Ext Drive not seen

[nonguru]

I have a Seagate 3000GB external drive which is about half full of images. I use Win 7 Home. I use a SATA to USB rig that I've used for years and the rig works fine. Initially, when I connected it, Win 7 saw it, but stated it had to be formatted before I could use. I didn't want to format it and lose all the imagery data. Now, when connected the drive does not get a "letter" assigned. When I found it once in Computer Management, I saw it, but it didn't have any data on it and it wasn't initialized, it didn't even show as a drive. I mean HDD0, HDD1, etc. Now, it doesn't see it at all. Anybody have any ideas?

 

[DookieDraws]

The drive may have gotten corrupt somehow, but you still should be able to boot into Safe Mode and retrieve your files. Which is what I would recommend you do. After you have recovered your files, then reformat that drive. A "Quick Format" should be fine.

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there nonguru,

There are two options:
- There is something wrong with the SATA to USB adapter/docking station. You can easily see whether this is the case if you just attach the HDD internally through SATA. After that, you can go to Disk Management and see how does it appear over there. You may need to use some data recovery software. In fact, you need to do that as your HDD is currently not recognized by Disk Management. In that case, you will not be able to access it with software tools.
- There is something wrong with the HDD itself. Yet again, you can be absolutely sure if this is the case if you just attach the HDD internally. In case the issue persists and the HDD is not recognized by Disk Management, you will need to RMA the drive if still under warranty and/or use the services of a data recovery company in case the data stored on it is really important.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD