External HDD won't start

My external HDD suddenly wont power up, there is a blue light on it though. I checked every possible solution like device manager, computer management, etc there is NO TRACE of my HDD appearing on windows. I tried all my USB Ports.

The HDD works on my laptop no problem, but not on my PC.

Strange thing is when I turned off my PC with the HDD plugged in, the HDD starts to power up 100%, then when I turn the PC on again, the HDD powers down?

I have seen a like post sometime ago and so made a quick search and found it. :)

That gives a little more information and so I need not ask those questions which I intended to ask otherwise.

Obviously you didn't get any resolution so far.

Now try this:

Download v 0.8.1 of the drivecleanup.zip from Drive Tools for Windows.

Unzip it to a folder, say drivecleanup.

You will have two folders Win32 and x64 each containing DriveCleanup.exe for 32 bit and 64 bit respectively.

Remove all USB storage devices from your system (except your Keyboard and mouse) and reboot.

Right click on the DriveCleanup.exe and run as administrator. (Use the *.exe file appropriate for your bit version of Windows.).

After the clean up act, reboot.

( When you plug in your USB devices after this cleanup these will be installed afresh. What you have done is to remove all non-present devices and drive letters associated with them and start with a clean slate. )

I can't say 100% it will resolve your problem but if it does thank God, I am here.:)

Even if it does not resolve your problem, it is a good practice to do this drive cleanup periodically to cleanup your system - be it a laptop or desktop - of non-present devices and drive letters locked to those preventing Windows seeing USB devices.

jumanji said:

I have seen a like post sometime ago and so made a quick search and found it. :)

That gives a little more information and so I need not ask those questions which I intended to ask otherwise.

Obviously you didn't get any resolution so far.

Now try this:

Download v 0.8.1 of the drivecleanup.zip from Drive Tools for Windows.

Unzip it to a folder, say drivecleanup.

You will have two folders Win32 and x64 each containing DriveCleanup.exe for 32 bit and 64 bit respectively.

Remove all USB storage devices from your system (except your Keyboard and mouse) and reboot.

Right click on the DriveCleanup.exe and run as administrator. (Use the *.exe file appropriate for your bit version of Windows.).

After the clean up act, reboot.

( When you plug in your USB devices after this cleanup these will be installed afresh. What you have done is to remove all non-present devices and drive letters associated with them and start with a clean slate. )

I can't say 100% it will resolve your problem but if it does thank God, I am here.:)

Even if it does not resolve your problem, it is a good practice to do this drive cleanup periodically to cleanup your system - be it a laptop or desktop - of non-present devices and drive letters locked to those preventing Windows seeing USB devices.

Thanks for the reply jumanji. That sounds good.

Before I start to use 'DriveCleanup.exe', I have already done a 100% clean install of Windows 7, but unfortunately the same problem exists. So I dont think it would make a difference if I use Drivercleanup.exe, but that was a good suggestion. Thanks

Yes, if you have already done a clean install - which you did not mention anywhere - your system may be clean and drive cleanup may not be necessary.

All the same run it once just to have a feel of it and can run it periodically.

I have no further ideas on the issue atleast for the moment and so let others to look into it.

( Have you installed the latest chipset drivers for your MB and done all Windows updates? That is all I can suggest.)