My external hardrive isnt working, please help?

Question

Its a Western Digital, Im not sure which kind. I really don't know. I got it about a year and a half ago.

I can hear it spinning. It hook up the usb cord to my computer and i turn it on, i have 4 different usb places to plug a usb cord into. I tried all four and it still doesnt work. I know theres nothing wrong with the places to plug the usb cord in, but im not sure why its not working.

I plug it into every place and it doesnt work.
I can hear the spinning inside of the external hardrive.


ugh, help?

Answer 1

First, check the device driver to make sure the USB port is o.k.:
Start
Settings
Control Panel
System
Hardware
Device Manager
right-click the ports, one at a time
select Properties
you will be told if the port is in working order

Then, read this:

Problem With USB Port – Can’t Reinstall USB Device – Plug & Play Problem
- With Windows Plug & Play feature, Windows is supposed to recognize any device plugged into a USB port -- the problem is after it recognizes something once, Plug & Play will never again try to install that device. You need to erase all memory of the device (printer etc) from the computer.
- Right-click on My Computer, cl Properties, click Hardware, click Device Manager.
- Click on the plus sign next to “Universal Serial Bus.” Look for the problem device’s name and right-click. Now Remove. Restart and reinstall.

Source: Article by James Coates, Chicago Tribune.
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Personal Notes:
1. I found that if I did not go through the “safely remove” procedure before unplugging a USB device, the computer did not recognize another item. I had to reinsert the first item, “safely remove,” then plug in another item. This must be like shutting down for USBs.
2. Some flashdrives are to be removed at shutdown, and reinserted after startup. This is stated on the literature that accompanied my SONY 1G flashdrive. I do not recall seeing this instruction for my Cruzer 1G, but I suspect it is the same. I found that if I leave it connected, I cannot access files. After removing it and reinserting, files are there. A couple other smaller, older flashdrives do not seem to have this problem.

Answer 2

Double click on MY computing gadget on the computing gadget, maybe the strain letter has replaced to F:? G:? If no longer, then the puzzling tension interior has failed...they fail in basic terms like familiar puzzling drives do.

Answer 3

Try rebooting the pc.