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February 17, 2010
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My wife used a 200gb external for a back up of a back up. Suddenly windows says there's a problem (didnt write it down). No problem...I needed a larger HD for my back ups. Got the new HD and copied stuff over and then wiped the HD.
Hooked up the old HD to my wife's machine. Hmmmm..can't find it either.
I dug out the wife's old HD and hooked it up to my machine. Hmmm...it works just fine...
Thoughts?
XP Pro
February 17, 2010
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I hate making spelling errors...
EXTERNAL !!!!!
August 9, 2011
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Terry, when you say "can't find it", is that looking under 'My computer', or in 'Disk Management', or both?
February 17, 2010
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OZ,
Both !!!
thanks
August 9, 2011
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Okay. Then I would be checking the USB cables (try swapping them around - if possible), and also trying different USB ports.
Are the external drives 2.5" USB powered or 3.5" self powered? If USB powered, is the LED light glowing when connected to USB port? If self powered, is the LED light glowing when connected to mains power and switched on?
I guess you would have tried re-booting the machine and then connecting the external drive?
February 17, 2010
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3.5 self powered. switched cables and ports.........:<
The original drive works on my computer.............:&
rebooted.........
August 9, 2011
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The thing that's throwing me is the drive works when connected to one machine but not when connected to the other. Seems to indicate there is a problem with the host machine, rather than with the drive itself.
Next step I would be trying is taking the drive out of its enclosure and connecting it direct into the machine; that is provided there is enough room and a spare connection on the mobo.
February 17, 2010
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I took another drive (J) and cords that are working with my machine and installed to the problem machine. My wife's machine does not see the J drive. Tried different ports also.
August 9, 2011
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Sounds as though the USB ports on the wife's machine are not working. Is anything else connected to that machine via USB; printer, mouse, keyboard??
February 17, 2010
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Mouse, keyboard and printer are all USB. Have switched cords, ports, etc.
No joy................
August 9, 2011
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Okay. A couple more things to try.
What are you plugging the external drive's power supply into, a surge protected power board or directly into a wall socket? Is it the same for both machines? If, on the errant machine, the drive is being plugged into a surge protected power board, try connecting directly to a wall socket and see if that works.
On the errant machine; go to Start>Control Panel>Network Connections (or whatever it is called in XP) - is there anything in there about Firewire, 1384 or both? If so, disable that and reboot - then try the external drive again.
September 2, 2010
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Hi,
Here's an [url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925196:385ttlq5]MS article[/url:385ttlq5] that might help you.
Another thing you might want to try is to uninstall all USB drivers on your wife's system (USB hoot hubs + controllers) along with any drivers related to the specific HDD. With the external HDD unpluged, reboot - Windows will rebuild all USB settings and connections. Try the HDD again.
Is it possible that the initial error message you got from Windows had something to do with the drive not being formatted? If yes, it could be due to related registry entries being corrupted.
And two questions:
When you plug in the HDD, does the "Remove Safely" icon show up in the system tray?
When you say you "can't find it" in 'Disk Management, do you mean it doesn't show up at all or is there something without a letter assigned to it?
Please, report back.
I am human
February 17, 2010
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Tried the MS article with negative result.
No replies about formatting.
Bear in mind that this problem is with ANY/ALL external drives.
Remove safely does not appear.
Cannot find in "My Computer" or Disk "Management"
How to uninstall USB Drivers?
Thanks everyone
September 2, 2010
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Hi Terry and sorry for the late reply.
Before trying to remove the USB drivers, please check the following:
Connect the HDD before booting the system.
At the post screen it would say something about mass storage devices, if the BIOS can see the disk.
One more question, does
[quote:8lfqxrk6]this problem is with ANY/ALL external drives[/quote:8lfqxrk6]
icnlude flash drives as well?
Please, report back.
I am human
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