20 Most Recent Western Digital My Book Premium ES Edition WDG1SU5000 500 GB USB 2.0 Hard Drive Questions & Answers

It won't work because Windows XP is no longer being supported from Microsoft.

More than likely the drive has failed, very common.

you must download the specifications for power supply form your manufacturer suppliers, go to the website and download the owner manual, and get it, with your model, serial number.God bless you

http://support.moonpoint.com/hardware/power/adapters/
kevin

One or more of the hints below will probably sort out most USB problems with most USB portable / external hard drives and OTHER devices (though not always)

A few things to check but assumes USB and Windows for other interfaces / operating systems (mac/ Linux) similar steps may be adapted to suit.

1. Ensure it is connected directly to the computer to a USB 2.0 port not a USB 1.0 port as this can have effects on performance and reliability

2. Use only the cables that came with it NOT one that fits that may have been lying around or is longer. Not all USB cables are equal even though they should be)

3. Do not connect through an external USB HUB unless that hub is USB 2.0 AND has its own power supply.

4. Use ONLY the power supply that came with it if it has an external power supply Don’t use any other unless you know it has both the same voltage and current rating e.g. 12V 500mA anything rated below that would not work properly.

5. Always use the same port for connecting your devices. Some devices do not like being switched about. If switched they may want to install software / drivers again. This can be especially true if you move a HUB to another port

6. For FLASH DRIVES you should ensure that the device is set for "quick removal" using the drive control panel properties or use the USB "Safely Remove Hardware" option. If you dont do this there is a very strong chance that any files you transfer may not be there when you plug into another computer.
7. It is possible to remove drives from the enclosures in most cases and connect directly inside a PC to fully check it.
You should also do this to cheack the drives connections are not bad inside the enclosure.
　
8. If none of the above steps help look at updating the drivers from the manufacturers web site in the support section.

9. If you checked and fixed anything there and still have issues then check your hardware from CONTROL PANEL / SYSTEM / HARDWARE.
Any exclamation marks by hardware need fixing before you investigate any further
10. ensure that you have set removable drives for "quick removal" or that you use the "Safly Remove Hardware" option often shown on the lower toolbar.It is possible that files my not be fully written to external devices before they are removed. This corrupts the file itself and even on occasion the drive.
SPECIAL NOTES
USB flash drives can fail for no apparent reason.
Sandisk Cruzers are especially bad for this.

USB hard drives should be treated with extreme care.
This is a real hard drive ! and knocks and bumps can quite literally kill them.

Note that if you hear a drive clicking or pinging this could be the worst thing you would hear.
Known as "The Click Of Death"
Hope this gives you the information you need

It would be very decent of you to consider the quality of our experts answers and judge them accordingly as you pass through FixYa.

did you find an answer to your question? I am currently having the same problem. The USB LED flashes and takes a minute to scan, followed by a pop up on the tv saying unable to recognize hard drive. help?

Hi, If you format the drive you will erase everything on it including your files. I would run your ant-virus you may have a virus on it. Second save all your files on a back-up disc. Then format the drive if you can. good luck.

You definitely can, however it depends on the type of the files we are talking about here. If it's a video, music, and documents, the answer is yes you can. However, if you want to transfer the windows file and software settings, the answer is no. You can't cross-breed 32 bit and 64 bit platform. A possible alternative you can do is to use XPMode of your windows 7, given that you W7 is ultimate edition.

Make sure the mac compatible software is installed and not damaged.

Go to Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Computer Management Then go into Disk Management. Hopefully you will see a drive with a capacity of about 480 GB (plus or minus), that's your disk.
Right click on it and select change drive letter and change the drive letter to something that isn't in use.
If that doesn't work or it doesn't show up, go into the Device Manager from the Computer Management screen and see if there is anything under disk drives with a yellow or red symbol next to it. If so, right click it, select uninstall, then unplug the disk drive and plug it back in.

you could run the check disk utility click start run type cmd then type chkdsk/r/f which will scan for and attempt to repair any bad sectors and automatically fix any corrupt files on your hard drive then defragment your hard drive or control panel administrive tools,computer management ,disk management right click on your drive select properties click tools you should see click check now click start two boxes automatically fix files and scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors place then a tick in both boxes then select check now,start should schedule this task when restart hope this helps

Try replacing your usb cable that connects the drive to your mac. Also, try other available usb ports.

Lots of posts on this on other boards -- I was looking for output voltage of AC adapters as they are not labeled WD and had mixed multiples from other devices in one box while moving-- -- found that answer -- BUT I also saw several people whose drive stopped working suddenly. One got a tip from WD support to unplug adaptor from power strip and into wall socket directly -- This seemed to have solved this for many. Being a study of electrical and electronics I have a suspicion that the current capacity of the strip plug cord wires or strip internals are being overloaded. This will cause a drop in voltage out of the power supply itself, thus low voltage to the drive. One individual re-created the problem by again going back to a loaded strip. No guarantees but worth a try!!

What operation system are you running and how are you connecting the drive to your computer?

I just had this problem, go to Computer Management/Disk Management, and assign a drive letter to it, for some reason it doesn't automatically.

Hello

Okay , so there are some steps to figure out what is wrong with your external.

Firstly , if your computer makes a sound when you plug in your external , go to Start-Control Panel-Administrative Tools-Computer Management-Disk Management , and see if your external drive is listed here with your local drives. If it is listed , right click on the drive and change the drive letter to make it appear in "my computer".

If your drive does not make a connection sound when connecting to your computer and also does not show up , please follow the next step.

Remove the hard drive from the casing if possible and install it in your computer case or another external case.If the drive works , the problem is with the casing and you can ignore the drive.

Now , if the problem is with the casing , there are still 3 possibilities.

1. The USB cable between the drive and the computer may be damaged.
2. The circuit board which connects your drive to the interface of the external may be blown.
3. The power supply (if applicable) may have a blown transformer.

The latter is the easiest to diagnose , does your external light up at all when you plug in the power? If not , then this is probably your problem. On the bottom of the adapter is a label which you will be able to use to have a new adapter made at your local electronics shop and this will cost about $30 max. They will also be able to test the adapter with a clamp meter to see if this is really the problem and this should be free.

The second component you want to test is the USB cable. If you have a printer , swop out the cables and see if your printer functions normally. Most externals use the same connector so you should be able to test it in this manner. If the cable works go on to the last step. If the cable is defective , replace it with a new one which you can find for about $10 at most electronics and chain stores.

The last component to test is the circuit board. This is a bit of a grey zone as you probably won't be able to spot the blown component unless it failed really badly. With the casing already opened , locate the external's circuit board and check to see if you have any blackened components or fluids leaking from some components. If all the other components of the external worked perfectly , then this is the faulty part. It is not really economical to replace the circuit as most of the time it is out of production by the time you need to replace it and it still costs a lot even if it is available so if your drive is working perfectly when connected via sata or IDE on your computer , the best is to buy a new casing and place your old drive in the new casing.

A casing costs about $50 and you could get it at most tech shops and big chain stores like Best Buy.

I hope this solves your problem and please reply if you need more help.

Kind Regards
Andrea

have you checked you usb connection? try unplugging it then plugging it back in see if computer recognises it then if not chances are your drive has failed