Why is my Computer not reading my external usb drive?

I have an Iomega 500 GB hard drive that has worked more off than on. It's plugged in, both power and to the computer. I've changed the power cord, replaced the cord to the computer, tried various things (including the device driver), turned it off for 20 minutes and turned it back on, unplugged it from the outlet (oddly, my monitor requires that sometimes...), plugged it into other USB ports (all 2.0 USB), restarted the computer, restarted the computer AND the hard drive, gone to the manufacturer's website for help, and so much more. Oddly when it gets in this mood, the only time it decides it will be seen by my home computer is when I have hooked it up to my laptop (which DOES recognize it), then back to the home computer that 'SURPRISE!' recognizes it. I wish I could tell you why.... I've had people look at it, and no reasons for why it doesn't like my computer. I might also mention my Iomega 250 GB has worked like a charm since the day I bought it.

Maybe the newer one is jealous? lol! Possessed, I tell you!

Good luck, though!

it could be a general computer brain fart, try going to control panel then to printers and other hardware then to system, a panel will open with many options click on the tab that says hardware then click on device manager it (the drive) should be listed under disk drives or other devices if it has a yellow exclamtion icon next to it is experiencing some kind of error more than likely related to drivers if it has a yellow question mark next to it your computer thinks there are no drivers loaded for it, in either of these cases i would suggest right clicking the device and trying to rollback the driver if this is a available option if this does not resolve the problem, try uninstalling the device through device manager powering off your PC unplgging the device powering back on wait for the desktop to load then plug the device back in hopfully it will recognize the device and ask you to install the drivers from a disk, if it is a newer device the process of driver installation may complete itself automatically, in any case its worth a shot because you cant get any less functional from here, but basically when a external device just quits working unexpectedly unless it is a true physical malfunction (meaning its flat out broke) its usally driver issues, these can be caused by installing new hardware, unplggging the device, moving the device to a different USB port ect.. USB stuff in general is very buggy, and has caused me almost as many headaches as all the other crap that comes along with microsuck! good luck

If you shut down your computer properly with the USB drive running, Windows will properly disconnect itself from the USB drive while Windows is going through it's shut down procedure. If you have to press the computer's reset button due to a crash, then the external hard drive should be alright. If the hard drive was writing something, then you will lose data. If the hard drive was reading something, then the heads will probably go back to their rest position when you restart the computer. Usually if the drive is idling, the hard drive would move the heads off the platters while you're running Windows. The only thing that will make your hard drive heads come crashing down on the platters is if the stylus is not in it's parked position and you smack the hard drive hard. Tip: Any time you go through a crash like a BSOD or if the power goes out, it would be a good idea to check your hard drives. After you restart Windows, check your C: drive for file system errors and do that for other partitions/drives if you were accessing them during the crash. To check a partition/drive, just go into My Computer and right click the drive that you want to check and then select 'Properties.' Then click on the 'Tools' tab. You don't have to do the 'bad sectors scan.'

Well is it not responding to it when it's plugged or what?

Try going to the device manager and see if you can update your USB files from there. To get to the device manager right click my computer, properties, and go to hardware tab and there should be a button for device manager.

But 1 thing we all under estimate is restarting the computer, that often fixes a lot of problems.

It may sound a little elementary, but make sure any power cables are plugged in properly and that any power switches are on. I've helped plenty of people with this problem because they just didn't realize there was a power switch on the drive.

i think ur usb drive is 2.0 and u had not installed usb 2.0 port for this problem check ur device manager by right click on my computer

my computer(right click)-->properties-->hardware-->device manager--> then click on

usb(universal serial bus controller) and see u had installed usb2.0 driver if not then see which one is usb 5.0 already installed Company name then find it on internet and then install

other wise find on google and type "usb 2.0 driver" nd select first result

Right Click My Computer, Manage, Disk Management, you will see it there, Right click and give it a new drive letter

Get Help http://goo.gl/Sgf1Hu

Have you gone to your control panel?

Try it.

Is it damaged?