# [SOLVED] External hard drive can not be recognized



## VagabondofLimbo (Sep 8, 2010)

Today I have bought a new PC with windows 7 installed on it. 

I plugged in my Western Digital external hard drive (wd1200xms -00 model code) and everything worked fine, I was able to transfer files with no problem - until Windows 7 asked me if i want to do a disk check for errors on my drive. I accepted the check and it went smoothly finding no errors or bad sectors. I transfered what i needed at the moment and afterwards i unplugged the device. 
Half an hour latter when i plugged it back in Windows suddenly would no longer recognize it, failing to open or read it at all, giving me a "drivers could not be installed" and "device not recognized" as well as "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems" message under the menage devices tab. I than tried to open the external hard drive on my old computer (which has Windows Xp) but it again failed to open, giving me the same messages as Windows 7 did (and I must point that i was using this drive on the Windows xp Pc for years without any problem, until this day, when i for the first attempted to open it with Windows 7) I also tried it on a couple of other PCs but with no success at all, always getting the same error message - "device not recognized". 

Can anybody help me please?

Bumping thread since there was no reply. 
Also an update - when i plug the drive in it lights up but it doesn't appear as a separate drive on windows at all, like it doesn't exist. The only that shows up is the error message. Also i used a program called "USBDeview" but it failed to identify the drive as well (it just listed it as an unknown device even tho this program managed to find records of the drive being used before it stopped working properly - the program gives you a list of all usb devices attached to your pc, past or present).

Is there any hope for it or should i give up and conclude the drive is dead?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: External hard drive can not be recognized*

Does the device show in Disk Management?


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## VagabondofLimbo (Sep 8, 2010)

*Re: External hard drive can not be recognized*



Tyree said:


> Does the device show in Disk Management?


No, it only shows under Device Manager, under USB controllers as an unknown device with a yellow sign on it. Neither scanning for hardware changes nor updating the drivers seem to make any difference.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: External hard drive can not be recognized*

did you use the safe to remove before disconnecting it


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## VagabondofLimbo (Sep 8, 2010)

*Re: External hard drive can not be recognized*



dai said:


> did you use the safe to remove before disconnecting it


Yes, always


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: External hard drive can not be recognized*

uninstall it from the device manager and reboot


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## VagabondofLimbo (Sep 8, 2010)

*Re: External hard drive can not be recognized*

Doesn't work. After I reboot, Windows at first starts to install the drivers but than immediately gives an error message that the device driver was not successfully installed, again listing the hard drive as an unknown device.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: External hard drive can not be recognized*

it sounds like something has gone wrong with the drive

d/load and run the h/drive makers diagnostic utility on the h/drive

http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287


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## VagabondofLimbo (Sep 8, 2010)

*Re: External hard drive can not be recognized*

I installed and run the Western Digitals Data Lifeguard software, as well as the WD External USB/FireWire Fat32 Formatting Utility and the WD Drive Manager and not one of these utilities managed to find any info about the external drive, they either only detect my internal hard drive or they detect nothing at all.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: External hard drive can not be recognized*

try another usb cable on the drive


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## VagabondofLimbo (Sep 8, 2010)

*Re: External hard drive can not be recognized*

Already done that, doesn't change anything.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: External hard drive can not be recognized*

try a cmos reset

try a usb reset

in the device manager click on view at the top and in the dropdown
show hidden devices
then uninstall all listed usb items
turn the computer off
unplug usb plugs
reboot twice
replug in the usb plugs


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## VagabondofLimbo (Sep 8, 2010)

*Re: External hard drive can not be recognized*

Problem SOLVED, data saved. 

It turns out the SATA to USB conector on the external HDD has malfunctioned. I just removed the adapter and plugged the HDD internally, directly to the motherboard and PSU using a SATA cable. It opened without any problem, saved the data and now I have a spare 2.5 150 Gig HDD. 

Thx for the help anyways.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: External hard drive can not be recognized*

glad you have it sorted


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