External hard drive not showing in my computer

bearjerr1868 · Jul 10, 2009

Hi,

I have a laptop, Toshiba x205-sli4, running Vista Ultimate.
It has 2 hdd's in it.
I install everything on the 2nd hdd, just incase the OS crashes.

The problem is, well the external hdd, maybe it could be the laptop.

The box is from Thermaltake, you add your hdd's to it.
When my desktop broke down, & I got a laptop to work on.

I needed the info from those hdd's that were in the desktop.
I removed the hdd & put it into the thermaltake box which is a USB that plugs in.

Everthing was working fine for sometime.
Then my laptop stopped loading it up into my computer.
I tired all 6 USB ports & it still doesn't recognize the external hdd.

The USB ports are working fine. I have 2 flashdrives plugged in,
1 is used as a readyboost drive, the other as a backup for my pictures.
So it's not the USB plugs.

I can't format the drives, I need the info to stay on them & I have no backups of them. Some are games, that I don't have the cd
with me right now to reloaded them.

any help would be great.
Thx, Jerry

strategic · Jul 10, 2009

Have you tried to disconnect the flash drives to see if the box shows up?
I've had a similar problem where the drive letters would overlap...

bearjerr1868 · Jul 11, 2009

Hi Strategic

I removed the 2 flash drive.
Plugged in the box, turned it on & it started to load the driver for my new hardware, which is a good thing.

It still didn't show up in my computer & when I opened up - Safely Remove hardware box it only showed that there was a hard drive
there without a drive letter to it.

I rebooted, I forgot that this happens after a reboot with the box still on.
The system starts up & get's to the splash screen were
you can enter into the BIOS.

The system sits there & doesn't load up into windows, until I turn off the box.
Then it loads up windows.

In win, I turned on the box & still nothing in my computer again.
I plugged in the flash drives & they were there in my computer.
Still no box showing up.

Thanks for your help Strategic.

I'm still lost on the problem.

Jerry

strategic · Jul 11, 2009

Are you able to try the external HD on a different computer (possibly with either Vista or even XP)...
Have you done any updates before this happened? Does it show up in your 'network connections'?
I hope if anything, there is a loose connection of some sort on the unit rather than a malfunctioning unit.
Have you tried contacting "http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/" they may have come across something like this before...
If all fails, you should post any part #'s / specs to help find anything...

bearjerr1868 · Jul 11, 2009

Hi strategic,

No, I have not tired it out on another pc as of yet, I thought about.

Yes, my system is kept up to date all the time.

No, It is not showing up in network connections.

I looked at Thermaltakes website, under FAQ, came across How to install my external hdd to Vista, it said right click My comp. then Manage, then Device manager, right click on Disk Drives, then click Scan for Hardware changes, a window comes up, says Device Manager is Scanning Plug & play Compliant Hardware. It sits there for along time with hdd activie on my laptop, & nothing seams to happen. the only way I can shut down the scanning is to turn off the external hdd.

The hdd I was trying out is a Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9, 250gb ATA/133.
I now have another hdd in there & still nothing after scanning for new wardware.

I will try out some of the other things you have said to try.
I'll post more findings when I can.

Thanks for helping out. Jerry

LookinAround · Jul 11, 2009

Here's some posts that might help... let us know if you have any questions..

See [post=744411]USB Device Problems? Check for Windows Updates[/post]
See [post=727106]How to use the DriveCleanupTool[/post]
See [post=752196]How to Check Hardware / Connection Issues with your USB Device[/post]
See [post=720762]Troubleshoot: Windows Won't Recognize Your USB Hard Drive[/post]
(And use this guide to verify - among other things- that you see both a USB Mass Storage AND a disk driver loaded with status=Working Properly in Device Manager for your external USB disk drive)

bearjerr1868 · Jul 11, 2009

I was looking on Thernaltakes website & decided to look up my external enclosure.

It's a Silver River DUO, Supports 3.5" IDE & SATA hdd's.

Then I saw this & was amazed, but hoping they have made it compatible by now.

I got to ask Thernaltake about this.

OS compatible - win 98se/2000/XP; Mac OS 8.6 up.

There's nothing saying on it being compatible to Vista.

It worked fine for months with vista & then it stopped reconizing it.

It seams I have found my problem, I'm hoping they have a answer for me.

I'll post anything they tell me on how to fix the problem.

Thanks again for everything Strategic.

You got my mind going on it again to find a fix for it.

Jerry

bearjerr1868 · Jul 13, 2009

Yes, the USB Mass storage device is working fine & showing up in device Mamager as working.

Thx, LookinAround

bearjerr1868 · Jul 24, 2009

I asked Thermaltake's help and support.

They told me,
They aren't going to send out a update or new drivers for the enclosure.
That there's still to many compatible issus with Vista.

Now I'm have problems with some of my flash drives showing up in My Computer.
Also my cam corder card reader is not showing up too, and it worked fine before.

Thank you all for helping.

External hard drive not showing in my computer

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