[puffindagreen]

hi,

recently i bought an 80 external HD. I am running windows XP, the day i bought it it worked fine, it showed up next tt C drive in my computer and everything...later that night i noticed that it wasn't there anymore...i have read dozens of forums trying to figure out what is wrong. i have checked the device manager and it says that all drives are working properly, but it doesn't even recognize that my HD is plugged in. I have also explored around administrative options, but it also does not even show up in there! I am not incredibly intelligent when it comes to comps...so any help that anyone could give me that would be easy to understand would be awesome...PLZ HELP

puffin


note: the HD came with an install disk, but nothing on it seems to work...

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I assume this is a USB ext hd?

Does the drive reappear after reboot? Turn off the computer and remove the drive. Turn on the computer, then plug it back in...does it reappear?

Is this a laptop?

If so, (and even if it's a desktop), Windows may be powering down the USB port to save energy.

Please repond with system specs...

[gerryf]

I assume this is a USB ext hd?

Does the drive reappear after reboot? Turn off the computer and remove the drive. Turn on the computer, then plug it back in...does it reappear?

Is this a laptop?

If so, (and even if it's a desktop), Windows may be powering down the USB port to save energy.

Please repond with system specs...

[puffindagreen]

wheni rebooted the comp and plugged the USB port back in it made the chime notifying that it was just plugged in...immedietly after the first chime came a second one and my F drive did not show up in my computer. My comp is a desktop with a pentium 4 processor CPU 2.53 GHz with 768 MB of ram. thx

[gerryf]

start > run
devmgmt.msc
<enter>

scroll down to universal serial bus controllers, and select each controller and hub you see, right click, and uninstall....when they are all gone, turn the PC off and remove the external drive.

Now boot the PC and windows will readd the USB devices. Plug the drive in. ANy difference?

[puffindagreen]

ok sweet..i got my comp to acknoledge that my HD is plugged in thru usb...but it still does not appear in computer management...and i'm not quite sure how to format it. so right now its still non functional


thx

[puffindagreen]

[bleep]...now the usb port is unrecognized

[gerryf]

what do you mean the USB port is unrecognized?

You could, quite possibly, have a defective drive or port....did you try different ports?

[puffindagreen]

yes i have tried different ports....umm i'm pretty sure that the drive is not the problem. when i try to use the install disk it says something like "this program will not work for x2000"

[puffindagreen]

uninstalling the USB ports worked for a minute...but now i'm getting no response

[gerryf]

windows xp should not need an install program for an external drive.

Turn off the PC, unplug the external drive. Turn on the PC. Open MY COMPUTER, plug in the external drive. Watch the window...anything happen?

Also, note the time

start > run, type
eventvwr.msc
<enter>

Look under systems and applications for items with red Xs that happened at the SAME time as your problem...list them here.[/code]