The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    can't access external hard drive

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by lookitsakyauk, Feb 11, 2009.

  1. lookitsakyauk

    lookitsakyauk Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    104
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I cant access my external hard drive. it says this when I right click on the drive and click open.

    windows cannot access the specified device path or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item.

    Any tips on how to fix?
     
    lookitsakyauk, Feb 11, 2009
    #1
  2. decaPODA

    decaPODA Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    12
    Messages:
    323
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    seems like a virus problem to me...

    run Autorun-Virus-Removal-Tool n see.. it works eerytime when my external disk can not be accessed by double clicking it..
     
    decaPODA, Feb 11, 2009
    #2
  3. gerryf19

    gerryf19 I am the walrus

    Reputations:
    2,275
    Messages:
    3,990
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    Is this a drive directly connected to your machine, or a NAS?

    Is this your computer or a business computer (domain admin could disable access to external devices)
     
    gerryf19, Feb 11, 2009
    #3
  4. lookitsakyauk

    lookitsakyauk Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    104
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    where do i find this Autorun-Virus-Removal-Tool
     
    lookitsakyauk, Feb 12, 2009
    #4
  5. ivar

    ivar Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    432
    Messages:
    1,410
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Very often the problems like this are easily solved by booting a Linux live cd
    which supports mounting of ntfs partitions (e.g. linux mint, kanotix, small puppy linux, and many more). You can both access your data on external hdd which windows refuses to read, to backup them, and even miraclously make your disk readable by windows again, after it has been mounted and read under linux.
     
    ivar, Feb 13, 2009
    #5