USB HARD DRIVE

[Guest]

I have just added an external USB hard drive. The computer tells me that it
is working but there is no icon for it in "My Computer"
Help please

 

[Anna]

I have just added an external USB hard drive. The computer tells me that it
is working but there is no icon for it in "My Computer"
Help please

Carol:
Unfortunately these USB non-recognition problems with the XP operating
system have been irritating to all of us. Here are some troubleshooting
"tips" we prepared re this issue which I hope may prove useful to you. I
realize not all of them will apply to your situation but go over them
one-by-one...

1. Access Disk Management (Start > right-click My Computer > Manage >
Computer Management > Disk Management) and see if the USB device is listed.
If so, and there's no drive letter assigned, see if you can assign a drive
letter to the device.
2. If the USB device is listed in Disk Management with an assigned drive
letter, right-click on its listing and select Explore from the submenu.
Hopefully, Windows Explorer will open and the device will be listed.
3. Connect the USB device *directly* to a USB port on the computer, not via
a USB hub. Try different USB ports should your computer have multiple ports.
4. Avoid using a USB extension cable.
5. Try connecting a USB device (that does not contain an auxiliary power
supply) to a USB port both before and after the boot operation.
6. Where a USB (or Firewire) external HDD is involved, access Device
Manager, highlight the Disk drives listing and click on the Action menu item
and then the "Scan for hardware changes" sub-menu item. Do the same in Disk
Management > Action > Rescan disks.
7. Try alternate powering on/off methods. If the USB device contains its own
power supply, try booting up with its power on, then try powering on only
*after* the system has booted to a Desktop.
8. Try a different USB cable.
9. In the USB controllers section of Device Manager, uninstall all the USB
controllers listed and reboot.
10. If the device in question is not a commercial USB external HDD but
rather one in which you installed a HDD in a USB enclosure, jumper the HDD
as Master (or Single if the HDD is a Western Digital disk). A number of
users have reported that jumper configuration corrected their
non-recognition problem. In my own experience it didn't seem to matter how a
USB external HDD was jumpered. But it may be worth a try.
11. If the device in question is a USB external HDD, first check out the HDD
with the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic utility. If it checks out OK,
and you can remove the HDD from its enclosure (without voiding any
applicable warranty), do so and install the HDD as an internal HDD to
determine if there are problems with the drive.
12. If the USB device is connected to a USB 2.0 PCI card, try changing the
PCI slot to which it's currently connected to another one.
13. Access the website of the manufacturer of the USB device to determine if
there's any firmware update or info re the problem you're experiencing or
there's any possibility that the USB enclosure itself might be defective.
14. Determine from the manufacturer of your motherboard whether there's a
BIOS upgrade affecting USB device recognition.

P.S.
A number of posters have reported they've found useful information re
troubleshooting USB devices on this
site...http://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbtrouble_e.html
Anna

 

[Guest]

-- Anna, my computer has installed the hard drive and I can hear the motor
running, but there is no icon to access it in my computer

carol adams

 

[Anna]

-- Anna, my computer has installed the hard drive and I can hear the motor
running, but there is no icon to access it in my computer

carol adams

Carol:
Yes, we understand that when you plug in your external hard drive the motor
will be running. But you see, there is a problem with the operating system
not detecting your external hard drive even when the hard drive's motor is
running. It could be because of various reasons and that is why I provided
you with the above listing.

Do you have a friend or acquaintance that has some knowledge of personal
computers? Might you consult with him or her about your problem and show
that person the above? Perhaps that would be the best course of action at
this point.
Anna

 

[Guest]

I have just added an external USB hard drive. The computer tells me that it
is working but there is no icon for it in "My Computer"
Help please

Then Unmount the USB HDD and Shut down your computer and then plug the USB
and Start your computer.
Be sure this services is started Automatically, to access it do this:
Open a run command and type in:
services.msc click [OK].
On the services scroll down to this service and Click properties and be sure
it is starting Auto:

Human Interface Device Access

Also Plug and Play is started

Also see the BIOS configuration and does the USB device listed there while
it is connected.
HTH.
Let us know.
Regards,
nass

 

[Guest]

It took a combination of things.
1/ remove the jumper on the drive to change from CS to slave then
2/ into computer management to initialise the drive. It is now visible.
Thank you all for your help