I recently purchased an external hard drive, and how do connect it to my computer.

If both your Dell and the hard drive have USB ports you may be able to download directly. Other wise you may purchase an external drive and load the data to that. The external drive almost certainly will connect by USB.

Depend, is it an internal or external hard drive?

If you have a SimpleTech SimpleDrive connected to your computer and you're experiencing problems with the external hard drive, there may be several reasons why it's malfunctioning. Troubleshooting your computer can help rule out common problems and the possibility that the hard drive may be defective. If you recently purchased the device and suspect there is something wrong with it, return the defective drive to SimpleTech or the reseller for a replacement. Incompatible USB Port Problems SimpleTech SimpleDrive plug and play options makes it easy for you to connect the device to your computer. But you may encounter problems if your computer's USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports are not compatible with the external hard drive. Make sure your ports are powerful enough to operate the drive. USB 2.0 ports are recommended, but if you're using an older computer with 1.0 ports, the hard drive will function much slower or you may receive an error message that the device is not compatible with your system. b> Missing External Drive Letter If you're unable to find the SimpleTech external hard drive's letter on your desktop after you have installed the drivers for the device, it's possible that the external drive may be assigned to another drive. Sometimes, the hard drive is assigned to a network drive and you may need to manually change the drive's letter in Disk Management. b> SimpleTech SimpleDrive Incorrectly Formatted b> SimpleTech SimpleDrive is normally pre-formatted for Windows NTFS (New Technology File System), but Mac users may need to copy the backup software and reformat the external hard drive for FAT32 or Mac OS to be able to use the external drive. If the external hard drive is not formatted correctly for your system, it may not function or work properly. b> External Hard Drive Inaccessible If you receive an error message that says "Drive Inaccessible," the SimpleTech SimpleDrive may not be able to read the service area of the platter. If the external hard drive emits a loud or abnormal sound, this could mean the device is failing.
Test the drive on another computer to see if it is working properly. Otherwise, the external hard drive's surface area may be damaged or corrupted.
Replacing a Defective Hard Drive You can return a defective hard drive that is under warranty to SimpleTech. The manufacturer will exchange the device if the seal is not broken. But if you break or tear the seal on the case, any warranty claims will not be accepted and the device will be returned back to you. SimpleTech will only accept the device if you contracted a commercial data recovery company to retrieve critical data from the external hard drive and the seal needed to be broken. Before returning the defective drive, you will need to secure a RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) approval number from SimpleTech and furnish any invoices or documentation regarding the data recovery company's services
or if its a usb external drive you might need a usb 3 card installed on your computer your computer might not have enough usb output power USB 3 card will provide more power when needed to the device to gain maximum throughput and conserve power when the device is connected but is idling http://blog.premiumusb.com/2010/09/usb-2-0-vs-usb-3-0/ these can be purchased on Ebay cheap and easy to install http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/PCI-e-PCI-Express-USB3-0-Card-new-NEC-720200AF1-chipset-/330608109325?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf9c7670d for roughly $9 or $10free postage Hope this helps.
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If you have a SimpleTech SimpleDrive connected to your computer and you're experiencing problems with the external hard drive, there may be several reasons why it's malfunctioning. Troubleshooting your computer can help rule out common problems and the possibility that the hard drive may be defective. If you recently purchased the device and suspect there is something wrong with it, return the defective drive to SimpleTech or the reseller for a replacement. Incompatible USB Port Problems SimpleTech SimpleDrive plug and play options makes it easy for you to connect the device to your computer. But you may encounter problems if your computer's USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports are not compatible with the external hard drive. Make sure your ports are powerful enough to operate the drive. USB 2.0 ports are recommended, but if you're using an older computer with 1.0 ports, the hard drive will function much slower or you may receive an error message that the device is not compatible with your system. b> Missing External Drive Letter If you're unable to find the SimpleTech external hard drive's letter on your desktop after you have installed the drivers for the device, it's possible that the external drive may be assigned to another drive. Sometimes, the hard drive is assigned to a network drive and you may need to manually change the drive's letter in Disk Management. b> SimpleTech SimpleDrive Incorrectly Formatted b> SimpleTech SimpleDrive is normally pre-formatted for Windows NTFS (New Technology File System), but Mac users may need to copy the backup software and reformat the external hard drive for FAT32 or Mac OS to be able to use the external drive. If the external hard drive is not formatted correctly for your system, it may not function or work properly. b> External Hard Drive Inaccessible If you receive an error message that says "Drive Inaccessible," the SimpleTech SimpleDrive may not be able to read the service area of the platter. If the external hard drive emits a loud or abnormal sound, this could mean the device is failing.
Test the drive on another computer to see if it is working properly. Otherwise, the external hard drive's surface area may be damaged or corrupted.
Replacing a Defective Hard Drive You can return a defective hard drive that is under warranty to SimpleTech. The manufacturer will exchange the device if the seal is not broken. But if you break or tear the seal on the case, any warranty claims will not be accepted and the device will be returned back to you. SimpleTech will only accept the device if you contracted a commercial data recovery company to retrieve critical data from the external hard drive and the seal needed to be broken. Before returning the defective drive, you will need to secure a RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) approval number from SimpleTech and furnish any invoices or documentation regarding the data recovery company's services
or if its a usb external drive you might need a usb 3 card installed on your computer your computer might not have enough usb output power USB 3 card will provide more power when needed to the device to gain maximum throughput and conserve power when the device is connected but is idling http://blog.premiumusb.com/2010/09/usb-2-0-vs-usb-3-0/ these can be purchased on Ebay cheap and easy to install http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/PCI-e-PCI-Express-USB3-0-Card-new-NEC-720200AF1-chipset-/330608109325?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf9c7670d for roughly $9 or $10free postage Hope this helps.

> recently purchased

Less than one year ago? If so, SeaGate's warranty still will be valid.
Exercise the warranty to get it replaced.




An external storage-device has four major components:

* the USB cable

* the power-adapter

* the disk-drive inside the enclosure

* the USB-to-disk-drive adapter inside the enclosure.

One of these components has failed.

Try a different USB cable.

Try connecting to a different USB port on your computer.

Try connecting to a USB port on a different computer.

Take a "multi-meter" and measure both the voltage and amperage output from the AC adapter, and compare with the specifications on the label on the adapter.

Open the enclosure, and remove the disk-drive, and then connect it as a "slave" disk-drive in a desktop computer, to see if it works at all.

Purchase a new, compatible, disk-drive, and install it in the enclosure, to "revive" your external storage device.

Get the part-number and serial-number from the label on your disk-drive, and access the manufacturer's web-site, and use "check warranty status", to see if they will replace the device, at minimal cost to you.

There exist commercial "data recovery" services that can try to repair your device, just long-enough to rescue and copy your files. For example, see: https://services.seagate.com/index.aspx?lng=en-US for a "no data - no charge" guarantee.

The NERO software is most-commonly used to write to CD/DVD/BluRay recordable media.

With Mac OS, just "drag-and-drop" your files and folders onto the icon for the drive, to "copy" the files.

just change the usb cord the problem is in the usb

The alteration has to be made to the computer. For the safety of the data from the computer asked them to do it.

You need to go into the BIOS of your computer and change the boot order of your computer.  Your computer must be set to boot from your main hard drive only.

not possible. i suggest 24/7 antivirus monitoring.