What to do if your external hard drive does not show in my computer

same problem here..hd doesn't show in my computer..and noisy..

Still having problems.

Hi,

I hope you can help me.

Bought a laptop SATA HDD to replace my old one with. I stuck it in an external case in order to back my current HDD onto the new one. However when I connect the new one in the external case it does not show in my computer although the computer has "installed" the the "new device" and it shows up as being connected in the hardware list in the control panel. I simply am not able to access it or manipulate it. The advice given above does not work as it is not available in the DISK MANAGEMENT list.

Can anyone help me.

Thank you.

check and set up your bios...then restart

set configuration as ide and then reboot..just try..hehe

Thanks

A friend of mine figured it out. I had been an ***** and not scrolled far enough down the list of drives to find my new one. Sometimes you just deserve a smack :S

Thanks for all the help.

Simpletech 500gb Ext HDD cannot be seen in my computer

I have a Simpletech 500gb external hard drive and it was working fine for a while. I was using it mainly to store and backup my data and regularly connected it to my PS3 to watch movies. When i was trying to adding more data onto it one day, a message came up saying that the disk was full. I pressed cancel thinking that I would need to remove some files to make room. But after i pressed cancel, my external was no longer shown in my computer. It still mad the noise when I disconnected and reconnected and had the safely remove device icon in the right tray. I tried to research on the problem and called the company for some support. The technician said that it was because of the PS3 that it doesnt show in my computer, but i was thinking it worked fine before. Anyways, he told me to right click on my computer and click on manage. Then goto disk management to format my external. I did just that, and formatted it but after around 5-6 hours it was still formatting so i cancelled it. It now appears as Local Disk F: instead of orginally E: and everytime i try to right click or double click on it, it freezes the window and makes it not responding.

Any help will be GREATLY appreciated!!!!!!

Thanks for the help

MrNoname said:

Easy to FIX

Right click on my computer
Choose MANAGE
Then find DISK MANAGEMENT
You should see your ext hard drive under the list.
Right click on it, and choose CHANGE DRIVE LETTER
Choose anything, but I recommand something higher than M:

I've seen this problem with alot of STORAGE DEVICE

It happen more often with Laptop because they usually have Card reader.
So it makes couple drives like e:, f:, g:.
Storage device tries to install themself with the drive letter next to CDROM
c: - HD1
d: - HD2 or CDROM
e: - Mass storage device (maybe for card readers)
So your external HD tries to have the E: drive (probably a bug)

See ya

Click to expand...

I did everything you said. Worked good except for one thing. When I went into Computer Management it showed two drive letters, (C): and (D):. It showed the the new hard drive below those as Disk 1 and Unallocated. It would not let me change the drive letter. I guess because it had no letter to change. So I just partitioned it with the full amount of available space and that worked. I hope that was the right thing to do. Thanks again.

disk maanagement is the solution to that...

i have the same issue here....i did thru disk mgmt...change the letter and format it but the problem still persist...ok for a few minute and then make all application hung up...any other solution...?

test your HD

MrNoname said:

Easy to FIX

Right click on my computer
Choose MANAGE
Then find DISK MANAGEMENT
You should see your ext hard drive under the list.
Right click on it, and choose CHANGE DRIVE LETTER
Choose anything, but I recommand something higher than M:

I've seen this problem with alot of STORAGE DEVICE

It happen more often with Laptop because they usually have Card reader.
So it makes couple drives like e:, f:, g:.
Storage device tries to install themself with the drive letter next to CDROM
c: - HD1
d: - HD2 or CDROM
e: - Mass storage device (maybe for card readers)
So your external HD tries to have the E: drive (probably a bug)

See ya

Click to expand...

When I try to right click on the drive, everything is grayed out except help. I can't click the option to change letter drive.... any other suggestions? I am stuck! HELP!

For general troubleshooting start with these
>> See [post=744411]USB Device Problems? Check for Windows Updates[/post]
>> See [post=720762]Troubleshoot: Windows Won't Recognize Your USB Hard Drive[/post]

If it turns out to be a missing hard drive letter / drive letter conflict
>> Also see Fix a Drive Letter that Doesn't Appear

And other things to know and try
>> You might also need to try removing upper/lower filters. See this MS KB
>> You should also know that viruses can cause this problem. Click here for Virus/Malware Removal Instructions

Did you get a driver with it?

I am having the same problem.............I tried what ever has been told above..........bt my problem is when I try to name my HD there isn't any option of naming it in the device management!I m using windows xp!is there any way out!

Did you tried that using administrator account?

I have the same problem. It sometimes make me crazy.
Thank you very much. Now, it works well.

* external hard drive*

my external hard drive dose not show up in My Computer, but it dose show up in Disk Management. wen i right click on the Ext. drive i can only Delete Volume or click for Help. how do i make the hard drive appear on My Computer?

new or old external HD? try to format..

[Post=759394]Look back at this post[/post] so you then try (in this order)
> Windows Updates
> Using the DriveCleanup tool
> Removing disk drive filters

Great guide it helped me sort out my drive issue

The same thing happened to me too.... Actually, I was be able to use my external hard drive before (btw, it's a Western Digital external hard drive). I was connecting it to my friend's desktop, and put it standing on the floor. After we're done using it, I accidently hit it and it fell flat on the floor. The next thing I know is that when I plug the USB in my desktop, it didn't show the drive in my computer anymore. It showed the USB icon on the taskbar. I opened Device Manager and it said the device is working properly, but then I opened Disk Management and it's not in there. Can someone please help me??? =[

Seagate Ext. HD

Hi there,
I'm having the same problem as the previous post. Just purchased a 500g Seagate External Hard Drive. It was working fine for a couple of days but one day I rebooted and couldn't find it anymore! I tried the Seagate Diagnostic Too "SeaTools" and it didn't recognize it. Even my Disk Management doesn't see it. It powers on fine and doesnt make any wierd noises either.
HELP!
thanks,

try to change the cable