I unplugged my external HDD a couple times yesterday in order to plug in a webcam. Now Windows won't recognize my external HDD. I have rebooted several times to no avail. There was no software with the HDD and all was fine until I unplugged it. Am I missing something?
2006-12-21 10:27:07 · 8 answers · asked by Lee 4 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Add-ons
WAIT!
Plug in the External HDD and WAIT for a few seconds...don't do anything else.
In about 45 seconds XP detects it. I dunno the reason for the delay but I have encountered the same problem when pluggin in my external HDD.
I dunno why it takes time to detect it BUT it will.
I hope this helps.
2006-12-21 10:36:24 · answer #1 · answered by ? 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You say you restarted several times - if these were "soft" restarts, instead shutdown and power off the PC, then power back on. I've had fun and games with some devices which have behaved better after this kind of "hard" restart.
Have you tried the HDD on a friend's machine?
2006-12-21 10:40:03 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, do u remember what drive letter XP assigned to it? If you do then type whatever drive letter it is in the search bar i.e. G: and it will bring up the contents of ur HDD. If u cant remember then just go through all the letters of the alphabet, u should find it!
2006-12-21 10:31:28 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
First I must say windows XP is evil and such and cant recognize any hardware. If the hard drive you bought didn't include a CD with drivers go the website of the manufacturers website and look for the drivers for your External HD on the site.
2006-12-21 11:19:06 · answer #4 · answered by Trevor J 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Have you tried changing the USB port it is plugged in or also if the cables are all plugged in.It has a letter like your CD drive is D:/ and your Floppy disk is A:/. In about 45 seconds XP should detect it .
2006-12-21 10:38:15 · answer #5 · answered by Ola O 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Connect the Drive FIRST! Go to "Start", then RIGHT click "My Computer", then left click "Manage", then under "Storage", select "Disk Management".
Next, locate the external hard disk drive you installed. It will not be C: , or D: , but will be listed in the above window, and lower window, too. Select it in the lower window, by RIGHT clicking on the blue bar, and then select "Format", to format it so you can use it.
But only format it to NTFS, using the Disk Management Utility as stated. (NOT TO FAT32!) Hope that helps?
2006-12-21 10:44:18 · answer #6 · answered by GBWisconsin 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
sorry your external HD is done, it might show up in device manager but your computer will not show it in MY COMPUTER when you open it. i had a maxtor 300GB and this happened to mine. shop said it would not auto run and sent it back, so i am waiting on a new one.
2006-12-21 13:35:58 · answer #7 · answered by idhard2find&looking 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
cause the computer dosent like you!
2006-12-21 10:29:46 · answer #8 · answered by pieman_21 2 · 0⤊ 5⤋