My external HDD works on my PS3 but not my computer.?

Question

I have a 1TB Western Digital External Hard Drive, I can plug it into my PS3 and it reads it just fine, shows absolutely everything on it, but when I plug it into my computer it says there are no files. One day I was transferring some pictures onto it from my girlfriends computer because her computer was messing up and i was backing up the pictures before reformatting her computer, her computer shut down in the middle of transferring pictures. Now since then my external hard drive will not work on a computer, but it works perfectly fine on my PS3. I have some stuff I need to transfer to it from my PC but I cant because my computer says there are no files. How do I fix this problem?

chezzrob · Accepted Answer

i assume you have windows xp that is on the old fat32 file system
Windows XP:
Your computer needs to be NTFS to see the large hdd, and to use files larger than 4 gig. If you computer is Fat32, then it will not see a large external or internal drive when the files in a folder on that drive add up to more than 4gb.
The drive needs to be NTFS because when you start adding files to it, eventually it will freeze.

Fat32 to NTFS
-------------------
you can change the file system with out losing the data

To Check your hard drive, flash drive or external hard drive do this. They ALL need to be NTFS to handle today's large size file addressing..

Open my computer, right click the drive >properties. In the pop up it will say FAT or NTFS in the file system. If its FAT you need to change it to NTFS to handle large files and drive sizes.

Do it in this order:
1, Open my computer> right click the drive >properties >tools >check now >tick both boxes to clear the disk of any errors, then:
2. defrag the drive (tools)
3. Enter the convert command like this:
say the usb drive is F:
Click Start > Run > "convert F: /fs:ntfs /v /nosecurity /x"  without the quotes.

same for your C drive. (paste above convert command and change the drive letter)

I have done this a lot and never lost any data.  Just don't interfere or take risks.  The biggest risk is a power failure while its doing it. It doesn't take long.  If you find it doesn't do the conversion, then run Chkdisk to fix errors then try again.


You can read about it in XP help files.
Click start >help and support  >type format in the search – look in the overviews.

Chris · Answer

Pop it in a Computer, Then goto Strat menu, Right click Computer..
Hit Manage, Select Device Manager, Locate & Right click the EHD Driver..
Then hit Uninstall.. Restart the Computer and it will Re-install the Driver.

Also try.. Start mneu, Computer, Right click EHD and hit Properties,
In one of the Tabs do a ERROR Check & Auto Fix Any Issues.

If None of that helps & you can Copy all your data to a safe Place...

âº Repairing Corrupt Partition Table â

You Need to Delete the Partition and Create A New One.

Download & Install -> http://download.cnet.com/Easeus-Partition-Master-Home-Edition/3000-2248_4-10863346.html

Load Easeus, Right Click The Device you want to Repair, Hit 'Delete Partition'..
Then Right Click the Device Again and Hit 'Create Partition'..
Then Right Click The Device & Hit 'Format. Then Exit And APPLY Changes.

If you Cant do What i said above burn this to a CD.. And Do as Stated Above.
http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/help/creating-a-bootable-cd-dvd.htm

You may beable to Recover your Files Using Free Recovery App's..
http://abouttricks.com/best-data-recovery-softwares/
( Definitely worth a Try )

Hope it helps :)

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My external HDD works on my PS3 but not my computer.?

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