VoMagic external drive not showing up on my laptop

SOURCE: beeps and computer not reading USB port

usb drive get faulty. replace it.

SOURCE: My PC is not recognizing my WD Passport 120GB USB external drive.

Does you drive make any sounds like these? If yes you have a mechanical problem and you should get a specialist to work on it.
If not - try to remove the drive from the enclosure and connect it directly to the computer to recover your files.

SOURCE: My Computer does not show: Western Digital My Book Essential Edition 500 GB external USB hard drive

Well i got a simple 320 gb external hard drive, and since the first month i had problems, i solve the recovery issue by opening the hard drive, and find it out, the inside was broken, and it got unplugged. so plugged it back and got my info. if your data its more important than 200dlls or less break the thing open, because if you claim the warranty they are not responsible for your information.

SOURCE: Windows XP stopped recongizing eGo

2 things... the USB port is bad, or the USB cable is too long and the HDD isn't getting a good signal.

1. Try another port and see if that works

2. Nip over to WalMart, Circuit City, Micro Center, PC World or Best Buy and get a shorter, Thicker USB cable of the same type - a cable which can provide the signal strength your ext HDD requires.

Also a possibility... The HDD may be 'lost' as Win cannot accept one of that size or the label/signature fell off and it is an orphan. It MUST have a driveletter, and it MUST have a special WIN signature byte on the HDD for it to work.

Bootup as normal, let everything get quiet, then plug in the ext HDD

Rt Click My Computer, Manage, Device Manager and in the Rt side, highlight the TOP icon. Then under Help, click the Computer with magnifying glass icon and wait. This forces your OS to 'Look' for any new devices.

When it finishes looking, look again under My Computer to see if your new HDD is now there. It will have to be formatted and have a driveletter for this part to work. Jump down to Disk Manager and see if it is there. You may have to Rt. Click and import it as a foreign drive or Rt click and give it a Driveletter ;-) If it is not, use a shorter, thicker (more wires) USB cable and try again.

Windows doesn't like Any HDD without win signatures on them - aka:'foreign disks' so ANY time this happens, if OS doesn't see it, use disk manager and Import it, then Rt click it and give it a Diskletter.

SOURCE: My PC is not recognizing my WD Passport 120GB USB external drive.

I had a similar problem with my WD passport 320GB. When I connected it to my laptop it never showed up on My Computer even though the blue light on the hard drive came on.
Here is what I did:  Right click on "My Computer" and click on "Manage" and then "Disk Management",. you should see your WD hard drive listed. then click on "change driver letters and paths"  and change it from the listed to another drive. I changed mine from G to F drive and it worked for me.