# [SOLVED] External HDD not showing up



## rakasan (Dec 13, 2010)

It was working fine yesterday, today my Western Digital 2TB is gone from both my computer and disk management. The same with the Seagate external.

What I tried so far: 
1.unplugging them and plugging them back in
2.turning off computer, unplug power and usb, turn computer on, plug power in wait 10 seconds plug usb in.
3. I was reading and people have had rootkit viruses, I tried kaspersky rootkit scanner, It couldn't find anything. Perhaps it was a free one so it was a poor scanner, if someone could recommend another it would be great.


----------



## makinu1der2 (Jan 1, 2008)

*Re: External HDD not showing up*

Check Device Manager for any driver problems under USB. Are the drive listed in Device Manager?

Try the drive on another PC.


----------



## rakasan (Dec 13, 2010)

*Re: External HDD not showing up*

I turned the laptop off for half an hour and it redetected itself... Problem fixed I guess.


----------



## makinu1der2 (Jan 1, 2008)

*Re: External HDD not showing up*

Okay.. If problem persists you can come back to this thread.


----------



## rakasan (Dec 13, 2010)

*Re: External HDD not showing up*

Problem happened again overnight, was using Internet Download Manager for about a month now with no problems. For some reason both drives "dissappear" when I check my downloads in the morning. Currently the laptop is being shut off for the "30 minutes". I don't want to keep doing this every day or whenever I feel like downloading drama.


----------



## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: External HDD not showing up*

Go to Start/Run and type *devmgmt.msc *and press enter. In the Device Manager click on the *+ *sign next to *U*niversal *S*erial *B*us Controllers Right click each of the *USB Root Hubs* and choose *Properties/Power Management* tab Uncheck *Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.* Always make sure to use the laptops power adapter when external drives are attached.


----------



## rakasan (Dec 13, 2010)

*Re: External HDD not showing up*

Fixed the problem by plugging in the usb straight into laptop. If anyone wants to know why that works, here is the logic, feel free to fix it as I may be assuming a few points(facts).

:The usb hub has its own power supply. Meaning the more things you plug into it I assume it'll run out of power. I must of plugged into too many hardware that made my external hdd at times run out of power. This would give me a message in the bottom right corner, one or more of your usb devices has malfunctioned. 

As to getting a new hub, would any of you agree that I should get a usb hub that gets power through the laptop instead of its own?


----------



## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: External HDD not showing up*

NO, you should always use a Hub with external AC power. Just limit the high powered devices being plugged in the Hub (ex) HDD's, SD Cards etc. Plug in your low powered devices (keyboard, mouse, printer) to the hub and HDD's directly into the laptop.


----------



## rakasan (Dec 13, 2010)

*Re: External HDD not showing up*

Okay, thanks. 
1. High powered -> direct to laptop. 
2. Low Powered -> to hub. 
3. Buy hubs with external power.


----------



## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: External HDD not showing up*

Now you got it! Please mark this thread Solved in the Thread Tools at the top.


----------

