USB hardrive not recognized

hpstranger · 12-27-2007, 09:49 AM

I just got a new computer with Vista installed. My external hardrive Was formatted on my old computer which had XP. I'm fairly certain it's formatted FAT32 and it's partitioned. When I plug it into any of the USB ports on my new computer, it is not recognized at all. I've searched in the device manager and within the "Computer" screen. I am very new to Vista so I don't know what else I can do at the moment. Please help.

~~Monty Python~~ · 12-27-2007, 11:09 AM

First, verify that the USB port is working. If not, verify that USB support is enabled in BIOS.

Try a different port, and polug in another USB device to see if it works.

If it does, when you plug the external drive in, does ANYTHING happen. Usually a device is "seen", but may not be recognized.

Also, in Device Manager, did you enable "Show Hidden Devices"? Sometimes there are conflicts with hidden devices. Report any flags here. Uninstall any flagged devices and restart. Sometimes doing that fixes the problem.

Does the system have any other symptoms ?

Can you plug the external drive into another computer to verify that it is still working ? Sometimes they just go bad.

If you can get it to work in another computer, run chkdsk /f on the drive and note if it finds and/or fixes any errors.

12-27-2007, 09:49 AM	#1 (permalink)
hpstranger Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Michigan Posts: 1 OS: Vista	USB hardrive not recognized I just got a new computer with Vista installed. My external hardrive Was formatted on my old computer which had XP. I'm fairly certain it's formatted FAT32 and it's partitioned. When I plug it into any of the USB ports on my new computer, it is not recognized at all. I've searched in the device manager and within the "Computer" screen. I am very new to Vista so I don't know what else I can do at the moment. Please help.

12-27-2007, 11:09 AM	#2 (permalink)
~~Monty Python~~ Troubled Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 462 OS: Vista 32-bit Ultimate	Re: USB hardrive not recognized First, verify that the USB port is working. If not, verify that USB support is enabled in BIOS. Try a different port, and polug in another USB device to see if it works. If it does, when you plug the external drive in, does ANYTHING happen. Usually a device is "seen", but may not be recognized. Also, in Device Manager, did you enable "Show Hidden Devices"? Sometimes there are conflicts with hidden devices. Report any flags here. Uninstall any flagged devices and restart. Sometimes doing that fixes the problem. Does the system have any other symptoms ? Can you plug the external drive into another computer to verify that it is still working ? Sometimes they just go bad. If you can get it to work in another computer, run chkdsk /f on the drive and note if it finds and/or fixes any errors.