External USB hard drive not working

T

TheRush

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Hi guys,

I have an external USB hard drive. It has suddenly stopped working :(

Device manager shows that it is working correctly. It shows up in the safely remove hardware popup. However it does not show in windows explorer.

I've tried troubleshooting. Does not help. I have made sure that it is enabled in the device manager. It shows location as "0" - I'm not sure if that means anything.

Unfortunately I don't have another pc to test it on. And I am not comfortable opening it up because I would have no idea what to look for or what to do.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Press windows key + R and type in the following.
compmgmt.msc

Then select disk management & see if the device is listed there. You should be able to see a bit more as to whats going on there.
 
HavocXphere said:
Press windows key + R and type in the following.
compmgmt.msc

Then select disk management & see if the device is listed there. You should be able to see a bit more as to whats going on there.
Click to expand...

Yes, he mentioned it is listed and "working" in the Device Manager. tl;dr; syndrome? ;)

Open up Windows explorer, click on the little bar on top that says where you are and type in the drive name manually.
 
Is the drive showing up in disk management? It could just need a drive letter assigned
 
The device is not showing up in disk management unfortunately...
 
Got a similar problem on one of my machines it will see a thumb drive but not an external hard drive I have not investigated why yet .
I have one of those cords that you can plug any type of hard drive in to it with an external PSU and that dont work on the same machine .
Best to try you external hard drive on another machine .
 
Firmware locking up?
Check if drive reports correct LBA when booting and whether is recognised correctly by BIOS. Post here recognition string. Remove from enclosure and test on PC.
 
hmm, make sure you using the back USB port and not connecting too many devices (well in some cases it can have an issue :/ ).

Try to get a linux bootcd (any free one online) and see if you can access your device.

Even Hiren's BootCD will work too. :)
 
sajunky said:
Firmware locking up?
Check if drive reports correct LBA when booting and whether is recognised correctly by BIOS. Post here recognition string. Remove from enclosure and test on PC.
Click to expand...

"hmm, make sure you using the back USB port and not connecting too many devices (well in some cases it can have an issue :/ ).

Try to get a linux bootcd (any free one online) and see if you can access your device.

Even Hiren's BootCD will work too. "

Sorry guys, I have NO idea what all of this means!

I tried it on another pc, it recognizes it and says your new hardware is installed. But it still doesn't show up in explorer or disk management. It's the only USB device connected...

In simple terms, what's my next best bet? Is my hard drive fried? :(
 
mikaME said:
I tried it on another pc, it recognizes it and says your new hardware is installed. But it still doesn't show up in explorer or disk management. It's the only USB device connected...
Click to expand...
Check if drive reports correct LBA when booting and whether is recognised correctly by BIOS. Post here recognition string. Difficult?
Edit: disable splash screen in BIOS setup. That would bring diagnostic message to your attention. Enable boot from USB (or similar feature in BIOS). Press Pause key when hard drives information is displayed and write it down.
If you can't see USB drive, you need to use diagnostic programs as described above.
 
Last edited:
Sorry, I really have very limited knowledge in this regard... I have no idea what an LBA or recognition string is :O
 
Remove the drive from the enclosure and connect it directly to your pc via a SATA port. The drive or the usb-sata controller could be faulty.

Your PC sees the usb-sata controller and not the actual drive.

Removing the drive from it's enclosure would void your warranty!
 
OP doesn't understand, I wrote it in my first post. Should find somebody to look at the drive. My suggestion.
 
Yeah thanks guys, I'm thinking I should rather take it over to a pc shop?

Btw OP is a "she" who knows very little about this kind of stuff!! ;)

Thanks for your efforts
 
Hmmm ...

Is it an external Seagate drive that looks like ...

ehd-sgd-st305004fdb2e1-rk.jpg


If so, and it is a few years old... could it perhaps be the infamous Seagate firmware BSY error ??

/strokes chin in Sherlock Holmes type manner
/attempts not to look Clouseau-ish
 
Last edited:
mikaME said:
Yeah thanks guys, I'm thinking I should rather take it over to a pc shop?

Btw OP is a "she" who knows very little about this kind of stuff!! ;)
Click to expand...

They might see you coming from a mile away and rip you off...
 
ponder said:
mikaME said:
Yeah thanks guys, I'm thinking I should rather take it over to a pc shop?

Btw OP is a "she" who knows very little about this kind of stuff!! ;)
Click to expand...

They might see you coming from a mile away and rip you off...
Click to expand...

Haha... I'll shoot off a few terms from this thread (LBA, recognition string) then maybe they won't notice ;)
 
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