WD portable HDD not showing on my computer

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ishankorgaonkar

I have a WD Portable elements 500 gb......
I have been facing problems with the drive not being showed in the my computer
the detection ballon showin that there is an external hard drive connected to the comp ....
the hard drive also show d power on light
But then the hard drive is not shown in the my computer or the disk management........


help required urgently


Thanks
 
It would be helpful to know your computer brand and model, and configuration, along with age of computer, and operating system.
Have you tried plugging it into a friend's computer? or other computer.
Have you tried cold booting with your USB cable plugged in, as well as a hot insert?
Have you tried using a different USB cable?
 
I suggest you start with [post=875300]How to Cleanup and Remove old USB Storage Drivers[/post] then post back to let us know. Also, if still a problem, do the balloons also say "Unknown device"?
 
ishankorgaonkar said:
I have a WD Portable elements 500 gb......
I have been facing problems with the drive not being showed in the my computer
the detection ballon showin that there is an external hard drive connected to the comp ....
the hard drive also show d power on light
But then the hard drive is not shown in the my computer or the disk management........


help required urgently


Thanks
Click to expand...

Make sure you get the firmware fix from them. I have 2 WD USB2.0 there is a fix from them to get it detected.
 
@raybay-----i tried using a different usb cable and a diferent computer ....no difference.....
its show there is a external USB mass storage device connected in safely remove hardware
Im using windows XP professional (5.1 build 2600)..........pentium dual core CPU E5300 @ 2.60 GHz
I didnt get wat u meant by "Have you tried cold booting with your USB cable plugged in, as well as a hot insert"

@lookingaround----- ballon doesnt show unknown device its shows device is connected and ready to use!!!!!!!!

@tipstir----can u link mee to more ellobrate stuff i didnt gett u on gettin a firmware fix!!!!!

thankss

One more thing in the device manager there is WD seen in Disk drives!!!!!!!!!!
 
You said the drive didn't show in Disk Management. If you can see the drive in the Device Manager, you should also see it in Disk Management. Check it again just in case.

Is this a brand new external hard drive? If so, you need to format the drive before it will show up in My Computer and be used. You should be able to format the drive in Disk Management.
 
ishankorgaonkar said:
naa d diskk was workin for last 5 months

its not there in disk magement but there in device manager
Click to expand...

Hi ishankorgaonkar

Given the sum total of all the symptoms you describe to date

1. Do check for any firmware upgrade as tipstir previously advised
2. Since same problem occurs on different machine, it's probably not an issue of old USB storage drivers, but still is prudent (and easy) to also remove old USB storage drivers per the link in my prior post, just in case
3. Since you say the disk is showing up in Device Manager on different computers but not Disk Management then
  • We know the disk is physically detected and recongnized and you should be seeing both a USB Mass Storage Driver and Disk driver appear in DevMgr when it's connected
  • When you look in Disk Management, look at the number of Disks listed in the lower pane. Does a new Disk # appear but perhaps its not getting mounted so you don't see a partition or drive letter in the upper pane?

After trying any firmware upgrades, if still problem it's possible you have filesystem corruption. So you might also try using TestDisk. I've never used it but many have used it and reported success in recovering missing partitions and data files on their disks.
 
Just fyi... note my post [post=905953]See here[/post] about the general sequence of events to look for (the sequence of actions) when Windows detects and mounts a USB drive (assuming it contains a valid filesystem and the logical disk volume on the drive can be mounted)
 
naa i downloaded d softwares nd d firm ware but oll jst show my hard drive with 0 mb memorry on it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@lookin around------i tried oll d stepp but its not there in disk management !!!!!!!!!!!!

thanksss
 
I see a few different types of WD Elements Portable hard drives on WD's site here
> Which specific one do you have?
> And I understand from your last post you did try any software/firmware upgrade per tipstir's post?

Also, i'm a bit confused from your last post as i think you're saying both
> Windows shows your WD Elements with 0GB?
> But you also say you don't see it in Disk Management?????

Am just confused as if the disk isn't first appearing in Disk Management, I didn't think it would appear anywhere else with any size info (at least, best as i know, to date) Where do you think you're seeing it as 0GB?? Would it be possible for you to attach any screen shots? (just hit PrintScreen key in upper rt of keyboard, then paste into Paint (Start->Programs-Acessories->Paint). Save as .jpg files and upload to your next post

Aside from firmware, a couple other possible things come to mind (just best guesses here)
1. WD portable drives draw all their power from the USB port (they don't have their own AC adapter) and sometimes exceed USB spec (500mA)
> Did you try connecting it to a desktop (vs a laptop?) and be certain if a laptop, it's plugged in at the time
> You did also try a different USB cable?
2. It's also possible the internal interface has failed. (i.e. so the interface is responding to Windows to identify itself as a disk drive, but the disk itself is not spinning up so Windows can't read a filesystem or the disk volume data so the disk Volume disn't appear

Post back when you can..

/* edit */
P.s. remember to check the lower pane of Disk Management if only to confirm if a new Disk # appears when it's connected
 
windows device manager shows wd in hard drives...........
the software shw its 0 gb.............nd the disk management doesnt show anything except my internal HD

my hard drive----
http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=303&lang=en


I think ur this point is true-------

it's also possible the internal interface has failed. (i.e. so the interface is responding to Windows to identify itself as a disk drive, but the disk itself is not spinning up so Windows can't read a filesystem or the disk volume data so the disk Volume disn't appear

im uploading the pics

i will hv to reinstall dos sofwares as i hv deleted them will post u d picks of 0 gb in some time soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thanksss

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?pid=13664736&id=701530393

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?pid=13664769&id=701530393&fbid=10150212198485394
 
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