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Hard Drive Problem

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I have a 40 gb portable hard drive which has some data on it. Whenever I plug the drive onto my computer it is unable to open as it does not read as a drive in "My Computer". How can I get my drive to work without deleting my data that is on my hard drive.

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by the altruist

1. Open the Run dialog.
2. Type in "diskmgmt.msc" and hit Enter.
3. Locate your 40 GB drive.
4. Right click on it.
5. Select Change Drive Letter and Paths.
6. Pick a Drive letter you like and close it.
It should appear in My Computer now.

If it doesn't, check the cables, make sure the drive is working, because I don't know what else to tell you.

by rob miners

Write down all fixed Disk and CD/DVD drive letters so as not to delete them. DO NOT delete any of the fixed hard disk drives or CD/DVD optical drives registry values.

1. Login with Administrative privileges.

2. Disconnect all USB or FireWire storage devices.

3. Open Registry Editor by typing regedt32 in the Run box and navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

4. Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices there will be registry keys with the name that resembles the format of \DosDevice\X: where X can be any alphabet letter which corresponding to your physical system drive letter.

5. Delete all possible USB drives, FireWire drives and external drives which have a drive letter.

DO NOT delete any of the fixed Hard Disk Drives or CD/DVD optical drives registry values.

Exclude \DosDevice\A: which normally reserved for floppy disk drives.

Keep us informed as to your progress if you require further assistance.

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