SimpleTech 320GB external Hard drive

[MJMeador]

Hi,
I have had my 320 GB Simpletech hard drive for couple of years now. I back up EVERYTHING to it. Today i plugged it up and I hear it spinning and the red light is on but is not auto connecting or showing up at all in the "my computer" section. Does any one know what could have magical happened to it? I really need to files on it.
Thanks so very much
MJ

Also... I have tried it on a couple of computers and on my office computer when i disconnected it the speakers played same tone as when I take out a USB Flash without stopping it first

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

It may be just a drive letter problem, easy to fix. Windows sometimes fails to assign a drive letter to an external hard drive even though it acknowledges it's presence when you plug it in. No drive letter = no way to see it in the Windows shell.

That's where Disk Management comes in:
Control Panel > Admin Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management

In the bottom-right panel, find the ribbon which has no drive maker's name and no drive letter, and says "Raw".
Right-click that ribbon and choose "Change Drive Letter & Paths"
Click "Add"
Accept the default letter and click "OK"

Try a different computer for the above procedure if necessary.

 

[lonewolf7]

Try it in safe-mode, see what happens.