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    TROUBLESHOOTING HELP!! External HDD Samsung Spinpoint F1

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by naturelle_x3, Dec 30, 2008.

  1. naturelle_x3

    naturelle_x3 Newbie

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    So I finally received my beautiful babies, Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB and Vantec NexStar 3i, and I hastily plugged them into my Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop...

    U.n.f.o.r.t.u.n.a.t.e.l.y.

    My laptop is not reading the HDD!!!! No volumes exist in My Computer for my precious jewel! I've tried using the "Add New Hardware Wizard" and restarting my laptop a several times, not to mention plugging out/in the USB as well as turning on/off my external HDD... But the computer is still not recognizing the drive.

    PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!
     
    naturelle_x3, Dec 30, 2008
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  2. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Are you using a "Y" USB cable? You need to plug both in ends of the cable into the notebook, the hard drive probably is not getting enough power.

    Or the hard drive is dead.
     
    Greg, Dec 30, 2008
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  3. naturelle_x3

    naturelle_x3 Newbie

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    There's no "Y" USB cable--it's just one outlet on each end.

    How would I know if it's dead? The sounds seems to be normal... there's no clicking or anything... it's really quiet too.

    I actually forgot to add this, but the computer seems to recognize the drive under "Device Manager" > "Disk Drives" under the name SAMSUNG HD103UJ USB Device, but as I said earlier, the volume does not appear on My Computer.
     
    naturelle_x3, Dec 30, 2008
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  4. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Alright, there MIGHT be something else here I'm forgetting about. Did you format the drive and assign a partition to it?

    Right click on 'My Computer' and hit 'Manage'. Go to the 'Disk Management' page and if you don't see the drive there then something is definitely wrong. If you do see the drive, try formatting and/or changing the drive letter.
     
    Greg, Dec 31, 2008
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