Member Avatar for arjunsasidharan

Hi all,

ive got a problem with my USB Harddisk. When i connect it to my desktop the hardware detector says that a new external device USB is found. But i can't find my USB drives? Its a 80GB Segate USB harddisk. You guys have any idea what the problem is?. Ive tried it on another desktop and it works fine. Don't know what the problem is? :S

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Dani AI

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The enclosure being detected on one PC but not mounted in Explorer usually means the USB interface is recognized but the volume is not being mounted by Windows on that machine (per ). As noted, Device Manager can show the USB interface while the actual disk/volume is not usable. As suggested, Disk Management is the right place to look — but there are a few deeper checks that often fix this after an OS reinstall.

Compare the working and non-working PCs in Device Manager: expand Disk Drives and USB controllers, open the enclosure properties, and look at Details -> Hardware Ids and Driver files. If the failing PC has a generic or missing driver, install the motherboard/chipset or vendor enclosure driver from the manufacturer. In Device Manager use View -> Show hidden devices to remove stale USB Mass Storage entries, then reconnect so Windows redetects the device. Check Event Viewer (System) for disk/usbstor errors when the drive is plugged in.

In Disk Management, if the disk appears but is Offline, Unknown, or Foreign, avoid initializing or formatting if data is required. Use Online or Import Foreign Disks for dynamic disks, or assign a drive letter. If immediate access is required, attach the enclosure to the known-good PC and copy data before attempting fixes.

A quick diskpart workflow to view and assign a letter:

diskpart
list disk
select disk N    (replace N)
list volume
select volume M  (replace M)
assign letter=E

Do not run clean/format unless erasing the drive is intended.

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Member Avatar for TechTJ

Well if it shows up in the Device Mananger as USB Drive It dosent mean that it is Finding the Hardrive its jsut finding the Device. I had a similar problem with my Hardrive and i changed out the USB Cable and it worked. You have windows xp right? And what hardrive casing are you using?


TJ

Member Avatar for arjunsasidharan

Hi TJ, im using Windows XP. This problem occurred when i had to reinstall my OS.. It was working fine untill my OS crashed.

Don't remember the Casing. Will let you know in a short while. I plugged it onto another desktop and its working fine. Maybe i have to rename the Drives and try it out?

Member Avatar for TechTJ

I see
You may want to run the "Add Hardware" because it may not reconize what type of hardrive it is and so it wont install it. So try that. You could try to rename the drives but dont rename C: leave that as your Main Drive.

Well let me know about that crash
TJ

Member Avatar for Member #119018

IS the drive formatted? Is there a drive letter conflict? Check the Local Disk Management tool in the Computer Management console.

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