WD 500Gb External HDD - Not showing in My Computer

ScarySquirrel · 30 Aug 2012 at 13:54

Hi all,

I own a My Passport (or similar style at least) external hard drive and all was working fine, until one day I plugged it in and nothing showed up in My Computer. The drive is working, I can hear it, but it just doesn't show up.

Sometimes when I plug it in it says in the bottom right of the screen "This device could perform faster", which suggests that I've plugged it into a USB 2.0 port (it's a USB 3.0 device), but I haven't, it's definitely in a USB 3.0 port, and I've tried every port on multiple computers and it just isn't showing up.

Has anyone else experience anything like this?

I'm tempted to just replace it, what's a decent 500Gb, not too expensive portable external HDD?

Thanks

PistolPete · 30 Aug 2012 at 13:57

Does it not appear in Disk Management? If not, the USB interface may have died.

ScarySquirrel · 30 Aug 2012 at 14:03

I'm embarrassed asking this; how do I get to disk management in Windows 7?

Andybtsn · 30 Aug 2012 at 14:09

Start > Right Click on Computer > Properties

PistolPete · 30 Aug 2012 at 14:16

Start -> Right click on Computer -> Manage.

It's under the Storage dropdown

ScarySquirrel · 30 Aug 2012 at 14:20

Thanks, I'll check tonight.

Dj_Jestar · 30 Aug 2012 at 14:24

This is in the Photography forum 0_o

platypus · 30 Aug 2012 at 14:31

ScarySquirrel said:
I'm embarrassed asking this; how do I get to disk management in Windows 7?

Type computer management into the start menu search...

.

ScarySquirrel · 30 Aug 2012 at 18:31

I'm a dumbass! ha.

Anyway, it is showing up but says not initialised. When I try to initialise it, I get this error:

Any ideas?

Willyeckerslike · 30 Aug 2012 at 19:04

I had a similar problem with my 500gb passport, it turned out to be a faulty cable (worked ok with my samsung mobile charger cable). I contacted wd and they posted me a new cable free of charge. Hope this helps

robinbredin · 30 Aug 2012 at 19:12

platypus · 31 Aug 2012 at 10:52

Are you able to scan the drive using the WD Lifeguard tool?

Could be anything really, but its likely to be a faulty cable, faulty drive, or worse a faulty controller on the motherboard.

ScarySquirrel · 31 Aug 2012 at 22:11

I bought a replacement cable a few weeks ago and that didn't resolve the problem. The drive also doesn't show up on other computers, so I guess the drive is screwed.

Schizo · 31 Aug 2012 at 22:16

could you take the hd out of the caddy and try it in your pc ?

AbsenceJam · 31 Aug 2012 at 22:37

If there's anything you need off of there or it's out of warranty then open it up and try the actual drive, otherwise you might as well RMA.
If it's not an actual passport but an elements you may find there are no SATA connections though, just a USB controller.