Help with WD HDD

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thread starter jayd153 Jul 10 2010 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

Help D: My Western Digital hard drive disk isnt showing under My computer. It shows in device manager but not in disk manager so i can't locate it a drive. Can someone help me? o.e

My Characters: xbamboogunx - 61 Windia Gunslinger

BobR + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

Is this an external (USB) hard drive..? If yes, is there another computer you can try it on..? Does it make any sounds when it's operating (normally)..? Is it making any of those sounds now..? One thing I'd try would be to turn the computer completely off and let it sit for a minute or two, then turn it back on and see if it's any different. Another thing would be to RIGHT-click on "My Computer" and select "Manage", then on the left panel of the window that opens, select "Disk Management" under "Storage". This should display what Windows thinks it sees of your hard drive(s). Actually, now that I think of it, I've never seen what a USB disk looks like on this display but I don't think it should be any different from an internal hard drive at least as far as this program sees. At the top of the right panel should be a list of the hard drives, with various indications such as the file system Windows sees on the disk and an evaluation of the "status" of the drive. The display at the bottom of the right panel shows a graphical representation of the partitioning of the drives, which in most cases won't really show much detail. If the drive doesn't show up in this display, or if it says the drive is "unpartitioned", it means there's trouble with the disk or its filesystem. In most cases that means it would be a good idea to have it looked at and serviced, in case there's a problem that might endanger your files.

My Characters: MikeDaNewGuy - 53 Windia Blaze Wizard

jayd153 07/10/10 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

well, the thing is... i have NOTHING on it and all i wanna do is put stuff ONTO it D: i've heard you can format it and it should work properly, but how do i do that?

My Characters: xbamboogunx - 61 Windia Gunslinger

BobR + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

Ah- ok, in that case, RIGHT-click on "My Computer" and select "Manage", then on the left panel of the window that opens, select "Disk Management" under "Storage". (Of course, this is in my XP... different versions may vary slightly, but they're all pretty close) Click the new drive (which will probably show up as D: for a new internal drive, and ummm... however a USB drive comes up... just select the new drive then RIGHT-click it and click "Format..." It'll lead you through the process of partitioning and formatting the new drive. You can set it up into several "logical" smaller drives if you want, but most people don't bother with anything like that and just make it into one large disk, so select the maximum size it shows you. When it's done formatting, you may have to reboot for the computer to recognize the new disk, but Windows will see it now, and it should be ready to use at that point.

My Characters: MikeDaNewGuy - 53 Windia Blaze Wizard

jayd153 07/10/10 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

Computer says no D: when i click D:, it just highlights and no new drive comes up... however D: was already there because i partitioned my drive when i first installed windows. So i dont think i can format it. maybe i can assign a drive for it, but how?

My Characters: xbamboogunx - 61 Windia Gunslinger

BobR 07/11/10 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

Wait- what exactly are you doing..? Are you installing a new hard drive in your computer in addition to whatever is already there..? Or are you trying to figure out why the D: partition on the original hard drive isn't showing up in Windows..?

My Characters: MikeDaNewGuy - 53 Windia Blaze Wizard

jayd153 07/11/10 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

Ok, My WD (western digital) is a portable hard drive. It only shows up in Device manager but not in disk management when i right click on My Computer and click on Manage. Also, It doesn't appear in My Computer, which means i can't access it. My computer already has 2 partitions, C: and D:. Its just that the portable hard drive wont show up.

My Characters: xbamboogunx - 61 Windia Gunslinger

BobR + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

Is the WD portable new..? It sounds like it's not formatted- Windows device manager can tell there's a drive there, but Windows doesn't see a filesystem on it. In Disk Manager at the bottom of the right side, do you have a "Disk 0" showing both "C:" and "D:" on it..? Then below that a "Disk 1" with no drive letter showing..? (Mine are all partitioned and formatted, so I can't tell exactly what it would say if it wasn't formatted.) If that's what you see when the WD is plugged in, then "Disk 1" is the WD, and if it says "unpartitioned" or anything like that, it means you have to format and partition it for Windows to give it a Drive Letter. It WON'T show up in the top window of Disk Manager (or Windows Explorer) because the normal display there only shows formatted Windows volumes (drives with Drive letters). If that's what it looks like, RIGHT-click on the "Disk 1" bar in the bottom window and select "Format". If the WD isn't new though, and should have files on it already it might be a good idea to try it on a different computer just to check whether it can be accessed at all.

My Characters: MikeDaNewGuy - 53 Windia Blaze Wizard

jayd153 07/11/10 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

Well theres a Disk 0, but no Disk 1. And it is kinda old. But i have tried it on my sisters and my laptop (on computer now) and it works just fine there.

My Characters: xbamboogunx - 61 Windia Gunslinger

BobR 07/11/10 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

Ah... if it works on a different computer, then there's some other problem on your computer. Can you use other USB devices on this computer OK..?

My Characters: MikeDaNewGuy - 53 Windia Blaze Wizard

jayd153 07/11/10 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

yeah all other devices work fine on this computer.

My Characters: xbamboogunx - 61 Windia Gunslinger

BobR 07/11/10 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

It's strange that this computer can't see it when others can. You might want to check the Western Digital web site to see if they have a forum where someone might be familiar with this problem, and might have an answer.

My Characters: MikeDaNewGuy - 53 Windia Blaze Wizard

jayd153 07/11/10 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

Ive checked the whole internet... maybe... ill try to see if anyone has my problem and have fixed it

My Characters: xbamboogunx - 61 Windia Gunslinger