usb harddrive not working

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michael555

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i have a usb seagate harddrive and it will not pick up at all on any windows .Am using windows vista with service pack 2


The thing is the harddrive not even a year old

The green light is on and the socket are,nt even damage at all.There are alot of files on there which i don,t want to lose.
 
Have you tried looking under disk management to see if it shows up in there?
 
Does the external hard drive show up in Device Manager or in the Disk Management console (run diskmgmt.msc)?

Have you tried it on another machine?

If it is knackered, you may have some luck getting files off it by opening the case and connecting the drive to your PC manually. Although, let's see if we can avoid that stage first :).
 
Ian said:
Does the external hard drive show up in Device Manager or in the Disk Management console (run diskmgmt.msc)?

Have you tried it on another machine?

If it is knackered, you may have some luck getting files off it by opening the case and connecting the drive to your PC manually. Although, let's see if we can avoid that stage first :).
Click to expand...


try disk management does,nt show up.

The usb harddrive is only 3 months old i would say.

look like this one

http://www.google.co.uk/products/ca...a=X&ei=-7cUTpj5IIS2hAeixtmRDw&ved=0CEAQ8gIwAg#


if i opened it the shop may not fix it

just don,t want to lose the files
 
Silverhazesurfer said:
I vote this first. Didn't we see this as an issue just recently?

https://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/cant-get-access-my-external-harddrive-t4034700.html

Have a flip through that and see if you get anywhere with it. Try new USB cables if you can. Make sure you have power, and can connect it to another PC and see it.
Click to expand...

don,t think it,s the cable the green light on just not picking up.try it on a second pc does the same.will not even pick up on me tv has usb socket there for a pc harddrive.

would,nt even pick up in disk managment

If i send it back in the shop would they fix it or just give me a new one

update : i just put my ear to the harddrive and it,s making a beeping noise
 
Last edited:
With many devices that do not detect the drive, you may be looking at a failed drive.

With respect to a shop, it depends on the shop and the enclosure. Did you buy the drive/enclosure from them? I would suspect that they wouldn't replace it unless you bought it from them.

If there are files that you want to try to get, you will probably have to open the enclosure. Some enclosures do not come apart very easily, such as the case with the WD My Book drives. If you can get it open, you can possibly connect it to your PC and try that way. Eliminate the enclosure as the source of failure.

Did the enclosure beep prior to the failure? I would guess, not. I have not heard a hard drive beep ever but that isn't to say that they can't. New technologies.....ya know? It most likely is a board within the enclosure that is causing the beep, if it is in fact a beep. In that aspect, you have to isolate the drive away from the enclosure and connect it to a power source. You can connect power to a drive while your PC is on. All it will do is spin up. If it does that, then that's a big step forward. Shut down, connect the drive to a SATA connector and see if Windows detects it. If it does, enclosure failure.

TL;DR You have to pull the drive from the enclosure to troubleshoot past this point. If that is not an option, check your warranty.
 
Silverhazesurfer said:
With many devices that do not detect the drive, you may be looking at a failed drive.

With respect to a shop, it depends on the shop and the enclosure. Did you buy the drive/enclosure from them? I would suspect that they wouldn't replace it unless you bought it from them.

If there are files that you want to try to get, you will probably have to open the enclosure. Some enclosures do not come apart very easily, such as the case with the WD My Book drives. If you can get it open, you can possibly connect it to your PC and try that way. Eliminate the enclosure as the source of failure.

Did the enclosure beep prior to the failure? I would guess, not. I have not heard a hard drive beep ever but that isn't to say that they can't. New technologies.....ya know? It most likely is a board within the enclosure that is causing the beep, if it is in fact a beep. In that aspect, you have to isolate the drive away from the enclosure and connect it to a power source. You can connect power to a drive while your PC is on. All it will do is spin up. If it does that, then that's a big step forward. Shut down, connect the drive to a SATA connector and see if Windows detects it. If it does, enclosure failure.

TL;DR You have to pull the drive from the enclosure to troubleshoot past this point. If that is not an option, check your warranty.
Click to expand...


the harddrive is bought from curry and comes with 12 months on it(which has,nt run out).The harddrive would have to be force open with a knife or a screwdriver there no screws.See the link in these comments thats the one.it,s the point that there files on it and alot.the warranty would go out the window if i try to open it.it beeps about 10 times even after u plug the usb in.
 
Well, I would have to say, at this point, which is more important to you: the data or the warranty. I would think that the 1 yr warranty would be with the manufacturer (according to the link, Seagate, correct?) rather than the point of purchase.
 
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