External Hard Drive Not Detected

[CosmicSuperstar]

As far as my understanding goes, the issue is not a hardware issue. Most likely, it is a Windows 7 command setting/update, driver or firmware issue. It was working fine about a month or so ago. Could it because of installation of windows tweaking softwares like Uniblue Power Suite, Driver Genius Pro, TuneUp Utilities?? Maybe any of these programs might have put the USB Port into power saving mode? But I have already unchecked the Power saving modes of all the USB ports.

I don't wanna do a System Restore coz I don't think it will solve the problem. Any idea? I think half the globe has the same problem so it has to be a Windows 7 problem.

 

[CosmicSuperstar]

I have already gone thru that Seagate troubleshooting page but it doesn't throw any light on my particular problem. Points to be noted are:

1. The drive was being detected earlier. I last used it around a month ago.

2. The LED light on the Drive is in a Solid ON state, meaning the Drive is alive but idle. Earlier the LED used to flicker when in active use or during data transfer.

3. USB Ports are working fine as other devices plugged in are working fine.

4. Windows shows all drivers as Up To Date.

The possible causes of the problem that I can think of are :

1. that somehow the Drive is not getting enough power to work, and maybe some software program may have put the USB ports in some kind of power saving mode, which I am not able to undo now.

2. Some Drivers or firmware have been damaged by some Windows tweaking programs like the Uniblue Powersuite, Driver Genious Pro or TuneUP Utilities etc.

3. Some Windows Update during the last one month or so is the culprit.

Hope somebody comes up with a solution soon.

 

[marsmimar]

The possible causes of the problem that I can think of are :

1. that somehow the Drive is not getting enough power to work, and maybe some software program may have put the USB ports in some kind of power saving mode, which I am not able to undo now.

2. Some Drivers or firmware have been damaged by some Windows tweaking programs like the Uniblue Powersuite, Driver Genious Pro or TuneUP Utilities etc.

3. Some Windows Update during the last one month or so is the culprit.

1. If it's a power issue you might find the cause by running the Power Efficiency Diagnostic report

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/4569-power-efficiency-diagnostics-report.html

2. Is it possible for 3rd party tune-up utilities to bork Windows 7? Yes.

3. If it was a Windows Update you could always uninstall all of them going back to when the Seagate was working properly. Then reinstall them one at a time checking to see if the drive stops working.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/24373-windows-update-uninstall-update.html

Have you tried using the Seagate with an entirely different computer to see if it works? I re-read your posts but I could have missed this bit of info. Reason I ask is I had an external WD drive that I used to image my laptop every week. I'd unplug after the image was made. One week nothing happened. The drive just quit working with no advance warning and no apparent reason.

 

[CosmicSuperstar]

Ok. I have the Power Efficiency Diagnostic report....now what to do with it? It is too long to be captured in one screenshot. I read the report and didn't find anything that would give away the cause of my problem.

Should the external drive show in the BIOS page? I went into BIOS but could not find the External drive anywhere. The BIOS was updated on 30/3/2011 by Dell.....is that the culprit??

I will check the drive by connecting it to a different computer & revert back, but if the LED Light is ON in the drive, doesn't it mean that the drive is alive?

 

[marsmimar]

Ok. I have the Power Efficiency Diagnostic report....now what to do with it? It is too long to be captured in one screenshot. I read the report and didn't find anything that would give away the cause of my problem.

Should the external drive show in the BIOS page? I went into BIOS but could not find the External drive anywhere. The BIOS was updated on 30/3/2011 by Dell.....is that the culprit??

I will check the drive by connecting it to a different computer & revert back, but if the LED Light is ON in the drive, doesn't it mean that the drive is alive?

The PED Report has 3 problem categories - error, warning and information. If a problem is classified as an error it affects power consumption by 15% or more and will appear in a section with a red (or pink) background. This could include a USB device that is receiving power but not communicating with the computer. This could also explain why the power LED is lit but the drive could be dead.

A warning is similar to error but power consumption is less than 15% and will appear in a yellow section. Again, a USB device can be drawing power but not working.

Informational data will have a white background and summarize the system components that were tested. If nothing under error or warning jumped out at you it probably wasn't detected.

As to whether or not the external drive will show in the BIOS, I don't know. I would guess it depends on how the BIOS was set up. I checked the BIOS on my laptop and it doesn't show anything about having an external USB hard drive plugged in or anything that can be changed that would affect how it works (or not works.)

Please understand that I'm just an average computer user and my suggestions and thoughts are not all encompassing. If I've learned one thing about computers it's to expect the unexpected.

 

[CosmicSuperstar]

Hi again, Marsmimar. I really appreciate the time & effort u are putting in finding a solution to my problem. I'm copy pasting the full report (in parts), so you can have a look at it yourself:

<H2>Power Efficiency Diagnostics Report</H2>Computer NameSUPERSTAR-PCScan Time2011-05-16T11:41:53ZScan Duration60 seconds System ManufacturerDell Inc.System Product NameStudio 1558BIOS Date03/30/2011BIOS VersionA12OS Build7601Platform RolePlatformRoleMobilePlugged IntrueProcess Count93Thread Count1395Report GUID{2fa8c4ef-2515-45ec-b00a-f00777ce10d5} <H3>Analysis Results

Errors

Power Policy:USB Selective Suspend is disabled (On Battery)
The current power policy has globally disabled USB selective suspend.



Power Policy:Sleep timeout is disabled (Plugged In)
The computer is not configured to automatically sleep after a period of inactivity.



Power Policy:USB Selective Suspend is disabled (Plugged In)
The current power policy has globally disabled USB selective suspend.



USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.
Device NameUSB Root HubHost Controller IDPCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3B34Host Controller LocationPCI bus 0, device 29, function 0Device IDUSB\VID_8086&PID_3B34Port Path


USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.
Device NameUSB Root HubHost Controller IDPCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3B3CHost Controller LocationPCI bus 0, device 26, function 0Device IDUSB\VID_8086&PID_3B3CPort Path


USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.
Device NameGeneric USB HubHost Controller IDPCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3B3CHost Controller LocationPCI bus 0, device 26, function 0Device IDUSB\VID_8087&PID_0020Port Path1


USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.
Device NameGeneric USB HubHost Controller IDPCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3B34Host Controller LocationPCI bus 0, device 29, function 0Device IDUSB\VID_8087&PID_0020Port Path1


CPU Utilizationrocessor utilization is high
The average processor utilization during the trace was high. The system will consume less power when the average processor utilization is very low. Review processor utilization for individual processes to determine which applications and services contribute the most to total processor utilization.
Average Utilization (%)22.17


</H3>

 

[CosmicSuperstar]

Warnings

Platform Timer Resolutionlatform Timer Resolution
The default platform timer resolution is 15.6ms (15625000ns) and should be used whenever the system is idle. If the timer resolution is increased, processor power management technologies may not be effective. The timer resolution may be increased due to multimedia playback or graphical animations.
Current Timer Resolution (100ns units)100000Maximum Timer Period (100ns units)156001


Platform Timer Resolution:Outstanding Timer Request
A program or service has requested a timer resolution smaller than the platform maximum timer resolution.
Requested Period100000Requesting Process ID5972Requesting Process Path\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe


Power Policy:Sleep timeout is long (On Battery)
The computer is configured to automatically sleep after longer than 30 minutes.
Timeout (seconds)2700


Power Policyisplay timeout is long (Plugged In)
The display is configured to turn off after longer than 10 minutes.
Timeout (seconds)900


Power Policy:802.11 Radio Power Policy is Maximum Performance (Plugged In)
The current power policy for 802.11-compatible wireless network adapters is not configured to use low-power modes.



CPU Utilization:Individual process with significant processor utilization.
This process is responsible for a significant portion of the total processor utilization recorded during the trace.
Process Namesump.exePID4676Average Utilization (%)7.05Module Average Module Utilization (%) \SystemRoot\system32\ntoskrnl.exe3.952.01\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\SysWOW64\ntdll.dll0.32


CPU Utilization:Individual process with significant processor utilization.
This process is responsible for a significant portion of the total processor utilization recorded during the trace.
Process Namepowersuite.exePID2376Average Utilization (%)4.72Module Average Module Utilization (%) 2.49\SystemRoot\system32\ntoskrnl.exe0.84\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\winsxs\x86_microsoft.vc90.crt_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_9.0.30729.5570_none_509463cabcb6ef2a\msvcr90.dll0.33


CPU Utilization:Individual process with significant processor utilization.
This process is responsible for a significant portion of the total processor utilization recorded during the trace.
Process Namesidebar.exePID2160Average Utilization (%)3.03Module Average Module Utilization (%) \Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft.windows.gdiplus_6595b64144ccf1df_1.1.7601.17514_none_2b24536c71ed437a\GdiPlus.dll0.54\SystemRoot\system32\ntoskrnl.exe0.51\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\mshtml.dll0.41


CPU Utilization:Individual process with significant processor utilization.
This process is responsible for a significant portion of the total processor utilization recorded during the trace.
Process NameMobileBroadband.exePID3316Average Utilization (%)1.79Module Average Module Utilization (%) \SystemRoot\System32\win32k.sys1.68\SystemRoot\system32\ntoskrnl.exe0.07\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\mscorwks.dll0.00


CPU Utilization:Individual process with significant processor utilization.
This process is responsible for a significant portion of the total processor utilization recorded during the trace.
Process Nameiexplore.exePID7308Average Utilization (%)0.72Module Average Module Utilization (%) \SystemRoot\system32\ntoskrnl.exe0.19\SystemRoot\System32\win32k.sys0.12\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\SysWOW64\user32.dll0.07


CPU Utilization:Individual process with significant processor utilization.
This process is responsible for a significant portion of the total processor utilization recorded during the trace.
Process Nameiexplore.exePID12232Average Utilization (%)0.50Module Average Module Utilization (%) \SystemRoot\System32\win32k.sys0.18\SystemRoot\system32\ntoskrnl.exe0.09\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\SysWOW64\mshtml.dll0.05


CPU Utilization:Individual process with significant processor utilization.
This process is responsible for a significant portion of the total processor utilization recorded during the trace.
Process Nameiexplore.exePID5972Average Utilization (%)0.47Module Average Module Utilization (%) \SystemRoot\system32\ntoskrnl.exe0.13\SystemRoot\System32\win32k.sys0.05\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\SysWOW64\jscript9.dll0.04


CPU Utilization:Individual process with significant processor utilization.
This process is responsible for a significant portion of the total processor utilization recorded during the trace.
Process Nameavp.exePID1176Average Utilization (%)0.44Module Average Module Utilization (%) \SystemRoot\system32\ntoskrnl.exe0.11\SystemRoot\System32\win32k.sys0.09\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Program Files (x86)\Kaspersky Lab\Kaspersky Internet Security 2011\basegui.ppl0.04


CPU Utilization:Individual process with significant processor utilization.
This process is responsible for a significant portion of the total processor utilization recorded during the trace.
Process Nameavp.exePID2040Average Utilization (%)0.32Module Average Module Utilization (%) \SystemRoot\system32\ntoskrnl.exe0.11\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Program Files (x86)\Kaspersky Lab\Kaspersky Internet Security 2011\ichecker.dll0.03\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\SysWOW64\ntdll.dll0.02


CPU Utilization:Individual process with significant processor utilization.
This process is responsible for a significant portion of the total processor utilization recorded during the trace.
Process NameSystemPID4Average Utilization (%)0.31Module Average Module Utilization (%) \SystemRoot\system32\ntoskrnl.exe0.16\SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\bcmwl564.sys0.08\SystemRoot\system32\hal.dll0.01


CPU Utilization:Individual process with significant processor utilization.
This process is responsible for a significant portion of the total processor utilization recorded during the trace.
Process NameRoxioBurnLauncher.exePID3104Average Utilization (%)0.30Module Average Module Utilization (%) \SystemRoot\system32\ntoskrnl.exe0.15\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\SysWOW64\ntdll.dll0.05\SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\klif.sys0.03


CPU Utilization:Individual process with significant processor utilization.
This process is responsible for a significant portion of the total processor utilization recorded during the trace.
Process Namedwm.exePID2588Average Utilization (%)0.27Module Average Module Utilization (%) \Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\dwmcore.dll0.11\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\atidxx64.dll0.05\SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\atikmdag.sys0.01


CPU Utilization:Individual process with significant processor utilization.
This process is responsible for a significant portion of the total processor utilization recorded during the trace.
Process Namecsrss.exePID592Average Utilization (%)0.25Module Average Module Utilization (%) \SystemRoot\System32\win32k.sys0.21\SystemRoot\system32\ntoskrnl.exe0.02\SystemRoot\system32\hal.dll0.00


CPU Utilization:Individual process with significant processor utilization.
This process is responsible for a significant portion of the total processor utilization recorded during the trace.
Process Nameiexplore.exePID7104Average Utilization (%)0.23Module Average Module Utilization (%) \Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\Flash10q.ocx0.08\SystemRoot\system32\ntoskrnl.exe0.05\SystemRoot\System32\win32k.sys0.02

 

[CosmicSuperstar]

Information

Platform Timer Resolution:Timer Request Stack
The stack of modules responsible for the lowest platform timer setting in this process.
Requested Period40000Requesting Process ID5972Requesting Process Path\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exeCalling Module Stack \Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\ntdll.dll\SystemRoot\system32\ntoskrnl.exe\SystemRoot\System32\win32k.sys\SystemRoot\system32\ntoskrnl.exe\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\wow64win.dll\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\wow64.dll\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\wow64cpu.dll\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\wow64.dll\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\ntdll.dll\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\SysWOW64\ntdll.dll\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\SysWOW64\winmm.dll\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\SysWOW64\mshtml.dll\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\SysWOW64\user32.dll\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\SysWOW64\ntdll.dll


Power Policy:Active Power Plan
The current power plan in use
Plan Name OEM Balanced Plan GUID{381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e}


Power Policyower Plan Personality (On Battery)
The personality of the current power plan when the system is on battery power.
PersonalityBalanced


Power Policy:Video Quality (On Battery)
Enables Windows Media Player to optimize for quality or power savings when playing video.
Quality ModeBalance Video Quality and Power Savings


Power Policyower Plan Personality (Plugged In)
The personality of the current power plan when the system is plugged in.
PersonalityBalanced


Power Policy:Video quality (Plugged In)
Enables Windows Media Player to optimize for quality or power savings when playing video.
Quality ModeOptimize for Video Quality


System Availability Requests:Analysis Success
Analysis was successful. No energy efficiency problems were found. No information was returned.



Battery:Analysis Success
Analysis was successful. No energy efficiency problems were found. No information was returned.



Platform Power Management Capabilities:Supported Sleep States
Sleep states allow the computer to enter low-power modes after a period of inactivity. The S3 sleep state is the default sleep state for Windows platforms. The S3 sleep state consumes only enough power to preserve memory contents and allow the computer to resume working quickly. Very few platforms support the S1 or S2 Sleep states.
S1 Sleep SupportedfalseS2 Sleep SupportedfalseS3 Sleep SupportedtrueS4 Sleep Supportedtrue


Platform Power Management Capabilities:Adaptive Display Brightness is supported.
This computer enables Windows to automatically control the brightness of the integrated display.



Platform Power Management Capabilitiesrocessor Power Management Capabilities
Effective processor power management enables the computer to automatically balance performance and energy consumption.
Group0Index0Idle (C) State Count3Performance (P) State Count11Throttle (T) State Count8


Platform Power Management Capabilitiesrocessor Power Management Capabilities
Effective processor power management enables the computer to automatically balance performance and energy consumption.
Group0Index1Idle (C) State Count3Performance (P) State Count11Throttle (T) State Count8


Platform Power Management Capabilitiesrocessor Power Management Capabilities
Effective processor power management enables the computer to automatically balance performance and energy consumption.
Group0Index2Idle (C) State Count3Performance (P) State Count11Throttle (T) State Count8


Platform Power Management Capabilitiesrocessor Power Management Capabilities
Effective processor power management enables the computer to automatically balance performance and energy consumption.
Group0Index3Idle (C) State Count3Performance (P) State Count11Throttle (T) State Count8

 

[CosmicSuperstar]

Let me just add, that at the time of running the above Test, my laptop was running on AC power. I normally use my laptop as a desktop only so I remove the battery for saving battery life.

Hope the above Power report can shed some light on my problem.

Cheers!

 

[marsmimar]

Sorry for the delay in responding. I looked over the diagnostic report but didn't see anything that might be contributing to the problem. Did you have a chance to try the external Seagate on a different machine?

 

[CosmicSuperstar]

Not yet. Will revert as soon as I check the hard drive on another machine. On the face of it, everything looks Ok with the drive....I didn't touch it since the last time it worked. But will check again to make sure.

 

[CosmicSuperstar]

Hi again, Marsmimar.......checked the External Seagate 320 GB Sata hard drive (actually it was an internal drive in my laptop, which I changed to external after putting it in a Case) on two different desktop computers, and they also failed to detect it. But the LED Light on the drive was still turned ON, which means it is receiving power. So does this mean that the problem is with the drive? So what to do now to get my drive to work?

 

[marsmimar]

I think I'd try a different enclosure/casing. (I've seen them for about $10.)

Newegg.com - 2.5 enclosure

If that doesn't fix the problem it could very well be a drive problem. Can you put the drive back into the laptop (or a laptop) to see if it will be recognized that way?

 

[CosmicSuperstar]

Looks like we're finally making some progress. The drive is Seagate Momentus 7200.4 320GB Firmware 0004SDM1. I opened the casing (just the top cover), did some replugging and tried to connect it to my laptop (with the casing top cover open). Voila! The laptop recognized the drive and installed the necessary drivers automatically. But now the external hard disc is showing as "Removable Disk (E". But it is not showing the used capacity or free capacity at all. On double-clicking the drive, it does not open but shows a message, "please insert a disk into Removable Disk (E".......now what does this mean?

When I right-click on "Removable Disk (E" to see Properties....it shows used space as 0 bytes, free space as 0 bytes and capacity as 0 bytes. In Properties, when I choose Hardware option, it shows up as a "Generic External USB Device" and not by name of Seagate. My other (internal Hard drive) shows up with its brand name, Toshiba.

Now what to do to see the contents of my Seagate Hard Drive?

 

[CosmicSuperstar]

Those are not smilies, those are (E: )

 

[CosmicSuperstar]

Also, when I go to Tools, after Properties....there is an option for checking the drive for errors with a Windows button, "CHECK NOW".....But when I click on that button, a message shows up saying "The disk check could not be performed because Windows can't access the disk".

Now that's what the problem is....Windows can't access the disk! So how to make Windows access the disk?

 

[marsmimar]

Go into Disk Managment again and see if it's detecting the repaired drive. If it is, right click on the drive partition and select Change Drive Letter and Paths. Change the drive letter to maybe X, or Z (something that isn't already being used by another drive.) See if that allows you to see the contents and allows Windows to access the disk.

"There Is No Disk in the Drive. Please Insert a Disk into Drive \Device\harddisk\Dr1" Error Message When You Start Your Computer

 

[CosmicSuperstar]

Changed the name to K: nothing happened, still can't open. The disk Management page shows the disc as with "no media". So what next?

 

[marsmimar]

Everything you've done up to this point keeps leading me to believe there's some kind of problem with the drive itself.

The error No Media indicates that the hard disk could have gone bad. I suggest that you check if the hard disk is detected on a different Windows 7 computer or a Windows XP computer.

If it is not detected, I suggest that you contact the Manufacturer as it could be a hardware issue.

Thanks,
Irfan H, Microsoft Answers Support Engineer.

Source

Please forgive me if we already talked about using Seatools (a diagnostic program from Seagate that might shed some light on this.) My one remaining brain cell sometimes loses track of where it's been and where it's going.

SeaTools for Windows | Seagate

 

[CosmicSuperstar]

Your brain cells are working fine, Marsmimar. Using Seatools now was the next logical thing to do. I ran the Seatools utility and the disc is showing up as "Generic External" with serial number as USB 1394. All the "Basic Tests" in the menu options of Seatools were UNAVAILABLE for this drive except the Short & Long Generic Tests. After running the Short Generic Test, I get the message "Short Generic - Fail". And when I run the Long Generic Test, it flashes like more than 200 errors, and then finally says "Long Generic - Fail". I go to the "Advanced Test" options and only the third and final option of "USB Erase Tracks" is available. I try both the Basic & Full Disk erase options in this and I get the result: "USB Erase Boot Sectors - Fail" & "USB Full Disc Erase-Fail".

So what I can understand from all this is that even Seatools is not able to access the data on my Seagate Hard disk. Now what could be the reason & and how to make the data visible???

Could it be the fault of the Casing again? Am I likely to see the data on my disk after putting it inside a New Case?