This issue started when I was connected to it and while accessing it, I touched the cable and it disconnected. Since that, no luck in finding the external drive to access it. I've been using it for a a year, and although a touch of the cable caused a disconnect, it still worked well. The device shows up nowhere on my laptop, which I use to edit my photographs.
Here's a screenshot showing device manager, disk management, etc. (http://I.imgur.com/8u2ezzj.png)
The hard drive is a WD MyBook Essential 1TB that is named "Local Disk E" on my laptop.
I should mention, the hard drive's light is on when I plug it to the computer, and will idly blink. The light is off if not connected to a computer, even if it is plugged in to a power source.
My troubleshooting steps:
1. Use different cables-- did not work
2. Connect it to other USB ports-- did not work.
3. Connect other devices (iPhone and a different WD hard drive)-- all devices work on all ports
4. Check for presence in disk management and device manager-- nothing there (so I can't change the drive letter)
5. Remove all USB drivers and reinstall using Intel 3.0 USB driver set obtained from Asus' website using my computer model (Asus G75VW)(http://www.service.asus.com/#!downloads/c1wax)-- did not work
6. Install drivers obtained from WD support website (link to model)(http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=125&lang=en)-- did not work
7. Shut down, disconnect then start up and connect hard drive-- did not work
8. Change cables and test-- nothing wrong with cables
9. The biggest f you of them all: connect the same hard drive to another laptop-- works flawlessly.
I am at a complete loss on what to do.
Here's a screenshot showing device manager, disk management, etc. (http://I.imgur.com/8u2ezzj.png)
The hard drive is a WD MyBook Essential 1TB that is named "Local Disk E" on my laptop.
I should mention, the hard drive's light is on when I plug it to the computer, and will idly blink. The light is off if not connected to a computer, even if it is plugged in to a power source.
My troubleshooting steps:
1. Use different cables-- did not work
2. Connect it to other USB ports-- did not work.
3. Connect other devices (iPhone and a different WD hard drive)-- all devices work on all ports
4. Check for presence in disk management and device manager-- nothing there (so I can't change the drive letter)
5. Remove all USB drivers and reinstall using Intel 3.0 USB driver set obtained from Asus' website using my computer model (Asus G75VW)(http://www.service.asus.com/#!downloads/c1wax)-- did not work
6. Install drivers obtained from WD support website (link to model)(http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=125&lang=en)-- did not work
7. Shut down, disconnect then start up and connect hard drive-- did not work
8. Change cables and test-- nothing wrong with cables
9. The biggest f you of them all: connect the same hard drive to another laptop-- works flawlessly.
I am at a complete loss on what to do.