Can’t access USB drive

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I have an older HP m7680n computer running Win7 x64. For the last year or so I’ve been using two 500GB Segate FreeAgent Go USB drives as backup media for my system. Normally I plug in whichever drive I need then boot the computer. On start the computer boings/dings/whatever and an autostart window pops up asking what I want to do with the drive. During the day if I need to access the drive, I’d use Windows Explorer where the drive would be listed with it’s name and a drive letter. Three days ago my system stopped identifying the USB drives in either Win Explorer or in Computer. The system will still ding/beep (whatever that sound is called) when the drive is connected (like a hot swap) but will not show the drive and I can’t access it. Went to device manager and it showed up there by name under disk Drives and I could populate the drive (under volume tab of properties). Just can’t access the %$#@ thing normally. I even took both drives to another Win7 machine and … Worked fine, no problem, drive showed up in Win Explorer and I was able to access any/all the files.

Any suggestions on how to fix this would be appreciated
Thanks
Chinook1544

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Chinook,

Have you tried to use a USB key in one of the USB slots? If not try it and see if it is recognized. If it isn’t recognized check the Auto Start settings they may have accidentally been changed to do nothing. Next you could go into Device Manager and delete the USB controllers then restart Windows and let it reload the drivers or you could use System Restore and back up a couple of days to where you knew the drives worked.:cheers:

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
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RetiredGeek
USB Key ??? If you mean a USB Flash Drive … Yup, tried that and they seem to work fine.
Tried checking “auto start” and it only listed CD/DVD not USB (even when the Seagate USB drive was connected).
Will try Device Mgr – deleting USB Driver tomorrow and let you know what happens (for some reason doing that never crossed my mind …. Duh! my “Old-timer’s” must be acting up again)

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RetiredGeek

Apologies for no reply. Daughter-In-Law decided to present me with a new Grandson :bananas:and that took/is taking precedence over EVERYTHING. Am now the primary babysitter for Grandson #1 and looks like it will be several weeks before I get back to trying to fix this mess. Once I have some free time I think I’ll just wipe everything out and reinstall Win7. Will let you know how things end up.
Thank you for your advice

Chinook1544

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Congratulations!:clapping:

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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Go straight to the Seagate web site and use their troubleshooting guide. I had what sounds like the identical problem with a brand new drive mere days ago, and I can’t even remember what the solution was, but I got it from Seagate. When I remember, as I expect I will, I’ll post it. In the meantime, don’t even dream of wiping anything but that baby’s, um, CONGRATULATIONS.

All right, I have just had my memory jogged. It sounds as if your drive has not been assigned a drive letter by the offending computer. (Seagate gives a few examples of possible reasons.) Go to Start > Computer and then right-click on Computer. Then select Manage, and you will get a display of drives. Yours will be there, we hope, so right-click on that and assign it a drive letter that you are sure is available. The computer normally does this for you, and it is normally the first available letter, but sometimes it doesn’t.

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DogBerry & Retired Geek

Thanks for all the info. Dogberry’s solution worked and I now have access to all my USB drives. Thank you !!!

You’ll notice that in my original msg I mentioned going to the Seagate site. Well I went to that part of Seagate dealing with the drive and NOT the troubleshooter dealing with the connection. That was apparently the key. Anyway, it all works fine now thanks to both of you.

Chinook

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