Solved USB external hard drive problem

riverrat69

New Member
I'm running Vista Home Premium with a WD5000 external USB Hard Drive. I formatted the external drive rebooted, and now the drive is not recognized in either Computer or disk management. It shows up in WD's Lifeguard Diagnostics tests that it works but does not show serial# or capacity. Should I junk this? I'm afraid to use it for backup. What to do? :sa:
 

My Computer

I recommend you contact Western Digital Support at: WD - Service & Support Home by whatever means you prefer - phone is usually the best. Discuss the problem with them and see if they can assist you. You did not provide enough information about the make and model of the drive (there's a make name and the model is a MUCH longer code) for me to assist or research any further. If you do, I'll see what I can find, if anything. There are many possible causes - it is not compatible with Vista, it needs updated drivers or software, it is defective, - and it's also possible there's a hardware or software problem with the computer (but we don't have enough information to tell).

Do you have another computer (using Vista) you can test it on to see if it works? If not, it's probably the drive. If so, it's probably something about the computer. If you do this test and find it is the computer, post back.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inc. MP061 Inspiron E1705
    CPU
    2.00 gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo 64 kilobyte primary memory
    Motherboard
    Board: Dell Inc. 0YD479 Bus Clock: 166 megahertz
    Memory
    2046 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM) [Di
    Sound Card
    SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor (17.2"vis)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Hitachi HTS541616J9SA00 [Hard drive] (160.04 GB) -- drive 0, s/n SB2411SJGLLRMB, rev SB4OC74P, SMART Status: Healthy
    Case
    Chassis Serial Number: 5YK95C1
    Keyboard
    Standard PS/2 Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech HID-compliant Cordless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    1958 Kbps download ; 754.8 Kbps upload
    Other Info
    Optiarc DVD+-RW AD-5540A ATA Device [CD-ROM drive]

    Dell AIO Printer A940

    Conexant HDA D110 MDC V.92 Modem

    6TO4 Adapter
    Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller
    Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter
    Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
    Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface

    Router Linksys / WRT54G -01
I recommend you contact Western Digital Support at: WD - Service & Support Home by whatever means you prefer - phone is usually the best. Discuss the problem with them and see if they can assist you. You did not provide enough information about the make and model of the drive (there's a make name and the model is a MUCH longer code) for me to assist or research any further. If you do, I'll see what I can find, if anything. There are many possible causes - it is not compatible with Vista, it needs updated drivers or software, it is defective, - and it's also possible there's a hardware or software problem with the computer (but we don't have enough information to tell).

Do you have another computer (using Vista) you can test it on to see if it works? If not, it's probably the drive. If so, it's probably something about the computer. If you do this test and find it is the computer, post back.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!
Thanks for the timely response. I did all the things you suggested prior to posting my question. I have not tried it on another computer. I've decided not to pursue this, I'm going to junk it and try a different manufacturer.
 

My Computer

That's one solution that's likely to work - but don't toss out the old one just yet. If you use a different one and have the same problem or do test the old one on another computer and it works fine, then there may be no problem with the drive and it may be something with the computer we need to examine more closely.

If you consider this issue closed, don't forget to close out the thread by clicking the far right triangular icon at the top of your post and typing "solved" in the box and submitting it. The moderators will notice and put a green check next to the thread title. That way others seeking answers by searching the forums will know that this thread contains a solution to the issue identified in the title - and people seeking to help will not waste time checking out this thread since it has been resolved.

And welcome to Vista Forums! Now that you know where we are, bookmark the site and post anytime you have further questions or problems or if you just want to browse and learn (especially the Tutorial section offers some excellent advice on a wide variety of topics) or even if you want to try to help answer a question if you happen to see one where you know the answer and it hasn't already been posted. While it most likely won't be me the next time (though it might), there are many very skilled, experienced, knowledgeable, and friendly people here who, like me, volunteer their time to help others and one or maybe even several will respond to your post to assist you. While there are other forums on the web that do this sort of thing, you've now found what I think is the best (and I've posted in and/or checked out quite a few) so don't lose this link - you never know when it might come in handy again.

Good luck and best wishes.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inc. MP061 Inspiron E1705
    CPU
    2.00 gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo 64 kilobyte primary memory
    Motherboard
    Board: Dell Inc. 0YD479 Bus Clock: 166 megahertz
    Memory
    2046 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM) [Di
    Sound Card
    SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor (17.2"vis)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Hitachi HTS541616J9SA00 [Hard drive] (160.04 GB) -- drive 0, s/n SB2411SJGLLRMB, rev SB4OC74P, SMART Status: Healthy
    Case
    Chassis Serial Number: 5YK95C1
    Keyboard
    Standard PS/2 Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech HID-compliant Cordless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    1958 Kbps download ; 754.8 Kbps upload
    Other Info
    Optiarc DVD+-RW AD-5540A ATA Device [CD-ROM drive]

    Dell AIO Printer A940

    Conexant HDA D110 MDC V.92 Modem

    6TO4 Adapter
    Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller
    Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter
    Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
    Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface

    Router Linksys / WRT54G -01
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