My computer cannot read my ext harddisk

• jasmine17

  22 Jan 08, 15:12

  when i plug in the ext harddisk via usb, the drive does not appear in my computer.
  
  but when i go control panel, system, device manager, it appears under harddrive.
  
  How to solve this problem
  
  OS: Win XP pro/ Vista home premium
• allentyb_v2.01

  22 Jan 08, 15:23

  Maybe something wrong with your USB cable, i have this problem also but somehow after a while, it will be able to read the portable hard disk already
• CyanSupra

  22 Jan 08, 15:36

  I'm not sure abt vista.
  But for xp , did u format the drive?
  
  Can u see ur drive in disk mangement?
• manyu882

  22 Jan 08, 16:54

  Originally posted by jasmine17:

  when i plug in the ext harddisk via usb, the drive does not appear in my computer.
  
  but when i go control panel, system, device manager, it appears under harddrive.
  
  How to solve this problem
  
  OS: Win XP pro/ Vista home premium

  the one u see in your device manager is the USB to IDE bridge for hard drive. even if you dont have hdd, but u plugin an empty case, it will still show there.
• thoreldan

  22 Jan 08, 19:09

  Originally posted by CyanSupra:

  I'm not sure abt vista.
  But for xp , did u format the drive?
  
  Can u see ur drive in disk mangement?

  yeah...pls check in disk management
  
  i got a feeling that the USB is not drawing enough power from the motherboard to power up the HDD
  
  have you tried the HDD in other PCs or other USB ports in the same PC?
• jasmine17

  22 Jan 08, 21:44

  what is disk management? my lappie and desktop both cannot read the drive.
  I used low level format to format the HDD
• ndmmxiaomayi

  22 Jan 08, 21:47

  Despite all the warnings not to do low level format without guidance, people still do it.
  
  Low level format can damage a hard disk if not done properly. If that's the case, pray hard that it's still workable.
  
  As for accessing Disk Management, do this
  
  XP
  
  Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management
  
  Vista
  
  Classic Start Menu
  
  Start > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management
  
  Vista Start Menu
  
  Start > Search for Control Panel
  
  Double click on Administrative Tools > Computer Management
• ismail

  22 Jan 08, 22:09

  Check whether your USB cable is inserted properly into the hard drive slot.
  
• twiggies

  22 Jan 08, 22:13

  switch on the power for your ext hdd
• kenn3th

  22 Jan 08, 23:20

  make sure that the usb cables are properly and firmly connected.
  then pluck into a new usb port.
  
  if there's a pop up saying it could not install hdd then it would mean that the drivers are not properly installed thus it could not be read.
• jasmine17

  23 Jan 08, 19:39

  Originally posted by CyanSupra:

  I'm not sure abt vista.
  But for xp , did u format the drive?
  
  Can u see ur drive in disk mangement?

  yes and i just formatted it
• jasmine17

  23 Jan 08, 19:42

  it used to be 40 GB now it is only 18 GB
• jasmine17

  30 Jan 08, 17:08

  anyone can help? my current ext harddisk shows 18 GB instead of 40 GB. I remember i got around 22 GB of data.

   

   

  How come like this? is the data locked some where in the hard disk?

   

  any way to retrieve?

  

• caleb_chiang

  30 Jan 08, 17:16

  hmmm... never heard of such things before. you sure you formatted or partition'ed?
• ndmmxiaomayi

  30 Jan 08, 19:39

  You didn't format correctly. Or rather, you didn't partition correctly.

  1. Delete partition

  2. Create partition

  3. Format partition

  Doing just Steps 2 and 3 will result in loss of hard disk space which you are experiencing.

  Open Disk Management and assign a drive letter to the old partition to see your data.