Toshiba External Hard Drive Won't Initialize/Work

[traviiis48]

I have a Toshiba 500GB Automatic Backup Portable external hard drive, PN: PH2050U-1EWL SN: 42AKFBZCSRE8 , and when I plugged it in it did not show up under This PC but it did show up under disk management and drive management. Under Disk management I found that it was completely unallocated and it wasn't initialized. Upon attempting to initialize it, it would load for a minute or so and then give me an error saying that the device was not ready. I tried initializing it multiple times. The last time it worked was before I attempted to turn it into an Xbox 360 hard drive by formatting it and allowing the xbox to convert the hard drive into a format it liked or something like that. How can this hard drive be saved, or can it even be saved? If you need screenshots just ask. EDIT: the hard drive also shows up under devices and printers.

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there traviiis48,

I would advise you to start with something simple as just changing the USB cable and the port you are connecting it to. It will not hurt to try the drive on another system as well.
You can also try running a bootable version of some HDD testing tool. The results will eventually show you what is wrong with the drive.
If the drive is still under warranty, and the issue persists, It may be a good idea to contact the manufacturer and eventually RMA it.(I assume that you do not need the data).


Cheers,
D_Know_WD