external hard drive not showing in My Computer

glicky

kwikbreaks wrote: »

You keep talking about the USB port being OK. As has been mentioned before you need two ports one for each connector on the double end of the cable then the single end of the cable goes to the drive. You may well be doing that but your replies don't make that 100% clear.

They can sometimes work with a single port with a standard cable but they are pushing the power rating of a single port to the limits which is why they come with the special cable.

Thanks for your reply. Sorry if I'm not so clear.

I did do what you stated above, but it made no difference. I have tried everything. It's plugged in at the moment (how you state above) and the icon on the taskbar (r/h side) says safely remove hardware, which obviously shows it's connecting, but absolutely nothing in My Computer or in Disc Management.

kwikbreaks

Have you a different machine you could try it (them) in?

The difference between these drives and other USB kit is the high current that they draw. I'm wondering if the problem is with your machine failing to deliver the required current for some reason. If that were so the PC may "see" the drive controller but maybe the disk isn't spinning up - can you hear it start up when you plug it in?

glicky

kwikbreaks wrote: »

Have you a different machine you could try it (them) in?

The difference between these drives and other USB kit is the high current that they draw. I'm wondering if the problem is with your machine failing to deliver the required current for some reason. If that were so the PC may "see" the drive controller but maybe the disk isn't spinning up - can you hear it start up when you plug it in?

Yes I can hear it whirring when plugged in and when I touch it, I can feel that it's working because of a slight vibration.

It's driving me crazy. :mad: I appreciate your advice, thank you.

busenbust

glicky wrote: »

Yes I can hear it whirring when plugged in and when I touch it, I can feel that it's working because of a slight vibration.

It's driving me crazy. :mad: I appreciate your advice, thank you.

Ensure that you plug it direct into the usb port, not via a hub of any kind.

andy2004

just had a thought, could it be that somehow its disconnected inside the external case ??

it comes unformatted according to the site, have you formatted it,

note: about the other one, it may be the external case thats packed in, i would suggest getting a usb 3in1 adapter to test.
either this one no power, for a 2.5in laptop hdd you dont need power as its supplied by the usb. I have 2 of these. note: to power a 3.5in you could use a PSU if u have 1 spare, providing it has on/off power switch. I've just order 2 of the 2nd links for a friend.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-USB-2-0-to-IDE-SATA-S-ATA-2-5-3-5-Adapter-Cable_W0QQitemZ260505754287QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item3ca75a5aaf

or with power
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/USB-TO-SATA-IDE-2-5-3-5-Hard-Drive-DVD-RW-Power-Adapter_W0QQitemZ280433557152QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item414b247ea0

c00kiemonster_2

I've got the same hd but the 60gig version. I had same probs as you at first with it not showing up in my comp, when the instructions said it was 'plug n play' when used with xp or vista.
I had to format mine before it was visible, and I only used 1 of the usb leads, both were not needed in my case.

Hope you manage to sort it if not contact ebuyer!

shevavironx

Also you could check that the connection on the motherboard header for the USB ports IF you are using front ones is connected properly. Have you tried using the back ports that are directly connected to the motherboard as they tend to be the best ones to try if other USB ports are causing trouble with USB devices not connecting. Have you also checked in Device Manager that all of your USB Ports are installed correctly seeing as this is the second portable hard drive you are having issues with?

Also I do find that in Windows XP you can try connecting and disconnecting a few times and it will then show up correctly in My Computer as a drive.

As previously stated by Anewhope could you find the drive listed at all in Device
Start>Settings>Control panel>Administrative Tools> Computer Managment and then Disk Management can you see the drive as unformatted or not assigned a drive letter/ Not initialised?

Cheers

Shevavironxx

£$&*"($£&(

I think Rikki has posted a probable solution above but the OP missed it.

kwikbreaks

The reviews just mention that the drive isn't formatted. If it isn't showing up in disk management either then how is he supposed to format it?

If it weren't for the fact that a prevously working drive is showing the same symptoms I'd say it's busted and should be returned but it sounds more like a problem with the computer itself which is why I asked about another machine being avaialable.