External USB hard drive hidden

Philip M · 03-02-2009, 03:57 PM

For three years I have backed up every 10 minutes to an external USB-powered Encryp2disk enclosure with a Toshiba MK1033GAS 120GB hard drive. Yesterday it became inaccessible from my PC.

It is seen by BIOS (as it is in the boot-order list) but not by Disk Management, Device Manager, Windows Explorer or My Computer, and not by PC Wizard, Testdisk6.1 or Find-and-Mount.

The external disk and cables work perfectly on my laptop, so I assume the problem is in the PC. It is probably not a power supply problem, as it still does not work on the PC using the split USB cable needed to get enough power from two laptop USB sockets. Voltages are reported by PC Wizard to be 1.37V, 3.40V, 5.10V & 11.94V.

System Restore does not work (it goes through the motions and then says that it could not restore to the selcted point).

It may be coincidence, but on that day I installed Microsoft Office Sign-Live add-in and uninstalled it because it prevented Word, Outlook and Excel from loading.

PC is HP Pavilion, BIOS is Phoenix, mainboard is Asus NODUSM, processor is Athlon 64 x2 3800+ @ 2000MHz and it is running XP SP3.

Any advice or guidance would be gratefully received.

Philip

andy12223618 · 03-02-2009, 08:25 PM

you can clear the cmos first,to see if the problem is solved.If you also can not find your external USB hard drive ,you may load the usb driver again.Sometimes,this method is useful.

Philip M · 03-03-2009, 12:05 PM

Thanks Andy. I tried clearing the CMOS but it made no difference.

I should have added that I have tried the drive in every one of 12 USB ports without success. The computer "beeps" when the drive is connected, but nothing shows under "Safely Remove Hardware". Nothing now apprears in the boot settings/menu. I added a new (different) USB external drive today successfully. So it seems the computer has a grudge against this particular drive.

How should I reload its USB driver as you suggest? I use the computer constantly for work so I cannot risk messing it up.

**raptor_pa** · 03-03-2009, 04:42 PM

Drivers probably are not the issue, sounds more like a drive failure. External drives that spin constantly are subject to heat damage pretty quickly. Three years is actually a pretty long time for a hard used external HD. Figure spinning at even 5400 rpm, probably has more miles on it than your last two sets of tires combined. If the drive is still spinning and not making any clicking type noises, your best bet is to attempt a recovery straight away. Try r-studio or getdataback in demo modes. See which one does the best job of finding your files. You can then purchase a license for whichever does best to recover to another drive. Both are less than $80.00. Try the demos and let us know if there are any issues.

Philip M · 03-04-2009, 07:26 AM

Thanks to all who responded. Issue is now resolved. http://www.techsupportforum.com/imag...es/1-smile.gif

Today Device Manager reported the presence of a Cypress AT2LP device (which as I understand it bridges a hard drive and a USB port) under 'USB controllers'. A simple 'Roll back driver' from December 2008 to 2001 resolved the whole issue.

Windows Update must have (wrongly) updated the driver without me knowing.

Philip

03-02-2009, 03:57 PM	#1 (permalink)
Philip M Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 4 OS: XP	External USB hard drive hidden For three years I have backed up every 10 minutes to an external USB-powered Encryp2disk enclosure with a Toshiba MK1033GAS 120GB hard drive. Yesterday it became inaccessible from my PC. It is seen by BIOS (as it is in the boot-order list) but not by Disk Management, Device Manager, Windows Explorer or My Computer, and not by PC Wizard, Testdisk6.1 or Find-and-Mount. The external disk and cables work perfectly on my laptop, so I assume the problem is in the PC. It is probably not a power supply problem, as it still does not work on the PC using the split USB cable needed to get enough power from two laptop USB sockets. Voltages are reported by PC Wizard to be 1.37V, 3.40V, 5.10V & 11.94V. System Restore does not work (it goes through the motions and then says that it could not restore to the selcted point). It may be coincidence, but on that day I installed Microsoft Office Sign-Live add-in and uninstalled it because it prevented Word, Outlook and Excel from loading. PC is HP Pavilion, BIOS is Phoenix, mainboard is Asus NODUSM, processor is Athlon 64 x2 3800+ @ 2000MHz and it is running XP SP3. Any advice or guidance would be gratefully received. Philip

03-02-2009, 08:25 PM	#2 (permalink)
andy12223618 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 13 OS: xp	Re: External USB hard drive hidden you can clear the cmos first,to see if the problem is solved.If you also can not find your external USB hard drive ,you may load the usb driver again.Sometimes,this method is useful.

03-03-2009, 12:05 PM	#3 (permalink)
Philip M Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 4 OS: XP	Re: External USB hard drive hidden Thanks Andy. I tried clearing the CMOS but it made no difference. I should have added that I have tried the drive in every one of 12 USB ports without success. The computer "beeps" when the drive is connected, but nothing shows under "Safely Remove Hardware". Nothing now apprears in the boot settings/menu. I added a new (different) USB external drive today successfully. So it seems the computer has a grudge against this particular drive. How should I reload its USB driver as you suggest? I use the computer constantly for work so I cannot risk messing it up.

03-03-2009, 04:42 PM	#4 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,821 OS: XP	Re: External USB hard drive hidden Drivers probably are not the issue, sounds more like a drive failure. External drives that spin constantly are subject to heat damage pretty quickly. Three years is actually a pretty long time for a hard used external HD. Figure spinning at even 5400 rpm, probably has more miles on it than your last two sets of tires combined. If the drive is still spinning and not making any clicking type noises, your best bet is to attempt a recovery straight away. Try r-studio or getdataback in demo modes. See which one does the best job of finding your files. You can then purchase a license for whichever does best to recover to another drive. Both are less than $80.00. Try the demos and let us know if there are any issues. __________________

03-04-2009, 07:26 AM	#5 (permalink)
Philip M Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 4 OS: XP	Re: External USB hard drive hidden Thanks to all who responded. Issue is now resolved. http://www.techsupportforum.com/imag...es/1-smile.gif Today Device Manager reported the presence of a Cypress AT2LP device (which as I understand it bridges a hard drive and a USB port) under 'USB controllers'. A simple 'Roll back driver' from December 2008 to 2001 resolved the whole issue. Windows Update must have (wrongly) updated the driver without me knowing. Philip