External hard drive not detected when connected to PC

[Jim101]

Hi, I joined these forums hoping specifically that I would find the solution to this issue with my computer and the hard drive.

I recently purchased an Iomega 1TB external hard drive to back up my files from my Laptop (Toshiba satellite) because it has been constantly showing hard drive failure warnings and messages telling me to back up my files. When I connected the hard drive the first time, it worked fine and I was able to access it, but didn't use it for anything at the time. The next time I used it, however, the usual "New device" sound didn't play and the hard drive didn't show up in the file browser. I then looked up the issue to find that it is a common problem where the device hasn't been assigned a drive letter. I went to the Disk Manager to fix the issue but the device was not in the list of connected devices. I have searched for the problem several times and have had no luck in finding the solution. The problem seems to be with my computer because it works fine on my brother's computer and has no issues.

Additionally, I have been having problems with Windows Update being stuck on "Downloading 0%" and have had to use the system restore several times when getting stuck on an update message on startup. I think that this may be the cause of the problem (and yes, I have turned on the hard drive).

Any help is appreciated, and I hope to get this issue resolved so I can back up my files.

 

[andreibutilca]

Hey Jim101.

Sounds like the USB ports are somehow unable to recognize the drive properly. I would suggest connecting a flash drive to the same USB port and see if it gets recognized properly. If it does, try plugging the external hdd again.

Have you tried different USB ports? Just a thought.

Let me know how it turns out.

 

[jumanji]

@jim101, I am not going to suggest any solutions to your Iomega external HDD right now. This can wait.

Since you have said your Toshiba Laptop HDD is indicating problems with its HDD and you bought the Iomega for backing up the data, that should be your first priority. So immediately beg, borrow, steal one external drive that works with your Toshiba lappie and back up all your data into it. Breath easy. ( Depending upon the volume of data, you may also consider writing it to DVD-DLs)

Whenever people cry that they lost their HDD and ask "How do I recover the important data in it? I can't live without it", the first thing that comes into my mind is why in the hell they didn't backup the data in the first instance. Yes, you should always have all your important data in two locations. Do it first before it is too late.

 

[Corazon]

Whenever people cry that they lost their HDD and ask "How do I recover the important data in it? I can't live without it", the first thing that comes into my mind is why in the hell they didn't backup the data in the first instance. Yes, you should always have all your important data in two locations. Do it first before it is too late.

You and me both, jumanji. You and me both.

 

[beemac]

Ok here is an inexpensive,quick to setup method that lets you use whatever drive you like, does not require any computer to be on to use, and is secure! Set mine up in about 45 minutes..

There are Network Attached Storag

e devices that convert your hard drive to an ethernet device. You can buy one, install your drive into the case and use FTP to directly access it from anywhere. No computer needs to be running the NAS has a "file server" built into the system.

 

[Corazon]

Interesting idea beemac, but I don't think that'll be of much help to the OP. Besides...your transfer speed will be limited by the Ethernet connection (even a gigabit connection will barely be able to keep up with HD speeds), FTP can be kinda inconvenient to use, and the NAS would be running 24/7...putting the HDs inside at more risk of wear or damage.

 

[Jim101]

Thanks to everyone who replied, I will try to answer any of the posts here.

andreibutilca: I have tried connecting it to each usb port on the laptop, but to no avail. It has the same problem in every port.

jumanji: Unfortunately the only hard drive that works with the laptop that I can get my hands on at the moment doesn't have enough space left on it for me to back up all of my data, but I have another working one available with even less space left on it which I could split the files with, would it work if I half backed up my files on each one then copied them back when I get the hard drive fixed/get a new hard drive? As for the DVD-DL suggestion, I'll try it if the "split the files" idea doesn't work out.

Corazon: Refer to the reply to jumanji.

beemac: I'm afraid I don't have a reliably fast connection to my network to use for copying all the files on my hard disk in any reasonable amount of time.

Thank you all again for replying, hopefully this problem can be fixed. I am currently trying to fix the problem with windows updates mentioned in the OP.

 

[Corazon]

Does the Iomega drive have its own power supply or is it USB-powered? It might simply not get enough juice to run...there are USB Y-cables for some external drives that plug into two of your USB ports together, so the drive gets double the current (500mA x 2, from each port).

 

[Jim101]

Does the Iomega drive have its own power supply or is it USB-powered? It might simply not get enough juice to run...there are USB Y-cables for some external drives that plug into two of your USB ports together, so the drive gets double the current (500mA x 2, from each port).

No, the hard drive has a separate plug that goes to the wall which powers it, and I know that it's running because the light is on and it makes a whirring noise.

 

[pinto]

I was having the same issue with my 5 yr old XP machine.. thus I now have a shiny new Win 7 64 setup... when my externals stopped responding, I powered down the PC, plugged in the external.. booted and I could access the external. Thankfully I did have everything backed up in several places anyway, just was trying to get a fresh pst file.

 

[rraod]

When you say your internal HDD is giving error messages that it is failing, You should replace it with another internal HDD (probably a bigger one) after cloning the partitions to the new HDD. I think this should be your first priority. Having any number of external HDDs will only protect your data but not the functionality of a healthy laptop.

 

[Leadhead]

I hate to resurrect a dead thread, however I did find a cause and solution to this problem, that worked for me at least. I had a 2tb HP external drive already on my system. My problems began when I purchased 2 more (identical) drives. I found after much deliberation that all the drives were showing in Disk Management, but not in explorer. In the lower portion of Disk Management, where it shows a visual representation of the drives, there appeared a tiny speech bubble under the Disk # (ie Disk 0, Disk 1 etc) along with the word "offline". Hovering over these told me (I forget the exact wording) something to the effect that there was a a collision in digital signatures. I realized that Windows was seeing them as the same drive and attempting to assign the same letter. So using a program called Zentimo (I think there is a free version) I changed the drive letter (H) of the old hard drive to (E) and that allowed me to bring the next disk "online". I then changed this drive letter (again it was assigned as (H)) to (I), allowing the last drive to come online. I changed this drive to (J) and the original back to (H). Then I set all the drive letters as "fixed", meaning that the drives will always be assigned the same letter. Hope this helps somebody.

 

[Jim101]

I hate to resurrect a dead thread, however I did find a cause and solution to this problem, that worked for me at least. I had a 2tb HP external drive already on my system. My problems began when I purchased 2 more (identical) drives. I found after much deliberation that all the drives were showing in Disk Management, but not in explorer. In the lower portion of Disk Management, where it shows a visual representation of the drives, there appeared a tiny speech bubble under the Disk # (ie Disk 0, Disk 1 etc) along with the word "offline". Hovering over these told me (I forget the exact wording) something to the effect that there was a a collision in digital signatures. I realized that Windows was seeing them as the same drive and attempting to assign the same letter. So using a program called Zentimo (I think there is a free version) I changed the drive letter (H) of the old hard drive to (E) and that allowed me to bring the next disk "online". I then changed this drive letter (again it was assigned as (H)) to (I), allowing the last drive to come online. I changed this drive to (J) and the original back to (H). Then I set all the drive letters as "fixed", meaning that the drives will always be assigned the same letter. Hope this helps somebody.

This will probably help somebody, but not me. My external hdd won't show up in the disk manager at all. I've given up on it now and am looking at getting a new one to back up my hard drive while I reinstall windows (to fix windows update, possibly fixing the old external too). Thanks for the (albeit a bit late) reply anyway.