WD External HD hangs up "loading disk configuration information...

I just did a fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate on my laptop due to many problems...one being that I couldn't open the external hd after I had unplugged it and replugged it in.

After the fresh install of Windows 7, when I open computer menu, it shows the external hd, but has no info about the storage space left on it like the other drives in computer menu, and the green bar at the top loads endlessly.

In Device Manager, it shows up and I updated the drive and it said I already had the latest driver.

When I tried to uninstall through Device Manager, once again, it gets hung up on the uninstall endlessly.

When I go to computer management and click on disk management, there is nothing in the menu, but at the bottom, it says "loading disk configuration information...." endlessly.

Is it because I have a 1.5 tb external hd that's nearly full, and it's just going to take a long time to configure?

Can someone please help me out...I can't lose the files on there.

Thanks for replying, I've been doing a fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate 64x with a less than legitimate copy.

I've been using this OS for the past few years, and have done quite a few fresh installs due to problems with my laptop.

I got a new motherboard that I got from HP about over a year ago, but they sent me a board that identifies my laptop as a Compaq, but everything seemed to work ok.

My internal hd finally died so I got a new 750 gb 7200rpm one about 6 months ago.

Ever since I replaced my internal hd, I've never been able to wake the computer from sleep.

Besides my external hd not opening, the computer crashed a lot, and I've had trouble with the compatibility of the graphics drivers from Nvidia.

After I did the fresh install, I've run across problems I've never encountered before:
1. System restore will run, but there's no menu for me to click on...I can see it running in task manager... anything that requires a restore point, like installing new apps, gets hung up because the system restore is endlessly loading. Also, it seems like it'll work when the laptop isn't hooked up to the HDTV via HDMI which I use as my monitor.
2. Can't access Windows Update at times.

I've already done numerous fresh installs due to one problem or another.

After the 3rd or 4th attempt at a fresh install, I finally got everything working okay - graphics driver finally installed correctly after I cleaned out my registry with CCleaner.

To save this point, I made an image of my laptop and stored it on drive D:, but as the image was finishing up, my laptop blue-screened, and I was back where I started.

I ran a chkdsk/f and there didn't seem to be any errors, and now I can access my system restore again.

But now the laptop will not shut down or restart on its own so I have to physically push the button to power down.

I'm afraid to do another fresh install as this is how I fried my original HP internal hd by doing numerous fresh installs right after another until it gave me a disk failure message which eventually lasted several months before giving out.

How harmful is it to do numerous fresh installs right after another?

I really don't think it's my Windows copy that's the problem.

This laptop has been problematic for me from day one.

It came with Vista and I had graphics drivers and update problems from the beginning causing my laptop to not restart on it's own.

I think the problems I'm having now are related to my external hd because I've been using my laptop with my external hd unplugged for about half a day now and it's been fine.

But that doesn't help me with the original problem with my external hd not opening up.

I left disk management and computer menu on for about an hour or two last night, and it didn't do anything.

Now, I can't even get to the "configuring..." message on the disk manager, it stays stuck on "connecting to virtual disk service."

Man, I can't afford to lose all the info on that external drive...my entire life's on it.

The external hd is about 2 years old, and I've never had a problem with it til now.

May be just coincidence, but I just recently moved (10 miles away)...I can't imagine that it got damaged during the move.

I fully endorse Dude's view. With a non-legitimate Windows install anything can happen and honestly we will be helpless to help you since we will be dealing with an unknown devil. (Dealing with the known devil (legitimate Windows) itself is a herculean job what with innumerable variables hardware as well as software in addition to the OS, not to speak of the unknown devil.)

Next, since you seem to have been consistently having problems with that laptop, why should you spend your lifetime seeking to set it right endlessly? It is hightime that you write it off and start thinking of getting a new one making life less perilous.:) .

As for data recovery, you may try recovering the data running a live Linux Pen drive - either Lucid Puppy or Peppermint or Mint Mate Linux all of which have a worksheet here.

https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...cy-backup.html by Golden

Lucid Puppy way to recover files from a non-bootable computer by jumanji

Emergency Kit - save your files from a dead OS by whs.

In all these you may be able to create a bootable pen drive using simple Rufus Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way ( the third one Mint Mate, I haven't tried with Rufus though)

Of course, you will need an external HDD with sufficient capacity for the backup but first check whether your HDD is accessible with the Live Linux pen drive.

Even with a new laptop/desktop, get into the habit of regularly backing up all your important data to another external drive which you will connect only for backups and not move it from your workbench.

Strain-free life and less doctors' fees in the long run. :)

I left the disk management run for 3 hours today and it never got past "connectinig virtual disk service..."

On the other hand, I hooked it up to a friend's Mac laptop, and it opened up...I didn't realize the WD Element external hd was compatible with Macs and Pc's.

So, i'm assuming it's my laptop, and I'm going to try and do another fresh install once I get a legitimate copy.

Thanks to everyone for replying.

Good going.