Problem with External Hard Drive. Windows XP

[Guest]

I just purchased an external hard drive. i plugged it in and loaded my data
and unplugged it and put it away. Later, I plugged it back in and now Windows
doesn't detect it. It shows up in the taskbar as USB mass storage to remove
safely, but it no longer appears under "My Computer" as the J drive. I was
told to bring it and my computer back to the store where I purchased it. Is
this something I can fix simply by resetting something? I've tried rebooting,
and switching USB ports. Am I doomed to be running back to the shop again
and again?

 

[Guest]

I had the same problem and it turned out to be a bad power supply to the
external drive.

Jenny

 

[Guest]

Thanks. I guess I can't get around taking it back to the store. They
suggested that I bring my computer in as well.

They also suggested that I messed it up by unplugging it with using the
taskbar (safely remove hardware). If I managed to destroy $160 peice of
hardware in a split second...well, there should have been a warning stamped
on it. Anyway, the drive appears in my device manager and has a check in the
box to make the task bar removal unnecessary.

Thanks again for the response.

 

[Guest]

I have removed my external drive with and without the taskbar and it never
has hurt the drive. I would just take the external drive and electrical plug
in first and have the power supply tested before lugging in the cpu, and
giving them a chance to sell you stuff you may not need.

Jenny

 

[Anna]

I just purchased an external hard drive. i plugged it in and loaded my
data
and unplugged it and put it away. Later, I plugged it back in and now
Windows
doesn't detect it. It shows up in the taskbar as USB mass storage to
remove
safely, but it no longer appears under "My Computer" as the J drive. I was
told to bring it and my computer back to the store where I purchased it.
Is
this something I can fix simply by resetting something? I've tried
rebooting,
and switching USB ports. Am I doomed to be running back to the shop again
and again?--
Thanks for any help.

I have removed my external drive with and without the taskbar and it never
has hurt the drive. I would just take the external drive and electrical
plug
in first and have the power supply tested before lugging in the cpu, and
giving them a chance to sell you stuff you may not need.

Jenny

Sylviapearl:
As Jenny correctly points out, the chances that you damaged your USB
external HD (I'm assuming it's a USB device) by doing what you did, is so
remote that I would not give it a second thought.

Before taking it back to the store, together with your computer, do this...

1. Connect & power up your external HD in the normal way and boot your
machine.

2. In connecting your USB cable, connect it *directly* to a USB port on the
computer. Do not use a USB hub and I assume you're not using any USB
extension cable.

2. Access XP's Disk Management utility. You do this by...
Start > right-click My Computer > Manage > Computer Management > Disk
Management

3. Hopefully, your external HD will be listed there. If no drive letter has
been assigned to it, do so by right-clicking on its listing and see if
there's a "Assign drive letter" or "Change drive letter" (or some such) and
follow through on this.

4. If the device is still not displayed in the Disk Management utility, then
it might be best to return the device back to the store from which you
purchased it. I'm assuming your warranty will cover any repairs or
replacement of the device.
Anna