# External Hard drive won't show up!



## ericcris10sen (Mar 12, 2013)

Ok, a couple weeks ago my external hard drive won't connect to ANY of the USB ports on the left side of my laptop!  I'll connect it, and then it'll make the beeping noise stating that it disconnected (didn't make the sound to show it connected before), then a couple of seconds later it'll make the sound stating it disconnected again.  This happens with BOTH USB Ports on my left side, but if I plug it into the port on the right side, it'll work perfectly.

And it's not like the USB ports on the left side don't work.  They work with my headset and my mouse, but not my external.  I looked on the Disk Management to have a look around, and when I plug the external on the left side, it doesn't even show up stating that there is anything plugged in.  Even if I do a refresh on it. 

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Also another thing, why is it that when I have my external plugged in, and I move it, JUST BARELY, it'll disconnect?  It's still plugged in and didn't even unplug a little bit, and it'll just disconnect.  Are they normally that sensitive?


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## 95Viper (Mar 12, 2013)

Check in the device manager for any problems.
Try re-installing the USB 2.0 and/or usb 3.0 drivers.
Have you tried a different USB cable?
Check the pins in the ports (make sure the all look normal) and same for the cable.
Does the external drive work correctly in other systems?

The beeping noise is set in the windows sound settings (usually, applied with a theme or you can do it manually).

Mine, in Windows 7, is set to beep twice on connect (Windows Hardware Insert.wav) and three on disconnect (Windows Hardware Remove.wav).



ericcris10sen said:


> Also another thing, why is it that when I have my external plugged in, and I move it, JUST BARELY, it'll disconnect?  It's still plugged in and didn't even unplug a little bit, and it'll just disconnect.  Are they normally that sensitive?



The connection may have a little play (should not be sloppy); however, it should not disconnect and re-connect while jiggling it.

Edit:
By the way... Nice laptop/notebook.


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## ericcris10sen (Mar 12, 2013)

95Viper said:


> Check in the device manager for any problems.
> Try re-installing the USB 2.0 and/or usb 3.0 drivers.
> Have you tried a different USB cable?
> Check the pins in the ports (make sure the all look normal) and same for the cable.
> ...



Okay, I'll try these out (might have to use google for some instructions  )

I'm not sure if it works in other systems, only have one computer.  And I might have to just buy another external if this thing is just unstable (meaning it disconnects too much with a little wiggle).


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## Aquinus (Mar 12, 2013)

ericcris10sen said:


> Also another thing, why is it that when I have my external plugged in, and I move it, JUST BARELY, it'll disconnect? It's still plugged in and didn't even unplug a little bit, and it'll just disconnect. Are they normally that sensitive?



No, not typically. Try a different cable.


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## Cotton_Cup (Mar 12, 2013)

I have some experience with 3 different external hard drives which had similar problems even using different cables so I assume that they are all dead. not sure thought.


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## Chummmleee (Mar 13, 2013)

Maybe your motherboard drivers are out of date are they usb 3.0 and try  disk management again to format it to your pc, I just got a new internal yesterday and I thought I was going insane because I saw it in the bios and it wasn't in "My Computer" let me know how it goes, that's if you haven't already got it


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## ericksonlk (Mar 13, 2013)

I'd check if they have proper amps to work, this looks like to be the case of unstable power supply. Check the cables, and try another external power supply for the drive. Are you using an external power supply that delivers at least 1A? Because if you are using only the USB power you have .5 on USB 2.0 and .9 on USB 3.0 (HDD are hungry sometimes), so you should plug on USB 3.0 to avoid issues.
 If is a Desktop maybe you need to clean the power supply, check the fan to get stable. If is a notebook, USB will be is very limited if you use more than one port simultaneously (it divides).


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## Black Panther (Mar 13, 2013)

Make sure that it's plugged in the USB and switched on. Then in Device Manager choose the 'Action Tab' and 'Scan for Hardware Changes'.


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## Sasqui (Mar 13, 2013)

I've got the EXACT same think happening with a 750GB Canvio USB3.0 drive plugged into a laptop with USB 2.0 only.  

It was working like a charm for months (literally) until one time, I ejected the hardware and selected the drive itself in the list (not the root USB device).  Now it gives the device connection "beep" when I plug it in, but the drive simply will not show up.  It does work fine on all other computers here in the office!  WTF.


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## Sasqui (Mar 13, 2013)

Ok, here's what my problem was... somehow the drive was assigned drive letter H:  In the machine I was plugging into, H: was already mapped to a network drive, so the disk had no where to show up.

Disconnect from the network.  In disc management, changed the assigned drive letter to E: (which was available).  It's now working.  I thought the USB drive letter was dynamic.  Anyway to change it so that it is?  The weird thing is it seemed to be working dynamically  before, don't know what changed it.


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## Finnigan2011 (Dec 3, 2013)

Hi All
similar problem but it is with one specific usb...others work except for one. comp beeps when plugged in but won't show up in hte my computer area...prior to mucking with drivers, is there any specific reason if may have just stopped working?


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