20 Most Recent SimpleTech SimpleDrive Pininfarina 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive - Onyx - Page 8 Questions & Answers

good one, if the drive was there and now it dosn't show you can try this.
put the drive in, let it do it's install thing. just ignore it.

click start and right click on computer and go to manage.

Go to disk management on the left column and chek to see if the drive has a letter assigned to it. If not assign it a letter if it dosn't show in that list then you might have to find some drivers for it and install them manually

It sounds like the hard drive is damaged. Unplug it to prevent further damage. Don't worry in many cases you can have the data retrieved from your hard drive by using this online company that I highly recommend:
http://www.gillware.com/

Try this first...

1. Unplug everything connect to a USB port on your PC.
   
2. Open up the device manager (in Start/Run/devmgmt.msc)
   
3. Click on the + next to ''Universal Serial Bus Controllers'' to expand it.
4. Right-click on each item in the list and select ''Uninstall''.
5. Once all items listed under ''Universal Serial Bus Controllers'' have been uninstalled; restart the system.
6. Once the computer restarts and comes up to the desktop, plug your USB devices back in one at a time. You should see a ''New Hardware Found'' message in the lower right corner of the screen. After you do this you should get your devices back. If not then most likely your USB device or the USB controller on your motherboard are bad.

Otherwise, it may have finally died on you. USB flash drives are not as durable as internal drives on your computer and will fail if used a lot, a lot sooner than the bigger drives. If you can somehow get your computer to recognize it, copy all data you can off of your drive and any files you have problem with, I recommend you install data recovery software Recuva by Piriform and attempt to recover any data you can on it if it will allow you to.

I devised these simple steps that tend to remedy quite a few issues with most portable / external hard drives (though not always)
A few things to check but assumes USB and Windows for other interfaces / operating systems 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.
If you checked and fixed anything there and still have issues carry on reading.
Go to your control panel and then administrative tools, select Computer Management.
Now select Disk Management and expand the window.
Your drive should be listed here, if not then you need to check your computer hardware has not got any issues before proceeding.
If your drive is listed and says healthy then right click on it an select Properties, click Tools and then Error Checking, Check now, tick the two boxes and then Start.
This will attempt to fix most minor / common errors on the drive. It may also ask you to restart which is fine. Allow it to finish its work or you could corrupt the drive. If all went well you should be able to use it normally again.
If you drive was listed but did NOT say healthy then right click and select Format. Choose NTFS as the file system and do not tick any boxes you do NOT want quick format. Again start and let it do its thing. When it is done restart your computer and you should be good to go.
If you still have problems with the drive you might want to look at other areas.

A few things to check but assumes USB for other interfaces similar steps may be followed

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.

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 (Dont use any other unless you know it has both the same voltage and current rating eg. 12V 500mA anything rated below that would not work properly)

If you checked and fixed anything there and still have issues carry on reading.

Go to your control panel and then administrative tools, select computer management.

Now select Disk Management and expand the window.

Your drive should be listed here (if not then you need to check your computer hardware has not got any issues before proceeding)

If your drive is listed and says healthy then right click on it an select Properties, click tools and then error checking, Check now, tick the two boxes and then start.

This will attempt to fix any errors on the drive. It may also ask you to restart which is fine. Allow it to finish its work or you could corrupt the drive. If all went well you should be able to use it normally again.

If you drive was listed ut did NOT say healthy then right click and select Format. Choose NTFS as the file system and do not tick any boxes you do NOT want quick format. Again start and let it do its thing. when it is done restart your computer and you should be good to go.

Accidents do happen but lets see if this information will help you out.

if it still under warranty then I would suggest take it to where you bought it and try get a replacement. You would loose data on it though !

IF its not under warranty then there are a few steps you can take to work out where the problem is.

Remove the drive from its enclosure (remember it is a hard drive and not just a lump of metal so treat it with respect)

Now insert that drive into a computer that has a suitable interface eg SATA or IDE. and switch that computer on. if you can see the drive and use it to copy a small file to then from the drive your drive is working fine and it was your enclosure that was at fault.

Buy a new one of the same interface and put the drive in there.

However if you could not use the drive... well you know the bad news.

External hard drives are just that. bangs knocks and drops can kill these devices pretty easily

You could get another drive and fit it in the enclosure but that does not help recover your files.

Data recovery is quite an expensive option unless it is mission critical for a business.

unplug it go to add an remove . remove it. put you cd in after you restart . install driver remove cd after its done power off install your hardware power up pc will now see new hardware wait untill its done ... this will work for you..Good Luck

This is usually a corrupt USB driver for the device. On the machine that has trouble recognizing the drive:
right click my computer
click on properties
click on device manager
find the USB devices, click the plus sign to expand the tree.
Plug in your drive, see which new device appears, if it has the exclamation point, then right click on the device and click uninstall. Reboot the system.

please when ever it connects please try format it immidiatelly.

Hope this helps
http://www.simpletech.com/support/support_downloads.php

You need to reinstall the Chipset driver and then retry.
If still nogo.
Try the HDD on any other computer that will give you a clear picture of what is the problem

Thanks
Kindly rate the answer
Smith

did you drop it by mistake? if so may be there is a physical damage on the disk. if not, use acrons true image to repair the drive.

I have found a driver page of simpletech:
http://www.simpletech.com/support/support_downloads.php
I believe that driver for your model is not available in the above link.
The drive would not be recognized when it is not compatible with your notebook hard disk.
I suggest you to contact simpletech for getting the drivers as they will have the hard disk drivers.

Maybe some bad sector in there. You should do a disk scan to check that.

The red light is an indicator of drive failure. The fall it took, especially if the drive was on at the time, could easily cause the drive to break something internally so that it will not function. I found SimpleTech drives to fail pretty easily, even when you're not dropping them. That's been my experience, anyway.

Data recovery is a very expensive proposition. If the hard drive doesn't respond to the interface as normal, they have to be pulled apart and data extracted from the internal platters. This isn't something you can do without a full safe room (dust-free, wearing special suits and all) because any dust can ruin the platter. Since it's so involved, it's usually really, really expensive. Generally, most people don't bother when it reaches that point unless it's business files (like all of your financial data, for instance).

However, if it's something you really need that bad, DriveSavers is one of the best:
http://www.drivesaversdatarecovery.com/

I just had the same problem with my simpletech 500GB. Was working fine and then all of a sudden it wouldn't show up. I was trippin out thinking I might lose everything. After reading up and looking for answers nothing worked no where. So I prayed and asked God to help me figure this out because I had put all of our family pictures in the hard drive and would lose them all if it no longer worked or I would have to re format. Long story short, a few minutes after praying to the Lord Jesus, I got a thought in my head to follow the instructions on the box about installing it. Unplugged everything and then proceeded with the 1,2,3. Plugged in the usb to the hard drive, plugged it to the computer and then I plugged the power box in and low and behold the external hard drive showed up as when I first did it a few days ago. Thank you Jesus for the simple answer on the simpletech. I hope this is helpful to someone out there who is pulling there hair out like I was for a few hours. God Bless all and may the Love of Jesus impact and save your life. HE'S COMING SOON! Be ready

Hello.
It sounds like you might have a problem with the power supply.
I have seen MANY external hard drives with failing power supplies. Take it to the store you purchased it from for a check up, it should still be under warrantee if its only 3 months old.
Good Luck!

please try to check your external hard drive if theres a problem aside on the cord connecting to pc...

That clicking sounds if ever loud enough is one annoying symptoms of failed disc. When it accidentally drop the reader may come off the disc. It sad to say but you may consider to change your hard disc.

Check in your device manager to see if it is showing up there.
You can try the software (free) at this link

http://download.cnet.com/Data-Recovery/3000-2094_4-10664893.html?tag=mncol

This software will attempt to repair MBR, And FAT (Master boot record, and File allocation table)