I recently bought a Western Digital 160GB hard drive (the model number is something like WD1600JB). This morning I backed up some files as I was going to re-install Windows XP on my laptop. Now, when I plug it in I get a "Safely Remove Hardware" message, but the drive does not appear in My Computer and I cannot access it. The device appears in Device Manager. I've tried uninstalling the driver and then re-connecting it; Windows appears to detect it (launches the 'Found New Hardware' popup) but it still does not appear. I tried this on another computer and the same problem happened.
I just started experiencing this problem this afternoon - now, I had the drive plugged into the laptop when I was installing Windows, but I doubt that would cause a problem? I have a Maxtor hard drive as well that *is* recognized, but the WD one will not show up at all. I've run their diagnostic tool and it shows everything is working fine.
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1
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Western Digital external HDD not showing up in My Computer - any help?
12th Jul 2007
Clarifications
im simon.iam having wd 250 GB hard drive.Yesterday onwards its not getting visible in my computer and i cannot access it.The device appeares in disk mannagement as an unalocatted 2047.35GB.I had done all the steps above mentioned.but i cant able to see change the driver name option when i press the right clic button.The light of the hard drive is on as usuall.what should i do next? pls help me.
kuriakose.simon
6th Feb
Answers (8)
5
Votes
Most Likely
it needs a new drive letter. Try this,
go to control panel -- administraive tools -- computer management -- disk management
Find the drive and right click on it. select to change the drive letter
go to control panel -- administraive tools -- computer management -- disk management
Find the drive and right click on it. select to change the drive letter
12th Jul 2007
Replies
Okay, that worked, but for some reason it said the disk wasn't formatted and needed to be, and that there was no data on it, so somewhere in the process I lost some semi-important files 
At least it works again. Thanks!
At least it works again. Thanks!
ObiWayneKenobi
13th Jul 2007
Windows repartitioned the drive during installation.
NEVER leave an external drive connected to a machine while you are installaing the OS.
NEVER leave an external drive connected to a machine while you are installaing the OS.
1bn0
13th Jul 2007
Have a Dell Insiron 4600 on which the hard drive died. Purchased a Western Digital Caviar? Special Edition WD1600JB 160 GB ATA-100 and am trying to install. This is the only drive in the machine. When installing Windows, it asks for device driver in order to access the hard drive, but nothing came with the drive. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
96f350@...
19th Jul 2007
A dell INSPIRON is a laptop. You do not have a laptop. You may have the jumpers wrong on the hard drive, or you may have an interface problem or cable hardware problem. Are you using a DELL install disk? Which version of Windows? What cable and which connector did you connect the drive to? All must be set up to match. When the drive died, it may have taken the drive controller with it. Try the drive in another computer. Check the Dell site for helpful instructions in replacing a hard drive, for your model.
jack.greenky@...
25th Jul 2007
I left my WD ext hd plugged in during a reinstallation of the o/s. I have not reformatted it yet in hopes of data recovery. Are you saying that my data is already gone?
cs@...
29th Aug 2007
I have WD external drive 120gb (USB) . When i connect it to the system running winXP, it is getting recognized. But not showing in the my Computer. I tried the steps you mentioned but in the 'disk management', my external drive is not showing. Please help.
Thanks in advance!!
Mahesh
Thanks in advance!!
Mahesh
mahesh_ys80@...
15th Feb 2008
The device is present in Device Manager, listed under Disk drives.
The device is not present in My Computer and no in Disk Management (within Computer Management).
I can uninstall the device from Device Manager, and when I replug the usb back in, bubbles next to the clock come up:
Found new hardware - Disk drive
then a few second later:
New hardware installed and ready to use.
The device is not present in My Computer and no in Disk Management (within Computer Management).
I can uninstall the device from Device Manager, and when I replug the usb back in, bubbles next to the clock come up:
Found new hardware - Disk drive
then a few second later:
New hardware installed and ready to use.
tom_360@...
10th May 2008
Try rebooting the computer without any USB devices attached. Then plug in the USB drive, right click on My Computer, select manage, and then click ?Disk Management.? If the drive is not present in the Disk Management window or if you are not able to access it, then the drive may have failed. In this window you should see all of your connected physical drives, their format, if they are healthy, and the drive letter.
Change the drive letter of the drive. Right-click on the drive in the list, and from the resulting menu select "Change Drive Letters and Paths"
Click on Change so you can change the drive letter. Click Change.
Select a new drive letter from the drop down list, preferably the one that is not normally used for this drive. EG: U:
Click Yes on the confirmation screen and you are done.
This drive hasn't been used on a MAC has it.
Cross-platform Drive Solutions: Using Mac drives on Windows PCs
http://www.macwindows.com/disks2.html
Change the drive letter of the drive. Right-click on the drive in the list, and from the resulting menu select "Change Drive Letters and Paths"
Click on Change so you can change the drive letter. Click Change.
Select a new drive letter from the drop down list, preferably the one that is not normally used for this drive. EG: U:
Click Yes on the confirmation screen and you are done.
This drive hasn't been used on a MAC has it.
Cross-platform Drive Solutions: Using Mac drives on Windows PCs
http://www.macwindows.com/disks2.html
Jacky Howe
10th May 2008
first, i've never hooked up the drive to any other computer except my PC.
With your instructions (TY) I got to disk management with the drive appearing as Disk1, though it took 5 minutes for the thing to load and appear.
http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/6408/62730775at1.jpg
When I attempt to assign a drive letter i get this message:
Logical Disk Manager
The operation did not complete because the partition is not enabled. To enable the partition or volume, restart the computer.
With your instructions (TY) I got to disk management with the drive appearing as Disk1, though it took 5 minutes for the thing to load and appear.
http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/6408/62730775at1.jpg
When I attempt to assign a drive letter i get this message:
Logical Disk Manager
The operation did not complete because the partition is not enabled. To enable the partition or volume, restart the computer.
tom_360@...
11th May 2008
happened when you restarted the PC with the drive still connected.
Jacky Howe
11th May 2008
hi i followed this process until i got to find drive, it was not listed. lez
lezmckay
5th Jan
by the way, my wd was working fine but what you said about not leaving them plugged in my have a bearing on the matter, but not sure what. my wd does not show up at all. lez
lezmckay
5th Jan
im simon.iam having wd hard drive.im also having the same problem mentioned above.i had done all the steps above mentioned.but i cant able to see change the driver name option when i press the right clic button.pls help me.what should i do next??
kuriakose.simon
6th Feb
@w2ktechman
This worked for me!-)))
Been looking for a solution for months!
Thanks
This worked for me!-)))
Been looking for a solution for months!
Thanks
funkylung
18th Feb
0
Votes
WD HD is not recognised
I've experienced the same problem.Suddenly my WD 250GB wasn't recognised by Windows XP. I ran standard Windows troubleshoot procedure and it went back to normal. I don't even know what happened, but the troubleshoot procedure helped.
23rd Feb 2008
0
Votes
Help!
Hello ObiWayneKenobi !
Did you find any solution?
I Run Windows Vista, and my Western Digital external HDD dont showing up in My Computer either.
Did you find any solution?
I Run Windows Vista, and my Western Digital external HDD dont showing up in My Computer either.
8th Jan 2009
0
Votes
WD External Hard Drive NOT showing in My Computer
Everyone has been commenting on what do for fixing drive showing (lights on) but not showing in "My Computer" and also under Disk management.
Check and see if the drive is formatted or been used under a different OS (linux,MAC, etc).
Once I removed it from disk management I was then able to format the drive.
The drive then shows up under My Computer !!!!!!!
VIOLA..................
Check and see if the drive is formatted or been used under a different OS (linux,MAC, etc).
Once I removed it from disk management I was then able to format the drive.
The drive then shows up under My Computer !!!!!!!
VIOLA..................
23rd Jan
0
Votes
wHDD not showing up in My Computer - any help
..im simon.iam having wd 250 GB hard drive.Yesterday onwards its not getting visible in my computer and i cannot access it.The device appeares in disk mannagement as an unalocatted 2047.35GB.I had done all the steps above mentioned.but i cant able to see change the driver name option when i press the right clic button.The light of the hard drive is on as usuall.what should i do next? pls help me
6th Feb
0
Votes
Fix for Drives that dont show up on Windows systems
I have found this works for HDD and Flash drives.on Windows systems
Device Manager
Disk drives
If you see your drive here right click and select Properties
Volumes Tag
Populate Button
It should show you something like the following
Disk Disk3
Type Basic
Status Online
Partition style Master Boot Record (MBR)
Capacity 1907727 MB
Unallocated space 2 MB
Reserved space 0 MB
Volume Capacity
(E) 1007725 MB
(F) 900000 MB
Should show up after this
Device Manager
Disk drives
If you see your drive here right click and select Properties
Volumes Tag
Populate Button
It should show you something like the following
Disk Disk3
Type Basic
Status Online
Partition style Master Boot Record (MBR)
Capacity 1907727 MB
Unallocated space 2 MB
Reserved space 0 MB
Volume Capacity
(E) 1007725 MB
(F) 900000 MB
Should show up after this
6th Feb
0
Votes
laptop doesnt detect external HDD.
Hi,
I have an external HDD of Western digital with 500GB capacity. My laptop doesnt detect it. but HDD is shown in device and drivers. the HDD is not shown in my computer and neither is it seen in computer management->Disk management.
Have important data in this HDD? how can i get it detected by my system and get it working?
it would be great if someone can give a solution that works.
Additional info: I found that the F drive shows up in Disk Management with a message as 'not initialized'. I right clicked on it and selected 'Initiatilze'. but that too dint work..
Pls pls help me..
Thanks in adv..
I have an external HDD of Western digital with 500GB capacity. My laptop doesnt detect it. but HDD is shown in device and drivers. the HDD is not shown in my computer and neither is it seen in computer management->Disk management.
Have important data in this HDD? how can i get it detected by my system and get it working?
it would be great if someone can give a solution that works.
Additional info: I found that the F drive shows up in Disk Management with a message as 'not initialized'. I right clicked on it and selected 'Initiatilze'. but that too dint work..
Pls pls help me..
Thanks in adv..
Updated - 12th Feb
0
Votes
0 Votes + - laptop doesnt detect external HDD.
Hi,
I have an external HDD of Western digital with 500GB capacity. My laptop doesnt detect it but WD is shown in Device Manager under Disk drives. When i right click on it and select properties, under the Volumes tab, Populate is showing zeros on MB, Partition style Not applicable and Status unreadable.
pls help me.
I have an external HDD of Western digital with 500GB capacity. My laptop doesnt detect it but WD is shown in Device Manager under Disk drives. When i right click on it and select properties, under the Volumes tab, Populate is showing zeros on MB, Partition style Not applicable and Status unreadable.
pls help me.
22nd Mar
