USB HDD Not being assigned Drive letter

  • Thread starter Thread starter zinaer
  • Start date Start date
Z

zinaer

When I connect my WD USB storage device (USB drive) to my computer
Windows will pop up a notification message that shows USB Mass Storag
Device, and then Disk Drive was found. However, I just simply can’
access the drive, and there is no automatic “Autoplay” prompt too, eve
when enabled.

The USB storage drive doesn’t show up (not available and no
accessible) in Windows Explorer or My Computer window, although it ha
been detected, even though the drive has been used properly before i
the same computer. In the Device Manager, everything including USB Hu
and USB Root Hub, shows working properly. In some cases, it also show
a USB storage drive attached, and the drive it is working, and the US
drive will appear in Disk Management of Computer.
Another symptom to the problem is when I insert the USB drive;
“Safely Remove Hardware” icon will appear in Windows notification are
(system tray). When I double-click on the icon, the drive appears i
the list, but when I display the details of the disk (by double-clic
on the drive or select the drive then click on Stop), there is no driv
letter attached to the drive.

I only have two drives. So there is plenty of additional letters fo
assigning. This same hard drive did work on this pc yesterday. And i
still works on my comp at home. I am logged in as admin.
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank yo
 
zinaer said:
When I connect my WD USB storage device (USB drive) to my computer,
Windows will pop up a notification message that shows USB Mass Storage
Device, and then Disk Drive was found. However, I just simply can’t
access the drive, and there is no automatic “Autoplay” prompt too, even
when enabled.

The USB storage drive doesn’t show up (not available and not
accessible) in Windows Explorer or My Computer window, although it has
been detected, even though the drive has been used properly before in
the same computer. In the Device Manager, everything including USB Hub
and USB Root Hub, shows working properly. In some cases, it also shows
a USB storage drive attached, and the drive it is working, and the USB
drive will appear in Disk Management of Computer.
Another symptom to the problem is when I insert the USB drive; a
“Safely Remove Hardware” icon will appear in Windows notification area
(system tray). When I double-click on the icon, the drive appears in
the list, but when I display the details of the disk (by double-click
on the drive or select the drive then click on Stop), there is no drive
letter attached to the drive.

I only have two drives. So there is plenty of additional letters for
assigning. This same hard drive did work on this pc yesterday. And it
still works on my comp at home. I am logged in as admin.
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
Click to expand...


I assume that when you say the USB device is listed in Disk Management, a
drive letter has been assigned to it. If that is so, right-click on its
listing and select either Open or Explore from the submenu. Hopefully the
device will then be recognized in Windows Explorer and its files/folders can
be accessed.

We find that all too frequently that these non-recognition problems
affecting non-defective USB devices (especially flash/memory/pen drives and
USB external HDs) are erratic in nature. Tomorrow when you boot the system
the system may have no problem detecting the device. Or maybe not.
Anna
 
Anna said:
"zinaer" (e-mail address removed) wrote in message

When I connect my WD USB storage device (USB drive) to my computer,
Windows will pop up a notification message that shows USB Mas
Storage
Device, and then Disk Drive was found. However, I just simply can’t
access the drive, and there is no automatic “Autoplay” prompt too
even
when enabled.

The USB storage drive doesn’t show up (not available and not
accessible) in Windows Explorer or My Computer window, although i
has
been detected, even though the drive has been used properly before in
the same computer. In the Device Manager, everything including US
Hub
and USB Root Hub, shows working properly. In some cases, it als
shows
a USB storage drive attached, and the drive it is working, and th
USB
drive will appear in Disk Management of Computer.
Another symptom to the problem is when I insert the USB drive; a
“Safely Remove Hardware” icon will appear in Windows notificatio
area
(system tray). When I double-click on the icon, the drive appears in
the list, but when I display the details of the disk (by double-click
on the drive or select the drive then click on Stop), there is n
drive
letter attached to the drive.

I only have two drives. So there is plenty of additional letters for
assigning. This same hard drive did work on this pc yesterday. And it
still works on my comp at home. I am logged in as admin.
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
--
zinaer


I assume that when you say the USB device is listed in Disk Management
a
drive letter has been assigned to it. If that is so, right-click o
its
listing and select either Open or Explore from the submenu. Hopefull
the
device will then be recognized in Windows Explorer and it
files/folders can
be accessed.

We find that all too frequently that these non-recognition problems
affecting non-defective USB devices (especially flash/memory/pen drive
and
USB external HDs) are erratic in nature. Tomorrow when you boot th
system
the system may have no problem detecting the device. Or maybe not.
Anna
Click to expand...

No, Im sorry, my post was not very clear. It is not listed in dis
management, but it is listed in the device manager. With no Drive name

Thank you,
Jeremia
 
No, Im sorry, my post was not very clear. It is not listed in disk
management, but it is listed in the device manager. With no Drive name.
Click to expand...

Well, you're better off than I am--it's not even listed in the device
manager for me. The *FIRST* time it sees it you get the box popping
up saying what it saw but that's it--it's never seen again anywhere.

I'm going to do a MB upgrade anyway, I'm just going to reinstall XP.
 
Hi there

If i got it well you ve got XP and the problem appeared yesterday (or so).
I hope you have Restore points acrtivated.

Go to one of your previous and recent restore points and the problem will be
solved.
It happened to me but i did not follow the advise i am giving to you and i
am in trouble for the alst 9 months.

Hoping this does it for you.

Have fun. Its only a PC (Personal Challenge)
 
Jeremiah:
Here are some general troubleshooting tips, some of which may apply to your
specific problem. I realize you've tried many, if not most, of the
following, but for what it's worth here they are...

(I recall that you clarified your original posting in that the USB external
HD is *not* listed in Disk Management)

1. Connect the USB device *directly* to a USB port on the computer, not via
a USB hub. Try different USB ports if your computer has more than one.
2. Do not use a USB extension cable.
3. Try alternate powering on/off methods. If the USB device contains its own
power supply, try booting up with its power on, then try powering on only
*after* the system has booted to a Desktop.
4. Try a different USB cable.
5. In the USB controllers section of Device Manager, uninstall all the USB
controllers listed and reboot.
6. Check out the HD with the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic utility.
If it checks out OK, and you can remove the HD from its enclosure (without
voiding any applicable warranty), do so and install the HD as an internal
HD to determine if there are problems with the drive.
7. If the USB device is connected to a USB 2.0 PCI card, try changing the
PCI slot to which it's currently connected to another one.
8. Access the website of the manufacturer of the USB device to determine if
there's any firmware update or info re the problem you're experiencing or
there's any possibility that the USB enclosure itself might be defective.
9. Determine from the manufacturer of your motherboard whether there's a
BIOS upgrade affecting USB device recognition.
Anna
 
No, Im sorry, my post was not very clear. It is not listed in disk
management, but it is listed in the device manager. With no Drive name.
Click to expand...


Try this.

Boot your computer but do not connect the USB drive.

Use Start - Run - DISKMGMT.MSC and change the drive letter for your
CDROM/DVD drive to something away up the alphabet (such as M).

Now connect the USB drive. It will very likely show up using drive
letter D: (the one formerly used by the CD/DVD drive).

Another way of doing this would be to put a CD (any CD with data
content) into the CD/DVD drive and browse it with Windows Explorer.
Then connect the USB drive. It should now get its own letter.

In any even once the external drive is being recognized with a drive
letter I suggest that you use Disk Management to change that to a
different letter such as R: or Z: so as to avoid future recurrences of
this problem. Once this is done you can move the CD/DVD back to drive
D: if you did change it.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
 
I solved my problem thanks to a message from Uwe Sieber.
It seems that i had an unsuccesfull installation of Daemon tools that
created some discrepancies in my ssystem. the solution was the following :
Go to c:\windows\system32\drivers
and just delete the folowing files (if existing)
secdrv.sys
sptd.sys
sptd????.sys
(the ??? represent numbers that they seem to be different from user to user)
some of the files may be hidden, so look into the hidden files also.

If this helps then I will be more than glad.

Have Fun it's only a PC (Personal Challenge)
 
Ok, i tried all of the above, the drive does not show in disk mgmt.
have not installed Daemon tools since i formatted, i checked anyway
though. None of the files are existent. I did however buy a replacemen
cable at radio shack. Suprisingly enough, that resolved the issue. Than
all of you guys for helping me with this. I learned a lot of stuff to d
next time =)
 
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