External Hard Drive Randomly Dissapears

[Jamyp]

Hi all!

So after re-booting my computer a few months ago, I've run into the annoying problem of having my Samsung External Hard Drive randomly disappear from my computer.

This is what usually happens each time I turn my Computer on:
- Computer turns on, Hard Drive is active and present in My Computer folder
- IF I DON"T open anything on the HD then it will stay present for as long as the Computer is on. However, if I DO open something, it will work no worries for anytime between 30mins-1hour, and then all of a sudden, whatever program I'm using closes and when I go to My Computer folder, the HD is no longer listed there.

I have tried command prompt (diskpart;list disk; list volume) but it doesn't even show up as hidden or offline there. As for Device manager, it's not listed as a hidden drive either (as in once it has disconnected).

I don't think it's a hardware issue, considering that I can open it for that small window of time once I turn my computer on, and it's light it on, no 'USB disconnected sound' occurs when it disappears, nothing like that.

Any help is appreciated, and thanks in advance

P.S. Though I like technology, it does not like me, so please dumb everything down as much as possible!

 

[bazz2004]

I had a problem with my laptop losing wi-fi after using the internet. This turned out to be due to an option allowing Windows to turn off usb devices to save power. It could well be a similar power saving setting that is causing the external hard drive to close down. Have a look in Control Panel and see if you can locate the advanced power settings. Sorry, but that's about as much as I know about this. It's unlikely to be anything serious.

 

[DelJo63]

As @bazz2004 says, check your power settings