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Computer "not responding" when I connect external hard drive.

Anonymous
2011-02-05T17:19:27+00:00

Hi all,

When I connect my external hard drive to my laptop, it is detected and the icon for hardware shows up in the bottom taskbar. But when I go to my computer, it comes up as not responding. I can still open other programs etc that are unrelated to the hard drive, but anything to do with the hard drive is "not responding". As soon as I plug it out, the laptop starts responding again. I've tried it on another laptop and the same thing happens.

Any ideas?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-02-06T06:12:37+00:00

    Hi Wendall81,

    -      How long have you had this issue?

    Follow the methods listed below:

    Method 1:

    **Step 1:**Boot intosafe mode and check if the issue persists.

    See  Advanced startup options (including safe mode) for more information on booting into safe mode.

    Step 2: If the issue does not occur in safe mode, you may put your system in clean boot state (in normal mode) to troubleshoot the issue.

    See How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7

    Note: After troubleshooting, make sure to put the computer to start as usual as mentioned in Step 7 in the above KB article.

    Method 2:

    Run a disk checkup on the external drive.

    See Check your hard disk for errors for instructions.

    Note: If any bad sectors are found while running the check disk utility and if attempt recovery of bad sectors option is checked while checking the drive for errors, data in the bad sector may be lost while attempting to recover bad sectors.

    Gokul - Microsoft Support

    [If this post was helpful, please click the "Vote as Helpful" (green triangle) button. If it helps in resolving your issue, click "Propose As Answer" or "Mark as Answer" button. By proposing/marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.]

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-01-12T19:47:02+00:00

    It might be due to disk errors. Run this command

    **chkdsk /f C:**in run

    replace c with drive letter of your hard drive's

    20+ people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2015-09-23T06:27:08+00:00

    Uninstall the USB driver from device manager and restart the computer.

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-08-17T14:09:44+00:00

    Hi, I have exactly the same problem. Did you find a fix or just scrap the hard drive?

    Thanks

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-02-13T18:52:39+00:00

    Hi Gokul, thanks for replying. 

    The issue has been occurring for a few weeks now. I've only had the hard drive for a few months. Was running fine for the first couple of months.

    I tried method one, ie booting in safe mode and checking if the issue still occurred or not. Unfortunately the same was happening. Even in safe mode, with the external hard drive plugged in, 'My Computer' would not respond at all. As soon as I disconnected hard drive, everything was responding fine.

    I can't try method two, cos with the hard drive connected I can't actually do anything with it. The hard drive icon doesn't come up in 'My Computer', so I can't check it's properties etc. 

    Any ideas?

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