/ check to see if the drive has a letter assigned to it...if not right click on the drive in question and select change drive letter and paths/ then give it an unassigned letter and that should do it. if not just just text me back and w'ell investigate your power supply and/or the cable(s) and usb ports. hope this helps:)

In the file menu, go to tools, folder option and then view. Tick the "show hidden files and folders"
If this does not work, and you know there is data on the drive, then you will probably find the file structure on the drive has been damaged (usually casued by unplugging the drive without "stopping" it first.

What you may need to do in that case, is to download a file recovery utility and recover your data, then wipe and reformat the drive.

Some Free utilities can be found here:

http://www.snapfiles.com/freeware/system/fwdatarecovery.HTML

click start control panel administrive tools ,computer management ,device manager look through all of your devices if you see a yellow question mark?or exclamation mark ! or red x right click to reinstall drivers or if you can see your usb but its not working ports(com&lpt)right click update driver just replace the cable of the hard disk, when you plugged the external disk drive you got that windows could recognize the USB device change the cable everything should work fine again, sometimes the wires inside the cable will be damaged due to bending or stretching or placing heavy equipment upon the cable, check the USB leads that attach to the motherboard usually red-white-green-black make sure they are securely seated and have no dust build up on them dust will cause static and a lot of unforeseen problems hope this helps

the strange noises might be the post beeps are post during post the very first work is done by the ram all the memory in the ram is first transferred to the hard disk and remains active until turned off. make sure that your RAM is securely seated, click start control panel administrive tools computer management device manager scroll down universal serial bus controllers you should see a yellow question mark? right click to reinstall drivers when you plugged the external disk drive you got that windows could recognize the USB device change the cable just replace the cable of the hard disk everything should work fine again, sometimes the wires inside the cable will be damaged due to bending or stretching or placing heavy equipment upon the cable, check the USB leads that attach to the motherboard usually red-white-green-black make sure they are securely seated and have no dust build up on them dust will cause static and a lot of unforeseen problems hope this helps

make sure the lead/s that attach to this drive have a secure seating and are not bad/faulty the light on only tells that its getting power it might not be getting enough power you might test the lead/s or just replace the cable of the hard disk, when you plugged the external disk drive you got that windows could recognize the USB device change the cable everything should work fine again, sometimes the wires inside the cable will be damaged due to bending or stretching or placing heavy equipment upon the cable, hope this helps

Check on a different PC ,if same the HDD might have a fault.
If not and on a different PC all is ok try checking in device manager for any new USB devices that have a yellow mark near them.From same device manager try using check for hardware changes button locked on the top part of the window.

Your external hard drive likely has no partitions so Windows has no drive to mount. Follow these steps to create and format a partition for your external hard drive.

1. Press Win+R to open the Run command.
2. Type "Control" into the dialog box.
3. Double-click Administrative Tools.
4. Double-click Computer Management.
5. Select Disk Management under Storage.
6. Find the 250 GB External Hard drive in the right pane.
7. Right click on the drive and select "Create new partition".
8. After the partition is created you will need to format the partition.
9. Format the partition as NTFS unless you plan on booting off the hard drive, in which case format the partition as FAT32. You can also create multiple partitions if you want.
10. Enter My Computer and you will now see your external hdd.

Good luck and thanks for using FixYa.

Your external hard drive likely has no partitions so Windows has no drive to mount. Follow these steps to create and format a partition for your external hard drive.

1. Press Win+R to open the Run command.
2. Type "Control" into the dialog box.
3. Double-click Administrative Tools.
4. Double-click Computer Management.
5. Select Disk Management under Storage.
6. Find the 250 GB External Hard drive in the right pane.
7. Right click on the drive and select "Create new partition".
8. After the partition is created you will need to format the partition.
9. Format the partition as NTFS unless you plan on booting off the hard drive, in which case format the partition as FAT32. You can also create multiple partitions if you want.
10. Enter My Computer and you will now see your external hdd.

Good luck and thanks for using FixYa.