Problem with external hard drive - no longer see it in My Computer

  • Thread starter Thread starter cyljcapartment
  • Start date Start date
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cyljcapartment

Hi, first time poster here.
About four months ago, after my laptop hard drive crashed for the 2nd
time in 6 months, I decided to get an external drive to do all my
downloads and storage in case my laptop decides to have a fit.
So I got an internal drive (Seagate Barracuda 700.7 200gb Ultra ATA)and
got a Kingwin external enclosure (the one with the bright LEDs on the
side). My laptop had only USB 1.1, but the setup worked fine up until
this morning.
I turned on my external hard drive and the high speed USB bubble popped
up, but the drive was no where to be found in My Computer (usually,
it's my E: drive). In Device Manager, there was a yellow exclamation
point next to the USB Mass Storage, and it gave me the Code 10 error of
device cannot start. Tried plugging it into another USB port, didn't
work. Another laptop, didn't work.
Does this mean the internal drive that I mounted is dead after 4
months? Or is it the enclosure that is the issue?
Has anyone ever encountered such issues and can give me some insights
on how to fix this? Thanks ^__^
 
Hi, first time poster here.
About four months ago, after my laptop hard drive crashed for the 2nd
time in 6 months, I decided to get an external drive to do all my
downloads and storage in case my laptop decides to have a fit.
So I got an internal drive (Seagate Barracuda 700.7 200gb Ultra ATA)and
got a Kingwin external enclosure (the one with the bright LEDs on the
side). My laptop had only USB 1.1, but the setup worked fine up until
this morning.
I turned on my external hard drive and the high speed USB bubble popped
up, but the drive was no where to be found in My Computer (usually,
it's my E: drive). In Device Manager, there was a yellow exclamation
point next to the USB Mass Storage, and it gave me the Code 10 error of
device cannot start. Tried plugging it into another USB port, didn't
work. Another laptop, didn't work.
Does this mean the internal drive that I mounted is dead after 4
months? Or is it the enclosure that is the issue?
Has anyone ever encountered such issues and can give me some insights
on how to fix this? Thanks ^__^
Click to expand...

I've had a similar issue last week when I purchased three identical
USB cases. Two worked perfectly, the third failed with the same
symptom as yours. I exchanged the faulty case and it worked fine.
It is extremely unlikely that the drive itself is dead.
 
yeah i mean i was briefly....and i mean briefly..able to see the drive
this morning.

were the drives u installed new drives? or ones that have been used
before for a period of time?
 
Pegasus (MVP) said:
I've had a similar issue last week when I purchased three identical
USB cases. Two worked perfectly, the third failed with the same
symptom as yours. I exchanged the faulty case and it worked fine.
It is extremely unlikely that the drive itself is dead.
Click to expand...


Unfortunately, that Code 10 error message doesn't really narrow down the
cause of the problem in any meaningful way, at least based upon our
experience. The problem could arise from a whole host of different causes.

It *could* be a problem with the USB enclosure itself as Pegasus indicates.

Or it *could* be a problem when the device is connected through a USB hub.
That, of course, is obviously not your problem since you indicate you've
connected the USBEHD to different USB ports on your laptop. And presumably
you have some indication that the ports are functional, right? Can you plug
any other USB device into those ports without any problem?

Or it *could* be a problem with the internal connection of the HD in the
enclosure. Check the connection to make sure it's properly connected.

Or it *could* be a problem with the connection between the USBEHD and your
laptop. Make sure the connections are secure. Try a different USB cable.

Or it *could* be a problem with the HD itself notwithstanding the fact that
the drive is not more than a few months old. Have you tested it with a HD
diagnostic utility from Seagate? If not, do so by getting that utility from
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/
(I'm fairly sure (but not certain) that the Seagate diagnostic tool will not
be able to do its diagnosis while the drive is connected as a USB device. It
will likely have to be removed from the enclosure & connected as an internal
drive in your laptop).
Anna
 
Thanx for your suggestions Anna and Pegasus. I have the Seagate
diagnostic CD. Unfortunately, I don't have a desktop available in my
apartment to test out the drive internally (and I am dying to do so),
so I'll probably take it to a store and have them test it out for me.
Keeping my fingers crossed that it is the enclosure and not the drive.
 
Both the boxes and the drives were brand new. The drives
worked in all boxes except the faulty one.
 
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