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My Seagate external hard drive is not being detected

Anonymous
2018-03-12T15:58:30+00:00

I plug it in where the USB ports are but it doesn't show up in the Local Disk C: or the DVD RW Drive D: where it should be found....  What can I do to get the Seagate external hard drive to be detected????

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-03-13T15:31:08+00:00

    Let me add a bit to Lem's advice.

    Right-click on Computer, choose Manage

    Click on Disk Management

    You may find the drive shown there but in a state which Windows does not recognize.  That means it has lost its header identity and needs to be re-initialized and formatted.

    If you do see it there, download and run SeaTools: 

    http://www.seagate.com/ca/en/support/downloads/item/seatools-win-master/

    SeaTools for Windows is Seagate's drive tester software.  Run all three tests.  The drive may have failed.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-03-12T18:05:58+00:00

    It has nothing to do with Local Disk C: or DVD RW Drive D: It's a completely separate disk and should show up as Drive E or perhaps F:, not C: or D:.

    Does it? If it doesn't, where did you get it? Has it been formatted? Do you perhaps need a driver for it?

    Does it show up in Disk Management?

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  3. LemP 74,925 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2018-03-13T05:06:40+00:00

    Does the drive have its own power supply?  If so, make sure that the power supply is plugged in properly and the power cord is fully seated in the connector on the drive.

    Turn the computer off.

    Turn the drive off (if it has its power switch or power supply).

    Disconnect the drive from the computer.

    Turn the computer on and let things stabilize.

    Connect the drive to a different USB port (i.e., not the port to which it was previously connected).  If you have a desktop/tower computer, try to use a USB port on the back of the computer rather than one on the front. 

    • If the drive does NOT have its own power supply or on/off switch, did the computer make the "device detected" sound ("bong") when you connected the drive and did a message pop up indicating that a driver was being installed?
    • If the drive does have its own power supply and switch, plug it in and turn it on; did the computer make the "device detected" sound ("bong") when you powered the drive on and did a message pop up indicating that a driver was being installed?

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-03-13T15:19:37+00:00

    There is no power source for the external hard drive, I used different USB ports and it shows up in the printer/device area then disappears and it won't show up at all in the area where the C: or the D: drives would be....

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  5. Anonymous
    2018-03-12T23:01:29+00:00

    I wrote it wasn't in where the C or D drives were at where it should be found but I left out I meant in that same area....  It was there a couple of days ago then it didn' show up in the E or F or G drive as when I plugged it in the USB port....

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