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USB HDD not working.

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9 replies

by ashishshekhar

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I have Windows Vista Home premium on Dell Inspiron 531s system.
I have been using an external Sea gate Personal Storage Device which connects by USB to back up my photographs. Everything has been working fine for months. Then suddenly yesterday my computer won't acknowledge the drive anymore . ( When I plug it in, nothing happens) .However, under device manager, the HDD is recognised and described as working properly, and the USB connection appears intact.When I plug in another usb flash drive into the same usb port, it works perfectly fine.

Any idea how I can resolve this, as the HDD contains very very important photographs( of my baby from month 1 - month 24)

9 replies

by alfa11

Have you tried the disk on another machine?

by Former member

You might need to update your external hdd's software (go to seagates web site for more info) or you could just re-install the software that came with the hdd. Another option would be for you to get a powered usb hub, this will keep your connection to your computer open (between computer, hub and hdd). I hoe this helps you. Please post back if you have anymore problems or questions.

by ashishshekhar

The USB HDD came without any software. I did try and update the driver but didnt work. Tried a powered usb hub, but no luck again !!!!

by andre

Hi
Make sure you have not added any HDD or CDRom drives lately taking the drive letter the USB drive use to have. I've have found in some cases that the OS is trying to give the USB device the same drive letter as in a previous request. By giving the drive added another letter; the USB device becomes available again.

by ashishshekhar

I tried the device on another computer, but no luck .. so its probably not a drive letter issue.

by Former member

What does it say in the "device hardware" section?
Start > settings > control panel > system > device hardware.

by alfa11

Have you tried plugging the drive in a Linux system?
You can download a live CD, like Knoppix or Ubuntu and see what happens.
Good luck!!

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