When I plug in my SimpleTech 160GB HD I get a message that the device will run faster if connected to a USB 2.0 port, but the drive never appears in Windows Explorer
Computers & Internet - SimpleTech - Simpledrive - SimpleDrive 160 GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Answers & Comments
They are telling you nicely to go purchase a USB 2 port which you will install in your computer.
Go to the big box store in your area or Radio Shack or local computer guru shop and tell them you want a USB 2 port for your computer. You will have to have the make and model of computer so they will know what style of PCI card to sell you. Most big box stores provide hardware installation services for a small price if you are unfamiliar with the process.
Big Box in my area = Staples, Office Max, Office Depot, Best Buy, etc
Thanks for your question at FixYa.com
My friend, I answered your question as best as I could based on the information you presented. You are now changing the information, which, while I do appreciate the update, it puts a completely different tilt on the approach I must take to answer it.
The motor NOT running when you inspected it means nothing. The motor runs when the computer tells it to run. If it shows no style="display:none;">My friend, I answered your question as best as I could based on the information you presented. You are now changing the information, which, while I do appreciate the update, it puts a completely different tilt on the approach I must take to answer it.
The motor NOT running when you inspected it means nothing. The motor runs when the computer tells it to run. If it shows no data, it COULD be that the motor is dead - or it could be that the device was corrupted by some means.
I stand by my answer - your computer is telling you that your device will run faster if it is connected to USB 2 - translation, your computer now thinks the device is not a USB 2 device for some reason. Your device may be telling your computer that; the computer may be misreading your device today or there could be a fault with the device (drive) or your computer or you could have some corrupt files for reasons including invasion by some mal-ware.
If you want to continue to explore options, you could get a 3 inch boot floppy that also has the command fdisk on it - boot from the floppy (or CD if you don't have a floppy drive) and inspect the external disk using fdisk. There is also that possibility that software that came with your SimpleTech could help you with this problem.
Thank you for the feedback - I hope you are able to determine the cause of the failure and I hope your data is not compromised. (((if your disk is lost ... and there is important information on it, you may want to consider professional disk recovery services. Im sure there is a FixYa.com advertiser that provides this service.)))
Thanks again for the feedback and good luck
So, where is this going? Have you made any progress on this issue?
Hello,
as it been appearing before or is this your first time of using the drive on your computer?
Restart your computer and insert the drive into another port.
Let me know what happens next, so that I could direct you further.
Take care.
If you are running WinXP Pro, simply to go the Control Panel [switch to Classic View on the left of the screen if you haven't already done so]. Next, double click Administration Tools, and go to Computer Management -> Disk Management; scroll down to the USB hard drive and right click it to get a dialogue window and choose to create a new drive letter. Once that's done you can format the drive and it will be ready to go.
If that is the case then yes, the Hard drive might have died if it is not spinning anymore. This is a common problem for USB drives. You can replace it with any hard drive or if under warranty send it in for replacement.
Did this information help you?
I would recommend purchasing a usb 2.0 card and installing it in your computer. This will get you 2.0 usb ports and should fix the problem with your device not installing.
Thank you,
Lee
That is definitely helpful information. Then it definitely sounds like the hard drive has died. Happens quite often with external drives especially 3.5" drives.
Thank you and good luck,
Lee