Nearly new external hard drive - when connected box displays "USB Device Not Recognised"?

Question

Hi

I bought a SUMO 360gb external drive a few weeks back. It was working fine until this morning when I started my computer and a box appeared saying "USB device not recognised - one of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognise it". Nothing started this....it just stopped working. I've tried the trouble shooter and tried with 3 computers all with no success.
How can I fix this....the drive has all my photos and music on and I have no back ups!
Thanks

Luke

Answer 1

This is a fairly common problem with external hard drives. The most common reason is that there is a problem with the driver. The simplest way to solve it is to let the OS update the driver before you start doing anything fancy. go to Start>control panel>System. Then on Hardware tab>Device manager. Go to USB controllers. Find your external HD and right click then uninstall. If you then restart your PC the OS will recognise it and get a driver for it. With luck you should be OK

Answer 2

If, as you said, it's failed to work on 3 different PCs, then most likely this is a hardware problem, not an issue with your drivers.

This many actually be good news, in a sense, as the error doesn't indicate a drive failure so your data is probably okay; rather it indicates a failure of the drive enclosure or its USB interface. You may be able to access it just fine if you purchase a different external drive enclosure and move the hard drive from the SUMO enclosure to the new one.

Are you the original purchaser of the item? If so, then you can also expect some support from the manufacturer, even if it's just in sending a replacement enclosure.

Answer 3

Are you saying that you have connected your external hard drive to 3 other computers and all 3 computers failed to read the hard drive? If so then in all likelihood the problem lies with the hard drive and not with the computer. If you had connected the external hard drive to another computer and that computer was able to read the hard drive then I would say the problem is likely to be an incompatible device driver on the first computer.

Here are some things you can try (in this order) before calling Samsung:

1. First, disconnect your external hard drive from your computer. On your computer, using system restore to restore your computer to a state before the problem appeared. From the Start Menu > Help and Support > Undo changes to your computer with system restore > Restore my computer to an earlier time > choose a date before the problem appeared > click [Next] > Restart. After the restore, log on to Windows normally. Next, connect your external hard drive to your computer via USB port. Does it recognize it now?

2. Again, disconnect your hard drive from your computer. Your external hard drive should have come with a CD with all the necessary software to use the hard drive. In Windows, insert the CD in to your optical drive and run it. In the main menu, choose to install the software. Restart your computer. Try to connect your external hard drive again and see if your computer recognizes it. Did it fix the problem?

3. Check to make sure the Windows Service "Plug and Play" is running. From the Start Menu > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services > scroll down until you see "Plug and Play" > check to make sure it reads "Started" and "Automatic." If not, right click it and select "Properties" > select "Start" and "Automatic."

If these items don't work then you need to contact Samsung. The hard drive probably still under warranty. My guess is that there is some mechnical damage to your hard drive. If that is the case, you will need a hardware specialist to remove the hard drive's platter and retrieve the files. Hard drives are like phonographs (i.e. record players). Each hard drive has a platter which spins and a mechnical arm which reads the platter as it is spinning. Usually, when you turn off the computer, the hard drive "spins down" but in rare circumstances, when the power is abruptly turned off, the mechnical arm drops on to the platter damaging it. Another possibility is that USB cable which connects the hard drive to the computer is damaged. This is easier to fix but still requires you to return it to Samsung to have it replaced.

Answer 4

As you have tried it on several different computers it sounds like its stuffed.

Its either the drive that has failed or it could be the USB interface on the device.

Most of these things are just SATA or IDE drives in a caddy.

You could try getting another caddy, or try plugging the drive directly into your PC via the IDE/SATA interface, but you need to know a bit about the internal workings to get that right.

Answer 5

Well, it's either the external hard drive or your computer. Now it may be a very old version of 2.0 and vista is just saying its not 2.0. I would recommend that you update through your computer each port. That would probably do it. I am very sorry but I do not know where to go to do that. I have never used vista before. Hope that helps.

Answer 6

Reinstall it - Windows does that all the time and I'm still using windows 98se - I think they have spyware built-in that lets Microsoft home base know what's happening inside the computer on a routine basis, if one is connected to the internet, that is.

Some error messages appear for me and I ignore them because the device works okay just as I want it to - maybe it doesn't work as Microsoft wants it to, but hey, it's my computer, not theirs.

Answer 7

Try uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers if you can. Did you check the plug itself to make sure its not loose or damaged?

Good luck~

Answer 8

Have you tried updating your USB drivers. I had the same thing happen to me and that worked for me.

Answer 9

yep, same thing happened to me. external hard drives aren't perfect. You will have to find some help from an expert.