External Hard drive does not show up in my computer [ Edited ]

[DJamesVandals]

Ok... I've been reading all the troubleshooting ideas in this forum and I've tried most of them to no avail.  In device manager in the control panel it shows my external 750 GB book is enabled and working properly.  Once I plug in the USB to my pc (running XP) it  pings as if it's recognizing I've added hardware, the hardware icon appears on the task bar and it states a mass storage device has been added etc..  All sounds good and well, except in "my computer" all my drives appears but my WD external drive.  I've had this problem since our pc failed due to a bad RAM module (I was told this couldn't happen by adding more RAM)  it did.  PC doctor had to reinstall my OS, ever since then my external hard drive won't work.  Is it due to software / drivers?   I've went into the  drive under device manager and it tell me my pc has the latest windows driver software etc..    But then I'm told by the locat Staples that this is simply a plug and play drive.... no software needed.. and I don't recall any installation CD with the drive when I purchased a year ago.   Ug... this is frustrating to say the least.. for all intensive purposes it appears the drive is working properly... I just can't access the drive via my computer or windows explorer etc..  Any help would be really appreciated.. all our digital family pics are on it. 

thanks, Doug

[DJamesVandals]

Blue light comes on once I plug in usb... cable must be working then right... I don't think the cable is the issue... or the add hardware icon on the task bar wouldn't appear indicating "usb mass storage device" has been added etc... this is bizarre. 

[Joe_S]

Go into Disk management and see if the drive is online if not change to online.

Joe

[fzabkar]

If you don't mind voiding your warranty, you could remove the drive from the enclosure and connect it directly to your computer's motherboard. This will eliminate the USB-SATA bridge board as a possible culprit.

[bottlebrush]

Hello!

I have the same problem.

The USB device viewer reports

          ---===>Device Information<===---
English product name: "External HDD    "

ConnectionStatus:                 
Current Config Value:              0x01  -> Device Bus Speed: High
Device Address:                    0x04
Open Pipes:                           2

          ===>Endpoint Descriptor<===
bLength:                           0x07
bDescriptorType:                   0x05
bEndpointAddress:                  0x81  -> Direction: IN - EndpointID: 1
bmAttributes:                      0x02  -> Bulk Transfer Type
wMaxPacketSize:                  0x0200 = 0x200 max bytes
bInterval:                         0x00

          ===>Endpoint Descriptor<===
bLength:                           0x07
bDescriptorType:                   0x05
bEndpointAddress:                  0x02  -> Direction: OUT - EndpointID: 2
bmAttributes:                      0x02  -> Bulk Transfer Type
wMaxPacketSize:                  0x0200 = 0x200 max bytes
bInterval:                         0x00

          ===>Device Descriptor<===
bLength:                           0x12
bDescriptorType:                   0x01
bcdUSB:                          0x0200
bDeviceClass:                      0x00  -> This is an Interface Class Defined Device
bDeviceSubClass:                   0x00
bDeviceProtocol:                   0x00
bMaxPacketSize0:                   0x40 = (64) Bytes
idVendor:                        0x1058 = Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
idProduct:                       0x0704
bcdDevice:                       0x0105
iManufacturer:                     0x01
     English (United States)  "Western Digital "
iProduct:                          0x02
     English (United States)  "External HDD    "
iSerialNumber:                     0x03
     English (United States)  "202020202020202020202020"
bNumConfigurations:                0x01

          ===>Configuration Descriptor<===
bLength:                           0x09
bDescriptorType:                   0x02
wTotalLength:                    0x0020  -> Validated
bNumInterfaces:                    0x01
bConfigurationValue:               0x01
iConfiguration:                    0x00
bmAttributes:                      0xC0  -> Bus Powered
MaxPower:                          0x01 =   2 mA

          ===>Interface Descriptor<===
bLength:                           0x09
bDescriptorType:                   0x04
bInterfaceNumber:                  0x00
bAlternateSetting:                 0x00
bNumEndpoints:                     0x02
bInterfaceClass:                   0x08  -> This is a Mass Storage USB Device Interface Class
bInterfaceSubClass:                0x06
bInterfaceProtocol:                0x50
iInterface:                        0x00

          ===>Endpoint Descriptor<===
bLength:                           0x07
bDescriptorType:                   0x05
bEndpointAddress:                  0x81  -> Direction: IN - EndpointID: 1
bmAttributes:                      0x02  -> Bulk Transfer Type
wMaxPacketSize:                  0x0200 = 0x200 max bytes
bInterval:                         0x00

          ===>Endpoint Descriptor<===
bLength:                           0x07
bDescriptorType:                   0x05
bEndpointAddress:                  0x02  -> Direction: OUT - EndpointID: 2
bmAttributes:                      0x02  -> Bulk Transfer Type
wMaxPacketSize:                  0x0200 = 0x200 max bytes
bInterval:                         0x00

[bottlebrush]

HDD S.M.A.R.T. scan recognises the  disk as
 

Model: WDC WD3200BEVT-75A23T0
Firmware: 01.01A01
Serial: WD-WX71A3019645
LBA: 625142448

The disk is recognised in Device Manager but not in Disk Management.

Please help!