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Thread ID: 109043 2010-04-21 21:39:00 External Hard Drive Visible but no data showing Ragga_NZ (15739) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
878939 2010-04-21 21:39:00 Hi,

The data on my external disk is no longer showing up, when I turn it on and off it does show up in my computer but when you open it the files are all gone.

I'm running XP Home 2002 servidce pack 3 and the hard drive is SATA Model ST380013AS Seagate Barracuda 80Gb 7200rpm 3.5" hard drive plugged into an external enclosure.

When I right click on the disk to show properties it says

Local Disk
RAW
Capacity 0 bytes free space 0 bytes

I had probably 20-30gb of data on this drive, is it all lost?

The drive does spin once on.

I checked in system restore and it says that this drive is offline.

I know automatic updates installed something recently could this be the cause maybe?
Ragga_NZ (15739)
878940 2010-04-21 21:42:00 I'd say it's died. You could try a file recovery program but don't count on it. pctek (84)
878941 2010-04-21 22:02:00 Pull it out of the enclosure and connect it directly to a SATA port. While it would appear the drive is dead, it is possibly the enclosure that's at fault. inphinity (7274)
878942 2010-04-22 12:01:00 Some of the fixes on the web include installing Tweak UI and then after opening it clicking on My Computer, Drives, and check marking Drive "F" or what ever the external should be.

Anther suggestion was to disable Fire-wire under Device Manager.

Worth a crack
Bam_Bam (7437)
878943 2010-04-24 00:35:00 Thanks for the feedback guys, I've just noticed that it may be something to do with the pc. As something has corrupted my USB stick too!!! Virus maybe. Haven't had one of those for ages!! Ragga_NZ (15739)
878944 2010-04-27 23:39:00 So I reformatted my usb stick, and tried transferring some mp3's to it and it showed and error and got corrupted again and now shows bytes available again, maybe something to do with windows? ANy Ideas? Ragga_NZ (15739)
878945 2010-04-28 01:05:00 Are the drives OK on another computer? inphinity (7274)
878946 2010-04-28 03:25:00 Its good that it sounds normal, I had a real broken one that kept going zip zip zip on boot.

If you dont have a spare pc, I would download the puppy linux 4.3 ISO, burn it, reboot, boot from CD
Have a look at your usb devices and see if copying works properly.

Twice I plugged in my 1.5tb into a win7 machine and it asked to format it! Take it home,works perfectly on ubuntu 9.10 XP!
pkm (13527)
878947 2010-04-28 05:14:00 You could try this, as I have an external hard drive which does not show any files when I first open it (connect via esata). I only connect it when I am wanting to do a backup and some times after my system has started it does not show up in explorer. I have to open "Disk Management" which shows the drive as unformated, but if I right click on it and select "change drive letters and paths" and then set a drive letter all my files now show and I can access them as normal. Davoid (6918)
878948 2010-04-28 07:02:00 Looks like some sites, say going into disk management and giving it a letter helps . And disabling firewire (if you have it), will also fix it . Too bad if you want to use it tho .

Some people also found out that plugging it into the back USB port works . Plugging an external hdd, into the front it wont work
Speedy Gonzales (78)
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