Windows Vista does not see the external hard drive in my computer. It is recognized in disk drives but not in disk management.
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.
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
A USB hard drive is a portable external storage device that works just like a conventional hard drive.
The device is simply plugged into a USB port on your computer as you would connect a flash drive.
Unlike a flash drive, however, a USB hard drive can store a much larger amount of data.
If your computer will not recognize your USB hard drive, you can try troubleshooting steps to resolve the problem.
Plug one end of the USB cable into the port on your hard drive and plug the other end into the USB port of your computer. Ensure that both ends of the cable are connected securely.
Open "My Computer" (Windows XP) or "Computer" (Windows Vista/7).
The USB device should be listed as "removable disk" once it is plugged into the computer.
If it is not listed among the available drives on your computer, proceed to the next step.
Ensure that the data cable is working properly.
Try another USB cable if you have one available.
Disconnect all other USB devices from the computer as they may interfere with the operating system detecting the external hard drive.
Reboot the computer if the USB hard drive is still not recognized.
Plug the USB cable into another USB port and check to see if the device is detected.
If you are using a USB hub, remove the device and plug the external hard drive directly into a USB port.
If the computer still fails to recognize the device, the external hard drive itself may be experiencing a hardware problem.
Check the status of the hard drive in the "Device Manager" window. Under Windows XP, right click "My Computer" and select "Device Manager."
For Windows Vista and Windows 7, click the "Windows" button in the lower left corner of the screen, then type "Computer Management" in the search bar and press "Enter."
Select "Device Manager" in the "Computer Management" window. In the Device Manager window, click the "+" sign that appears beside "Disk Drives."
If the external drive is not listed, click "Other Devices" in the Device Manager window and see if an "Unknown Device" appears.
The external hard drive may have been detected but the device is not working properly.
If it is still under warranty, take the device to the computer store where it was purchased to have it repaired or replaced.
Hope this helps
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