External Hard Drive Help Please?

Question

I have a 500gb hard drive connected to my computer, all working until I just turned on my computer, and my computer just does not "see" it.

I have checked the USB plug and its not come loose and I have restarted my computer and it is still the same.

I have a shortcut on my desktop and when I click it it just says problem with shortcut.

I have been into device manager and the hard drive is not there on the list either

Any help is greatly appreciated

Answer 1

Has the hard drive been pre-formatted. Some come like this then they just plug and go, no problems. Some do not so will require formatting through device manager (if it can see it). I had a problem with an ICY-BOX drive, never worked on my PC but fine on the one at work. Go figure! returned and bought a different make and no probs.

Answer 2

did you turn the external drive's power on?

Answer 3

is it present in my computer if not do a system restore to about a week ago

Answer 4

Try moving the HDD into another USB socket. If that fails try taking out the printer temporarily just to see if the HDD is working at all. There could be a problenm with your mobo due to the amount of peripherals your using.

You could try looking on the companys website to see if any windows patches are needed?  

Answer 5

Hi paul, does the drive come with any software, presumable installation Cd. Not all External drives are "plug and go"

EDIT: ok, is there a light on the external hard drive by any chance, if so does it light up. (If you haven't got a light turn it on and hear if the drive makes any noise)

if not the plug might have been fused. Just replace the fuse and see what happens

EDIT 2: do you have another computer/laptop. If so try the Hard Drive on them and see if it gets recognised.