Windows 7: Laptop will not recognise external HD

Hi everyone,

I am using a SAMSUNG NP-S3510-A03 laptop. The problems I have had with this laptop are unreal, I wouldn't recommend anyone to buy it.

Anyway, my current problem is that the laptop will not read my external HD that it was previsouly reading fine before.

I recently got a whole bunch of important files on the external HD to transfer to the laptop. While it was transferring the files, the transfer window crashed. I ended the task and went to try again but the external HD would no longer show up in My Computer. I tried restarting, no joy. I then tried plugging the external HD into all 3 USB ports, still no joy.

It won't even show up in Disk Management.



When I plug the external HD in, the light comes on so seems to be working fine. But I get no noise in Windows to say the device has been connected, no autorun, nothing. Its like it doesn't exist.

Any help you could give me would be gladly appreciated. I really need the files that are on it ASAP and cannot get the files from the original source anymore. I have not tried it on anyone elses PC/laptop yet and won't be able to for some time.

I thank you in advance.

you could try looking in your device manager, see if theres any (!'s) that show a driver or a device isnt working correctly. Could also try going to the manufacturers website (of the hard drive) and installing any sort of driver or software that they offer, might be able to force the computer to cooperate that way :P

Also, the USB cord might be shot? could be letting power to the HDD but not data you know? try wiggling it or using a different cable, (that is if the thing has a removable cable)

Sorry, I forgot to mention that it does not show up in Device Manager at all wither when I plug it in or out.

Just checked online at the WD suport section. Th eonly thing they have avilable to download for this model is a Quick Formatter.

Also, any ideas as to why this has happened? Just a general error or is it more serious? I hope the stuff hasn't been wiped...

Well i guess the ultimate test would to be stick it into another computer, then you know a couple things; 1 the thing still works, and 2 you still have your data, and 3 its your computer to blame.

The reason for the crash, could be anything and probably nothing serious. Also could be like a little powe surge or something, or the cable got tugged,who knows.

Does your device manager say anything at all about usb ports and if they are working correctly?

Okay look at the post below this...

Thanks for your advice.

Actualy, there is an 'Unknown Device' with a yellow ! next to it in the USB section of Device Manager. But that has been there for a long time, way before this problem started. So I dunno if its related? (tried updating the drivers for the 'Unkown Device' as well as uninstalling it but to no avail)

Is there any way to fix this without trying it on someone elses computer? I wont be able to get to anyone for a few days. And kinda need to try and solve this now :/

Yeah, I was snooping around with the CMD options but a but unsure myself. I think I got the HD to atleast show up, through CMD, but didn;t know what to do next to fix it lol

Okay i found this little guide using the CMD like, i originally posted that i know of, and just didnt remember how to do. Be careful when doing this as to not type in the wrong thigs but it should be fairly straight forward.

Re: Western Digital External Harddrive problem SOLVED

click on start - type cmd - do not press enter.
right click on the command window icon and choose 'run as Adminstrator'
in command, type diskpart. When diskpart has started, you can type help to access the commands and exit to leave. Be careful with this tool
type list disk - your disk should be listed. if it isn't then unplug the [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]usb [COLOR=blue !important]connector[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] and then reconnect it and then type rescan.
When you can see your disk and assuming it is listed as disk 8
type select disk 8
then type list volume.
you should now be able to see a list of volumes. Note which volume is the one that is the same size as the disk that you want to view/mount and note its number. for instance, the volume that you want is volume 7.
type select volume 7 (make sure to change the number to the volume that you want).
This volume will be the one without a letter next to it like c: d: etc.
Type assign.
The volume should be assigned a drive letter. type exit. then type exit to leave the command window.
Your drive should now be available in windows explorer.

Dammit! Thought this was it there! Well you got me further than I got before.

I get as far as when I type in list volume.

After that, it shows all my other internal hard drives, including DVD, but does not display the external Hard Drive

Well, im guessing we need to focus on the (!), because its showing that theres a device noticed but not connected or having issues...

try clicking, start, devices and printers and right clicking and troubleshooting your machine.

try checking windows update for any sort of driver or sometihng. All i know is that windows never find the right drivers for things when i ask it to, at least in my expirience. try going to that (!) and uninstalling the driver for it, or even rolling back the drive if possible.

you could even try going to samsungs website and looking for drivers for your computer, like chipset drivers, etc. Idk i seen somewhre in some post when i searching for the CMD that there was some sort of setting in the BIOS that can affect this, idk i would probably resort to figuring that out last after everything else has failed :/

Thank you very much for you help this far

Well, I've tried fixing the Unknown Device problem before but to no avail. I troubleshooted it just now and, of course, Windows did detect the problem. But its still the same. I do not get the option to roll back the driver, attempting to update the driver says I have the latest version already and uninstalling it just gives me the option to reinstall it then the problem starts all over again.

I also have trouble with my webcam, it doesnt work anymore since I reformatted some months ago. I contacted Samsung about this and they sent my a link to a drivers update page. I updated and installed the latest chipset drivers from this page. It didn't fix my webcam problem. But thought maybe you should know incase its somehow related to all this.

I wonder why the external HD doesnt even show up in CMD? Maybe it is just a faulty cable? Sadly, its the only cable I have.