External HDD not seen in my computer.

[MasterRamRod]

Hi,

I have a 500gb Kingston external usb HDD connected to my PC, all I want to do is format it but it is not showing up in My Computer or Disk management, I can see it in device manager but nowhere else.

I have already right clicked on my computer, gone to manage and then disk management and there is no undefined drive there, just my normal drives.

I have also tried through command prompt and still can only see my normal drives.

The last thing i can think of would be to use a HDD dock and take apart the external HDD, is this the only method left?

Thanks

 

[Wolfshadw]

Check the Kingston web site to see if there are drivers required for the external drive.

-Wolf sends

 

[MasterRamRod]

I haven't been able to find any on their website or google, Kingston SNA-DC/U 500GB, only thing I found where crappy driver installers that claimed to be able to D/L but that didn't work very well 😛

 

[Wolfshadw]

Found this thread in another forum. If you have any other device (a friend's computer), you should connect your drive to that and see if it's recognized.

-Wolf sends

 

[MasterRamRod]

I have already tried it in multiple computers and receiving the same result, it just won't appear in My Computer so I cannot format, yet I can see it fine in device manager.

 

[Wolfshadw]

If you've tried it in multiple computers with the same results, I'd say the external drive hardware has failed.

-Wolf sends

 

[MasterRamRod]

Right, I will still have a go at separating it and mounting it on an external HDD dock and hope for the best, thanks for your time anyway

 

[ArtPog]

The first thing you should try is to connect the device to another PC and determine if it's detected there.

Probably your only viable option is to remove the HDD from the enclosure and then install it in your PC. Hopefully the problem is with the enclosure and not the drive.

The difficulty in the preceding is two-fold...
1. I'm not familiar with that USB enclosure so I don't know if it's a sealed unit and, as such, will have to be virtually destroyed before removing its installed HDD.

2. Then it's possible the HDD doesn't contain standard SATA data/power connectors. Rather, a proprietary form of connection that requires an adapter in order to connect the disk to "normal" SATA data/power connectors.

It's one of the reasons we strongly advise PC users to purchase an USB external enclosure and a HDD of their choice rather than these "one-piece" commercial USBEHDs.