External HDD detected but doesn't show up in explorer

[zed7007]

I have a WD 500GB external hard disk. It had been working fine on any computer systems that I used it on, for more than 5 months and all of a sudden it is not shown in the My Computer window. But it is still detected and installed correctly on any system that I plugged it into.

Here is a screenshot of diskmgmt. It says the disk is unallocated.



Any ideas how to solve this problem?

P.S. I already tried rebooting in safe mode, and rebooting again in normal mode. It didn't help. Also I have read many posts with similar problems but they do not exactly match my problem scenario and weren't of any help either.

 

[patio]

I don't see a screenshot...
How is it reported in Disk Management ? ?
If it says RAW it's been unplugged prematurely too many times.

 

[xxxdannyxxx]

It will not show up in My Computer as its unallocated space. The question is, is there anything on that drive at present, if not then just create a partition and it will show up in My Computer - http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2674-partition-volume-create-new.html

However if there was/is data on that drive do nothing until you seek some further advice here.

Danny

 

[zed7007]

Its not a new one and there is a lot of important data on it. Guess I will have to wait.

 

[xxxdannyxxx]

Its not a new one and there is a lot of important data on it. Guess I will have to wait.

Ok if there is important data on that drive just hang on.I will ask for one of the experts in this area to drop in and have a look for you.

Danny

 

[TVeblen]

Check out this excellent suggestion from member jumanji in this thread:
http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware...e-showing-up-unallocated-disc-management.html

One of several excellent solutions found by using the search function in SevenForums!

 

[gregrocker]

Install free Partition Wizard to see if it detects the drive's partition instead of just unallocated space.

If so, rightclick on it to Check File System which can correct errors to restore the HD. If necessary assign a drive letter if the partition is missing it but do not create a new partition to do so.

If it shows as Unallocated Space in PW then click on HD to highlight it and from Wizards tab select Partition Recovery Wizard, have it scan the HD to see if it can recover it's partition intact, if so tick the box and Restore it.

If this fails post back a screenshot of PW. You may need to use Recuva to try to resurrect the data.

 

[zed7007]

Check out this excellent suggestion from member jumanji in this thread:
http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware...e-showing-up-unallocated-disc-management.html

One of several excellent solutions found by using the search function in SevenForums!

I tried jumanji 's procedure but it didn't work. Test disk did not detect any partitions on the HDD even after a long scan.

I tried to initialize the HDD in disk management but it gave me an error msg saying "media is write-protected".

What could be the reason for this problem? The HDD had been working fine for a long time.

Could this be due to a damaged USB cable?

 

[gregrocker]

Do not try to initialize the HD as it will destroy the data.

I gave you the steps to try to fix or recover the HD's partition or it's data.

 

[zed7007]

Do not try to initialize the HD as it will destroy the data.

I gave you the steps to try to fix or recover the HD's partition or it's data.

I tried the steps. PW detected the hard disk as a bad disk and when I right-click the HDD none of the options are available on the pop-up menu.

Here is the screenshot of PW:

 

[jumanji]

Test Disk did not find any partition.

Partition Wizard said bad disk and could not help.

OK, this is gonnabe a hard nut to crack.

You have to try various other data recovery software and check whether lady luck smiles on you, before pronouncing that your HDD has gone north.

I am only hoping that some wise men here who had actually tried some good and free data recovery software come up with their experience and suggestions.

You may start with EaseUS Partition Recovery 5.0.1 Free Partition Recovery Software - Recover Deleted FAT/NTFS/Ext2/Ext3 Partition.

I have just read one other OP stating that it could see the files on his HDD which had turned RAW, but the trial version could recover only 1 GB of data. Let us know how it goes in your case.

 

[zed7007]

Is there any better options if I do not want any data on the HDD?

 

[jumanji]

Did you try to access it with another OS?

http://www.sevenforums.com/software/198909-lucid-puppy-way-recover-files-non-bootable-computer.html

Do not give up easily.

Yes , you can try to initialise it and format it.

If Windows cannot do it you can try the HP USB Disk Storage Format tool HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool - v2.1.8 Download - EXTREME Overclocking

But all these only after you have exhausted all avenues of data recovery.

Wait for other expert's opinion on this.

 

[zed7007]

I will be grateful to anyone who can tell me what might be a possible cause for this problem?

 

[zed7007]

Did you try to access it with another OS?

http://www.sevenforums.com/software/198909-lucid-puppy-way-recover-files-non-bootable-computer.html

Do not give up easily.

Yes , you can try to initialise it and format it.

If Windows cannot do it you can try the HP USB Disk Storage Format tool HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool - v2.1.8 Download - EXTREME Overclocking

But all these only after you have exhausted all avenues of data recovery.

Wait for other expert's opinion on this.

I didn't try to access it with any other OS. Most of my friends have win7 so that's a difficult option. You have seen the condition of the HDD, do you think it's recoverable? How bad can a "BAD DISK" be?

..and is there any more options other than using recovery softwares?

 

[TVeblen]

If you initialize the disk, or format it, you will lose all data on the disk. Your first course of action should always be to back up or recover your data. Then work on reviving the drive.

Which brings us to an obvious question I haven't seen answered here: does the external drive work on another computer?

 

[zed7007]

If you initialize the disk, or format it, you will lose all data on the disk. Your first course of action should always be to back up or recover your data. Then work on reviving the drive.

Which brings us to an obvious question I haven't seen answered here: does the external drive work on another computer?

I have tried two other laptops both with win 7 32-bit. It didn't work. It got the same problem on both the laptops

 

[TVeblen]

Have you tried using a different data cable?

 

[zed7007]

Have you tried using a different data cable?

Thats a difficult option

 

[TVeblen]

Why is that?
You want to eliminate the possibilities that there is a electrical or connection problem with the external drive. That makes diagnosing the problem and solution easier.

If it is one of those newer drives with a 'special' data cable then if you contact the manufacturer they will normally send a new one out.

It would be good to know the brand and model number of the external drive. Is it a portable drive that gets it's power from the PC, or a desktop model that uses it's own power supply? The portable models have known power issues on some PCs.