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Windows Explorer has stopped detecting my USB Hard Drive
I'm getting some weird behaviour from my machine and would appreciate help in eradicating it.
It began after for no reason that I'm aware of the PC suddenly refused to boot-up. At around the same time my USB floppy drive became erratic - sometimes it would read a disk in the drive and other times it wouldn't (the same disk). When after a struggle I managed to get the PC to boot again I found that somewhere in the process one of my logical partitions had somehow become unformatted. I have a TrueImage backup archive and, having formatted the partition, restored my data from that.
That's by way of background but here's the weird part. My TrueImage backup archive is on a USB hard drive. I was able to retrieve my backup archive without any problem. So clearly that USB drive must be functioning normally. And in 'Device Manager' it's stated to be working properly, and in 'Computer Management -> Disk Management' it's still shown as Disk 1 exactly as it always was before - and declared 'Healthy'. Yet, ever since getting the PC going again, Windows Explorer has refused to detect this USB hard drive: it gives it no drive letter and its contents can't be accessed through Explorer. Previously, it was listed in 'My Computer' under "Devices with Removable Storage". (And when connected to a different computer (also running XP) this USB drive is shown normally in 'My Computer').
Note that this, like the floppy drive, is a USB device and I don't believe this can be a coincidence. The floppy drive is connected through a powered USB hub which in turn is connected to one of the motherboard USB-2 outputs, and the hard drive is connected to another of the motherboard USB-2 outputs. This is exactly how they were connected before this problem began. Although before the problem started I had switched one or two of the other USB devices to different connectors and added two more devices I fail to see why this in itself should cause any problem. I've experimented with moving the upstream connectors to different motherboard output sockets but this makes no difference. There are 6 motherboard outputs and currently 4 are in use, of which 1 has 3 sub-branches via the (powered) hub.
Is anyone able to suggest what I might try to resolve this isssue?
AOpen AK86-L
Sempron 3400+
512 MB RAM
160 GB SATA HDD, 250 GB USB HDD
USB devices:- printer, IR sensor, floppy drive, capture card, DVB-T tuner
WinXP SP2
EDIT
I neglected to mention another aspect of the weird behaviour. This is that, repeatedly upon booting-up, the PC detects new hardware which turns out to be "generic volume". This happens up to 4 times in succession. I've tried cancelling out of it, in which case it just comes back next time; so I've tried going along with it but that doesn't result in Explorer detecting the USB drive either. What it does do is put "generic volume" (twice!) onto the list of componenents shown under mass storage devices when I click on the "Safely remove hardware" button in the notification area of the taskbar.
Last edited by kosketus; 8th May 2007 at 08:53.
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Disconnect anything apart from a "problem" item. Work on singular items.
Don't disregard that it might be a power (supply) problem (hope the power supplied by the USB system is not being "burnt out"). You are using a lot of USB devices. Some USB devices may use small amounts of power, others may use a lot.
You have good USB Controller drivers and also IDE Controller drivers? They should be included with the chipset drivers or you might want to try resetting them by uninstalling them in Device Manager. If the correct drivers were installed originally, they should be reinstalled automatically.
(Look for updated chipset drivers).
Have you tried connecting the USB drive to another computer?
It might be a problem with the partitioning/formatting information on the drive (kept in the boot sector of the drive).
Interestingly enough there appear to be viruses that target usb flash drives.
Since people use the flash drives as convenient , fast and portable backup media the results can be devastating and mean.
The viruses seem to knock out the flash drive to make it unreadable.
Sometimes the drive can be read in a different os - say windows 98 instead of xp /2000.
I have not seen this in the literature as of yet.
However it seems to be a common occurence in the field.
Rather mean.
It is always best as a backup protocol to also make a copy of the backup on the hard drive as well.
Disconnect anything apart from a "problem" item. Work on singular items.
Don't disregard that it might be a power (supply) problem (hope the power supplied by the USB system is not being "burnt out"). You are using a lot of USB devices. Some USB devices may use small amounts of power, others may use a lot.
Hello Mattman
I started out with only two USB devices (printer and scanner), connected via a (bus-powered) hub because that was physically more convenient. (The scanner is no longer connected except when I need it which is seldom). At some stage - I think it was when I added the floppy drive to the hub - I got an error-message saying the power was insufficient; I connected the supplied 6V power-supply and all was well. Subsequently, I connected the IR sensor to the hub. No problem. So that made three devices.
Quote:
You have good USB Controller drivers and also IDE Controller drivers? They should be included with the chipset drivers or you might want to try resetting them by uninstalling them in Device Manager. If the correct drivers were installed originally, they should be reinstalled automatically.
(Look for updated chipset drivers).
Have you tried connecting the USB drive to another computer?
Yes, I have (2 other computers). No problem with either. But neither of them has any other USB device attached. Also, yes my chipset drivers are the latest, and there are no yellow question-marks in 'Device Manager' against any of my USB devices.
Two things about this baffle me completely. First and foremost, how is it possible for a hard drive to be recognised and declared "Healthy" in 'Disk Management', to be (apparently) functioning normally in all respects and yet to have suddenly ceased to appear in Explorer?
Secondly, I always previously understood that one of the selling-points for USB was its " extendability" - by daisy-chaining together as many self-powered hubs as one wished. (Obviously, there was an ultimate limit to the number of hubs but I always thought it was way beyond anything I'd ever be likely to need). I'm now getting the feeling that I'm being very narrowly restricted in the number of USB devices my computer will handle, and I don't know what I'm supposed to make of this. It isn't what I've been led to expect. Was I wrong?
Quote:
It might be a problem with the partitioning/formatting information on the drive (kept in the boot sector of the drive).
I've had a look at the partition table and - to my inexpert eye - there's nothing glaringly amiss with it.
I love seeing "This device is working properly" in Device Manager when the device is obviously NOT working correctly . That only means that Windows can run the drivers, it does not mean that the drivers are working the way the manufacturer intended.
Me, I would not hesitate to uninstall the drivers, the USB controller drivers and if there is no apparent improvement, then the IDE controller drivers. Even if you have updated the drivers, they may need to be "reset" by uninstalling and reinstalling them. It seems like you probably have both the original drivers and updates for them, so you won't get stuck trying to get the Add New Hardware wizard to locate and install them. If you were to find any problems during the ANH wizard, just click Cancel and run the driver installation program when you get to the desktop. Under Universal Serial Bus Controllers, uninstall anything listed as a "Controller". There will be one main controller in the IDE section.
You can daisy chain, I think it is 128 USB devices, but they will need their own supply of power, so you would need to use self-powered hubs. You will probably find this mentioned in the finer details I have seen information at laptop manufacturer's websites that state you should use self-powered hubs when connecting more than one USB device. Some USB systems might be able to supply more power than others (probably more critical in laptops than desktops), but it would be wise to err on the safe side.
I love seeing "This device is working properly" in Device Manager when the device is obviously NOT working correctly . That only means that Windows can run the drivers, it does not mean that the drivers are working the way the manufacturer intended.
Me, I would not hesitate to uninstall the drivers, the USB controller drivers and if there is no apparent improvement, then the IDE controller drivers. Even if you have updated the drivers, they may need to be "reset" by uninstalling and reinstalling them. It seems like you probably have both the original drivers and updates for them, so you won't get stuck trying to get the Add New Hardware wizard to locate and install them. If you were to find any problems during the ANH wizard, just click Cancel and run the driver installation program when you get to the desktop. Under Universal Serial Bus Controllers, uninstall anything listed as a "Controller". There will be one main controller in the IDE section.
Matt
Hi again,
Well, I tried but sad to say it hasn't done the trick. I'm thinking that I might have to reinstal WinXP I don't exactly relish the thought of that but I don't see what other alternative I have, do you? I guess that any reinstal had better be a clean one (ie telling 'Setup' to format my WinXP partition first?
Hi kosketus,
If you have managed to reinstall all the drivers etc, did you recently update any of the settings in your bios? Even if by accident. Or possibly do a bios update? May I suggest resetting the bios to defaults, remove all USB devices and reboot. Once XP has started remove USB devices from Device Manage and reboot again (not really necessary but just to be sure) Once you've done this connect the USB drive and see if this fixes it. If so connect the remaining devices and hopefully all will be well.
Best of luck!
I followed your suggestion. Having loaded BIOS setup defaults, uninstalled the drivers of all USB devices in Device Manager and rebooted, I promptly got a slew of 'New Hardware Detected' displays coming up (for USB devices). I cancelled out of all of them first time around, and switched on the USB hard drive. It wasn't detected at all.
So I figured I wasn't going to get anywhere unless I went along with Windows' insistence that I install USB device drivers. The result of that is that - with no USB devices connected except the hard drive - Windows has demanded that I install:- 3 USB Universal Host controllers, 1 USB Enhanced Host Controller, and 4 Root Hubs. In addition (and more understandably) it has required installation of a USB Mass Storage Device.
Whereupon, the USB hard drive has reappeared under "Disk Drives" and is said to be "working normally" .
But, in spite of all that, the USB drive still isn't shown as mounted in 'My Computer'.
EDIT
And, having switched the USB hard drive off again, shut down, restored my BIOS to its previous settings and rebooted, Windows has required me to install yet another USB Universal Host Controller and a matching USB Root Hub (evidently they hunt in pairs). This is without any USB devices now active/connected at all.
Ok, not sure why you're getting the other USB devices, but with the hard drive connected and recognised, I'm now assuming it hasn't been initialized. So go into Explorer, right click on "My Computer" and select "Manage" and select "Disk Management". For a new drive to be seen in explorer it needs to be initialized. So right click on the disk and check if the "Initialize disk" option is available. If it is it means your OS won't make it available until it is initialized again. So move the HDD to another PC and backup any data you want to keep, then try it again by doing the intialize option. Once initialised you may need to format it...
Sincerely hope this fixes the problem.
Aussileids
Ok, not sure why you're getting the other USB devices, but with the hard drive connected and recognised, I'm now assuming it hasn't been initialized. So go into Explorer, right click on "My Computer" and select "Manage" and select "Disk Management". For a new drive to be seen in explorer it needs to be initialized. So right click on the disk and check if the "Initialize disk" option is available.
Aussielids
This option isn't available which (presumably) means that this disk has been initialised. This is the (to my mind) weird thing:- the disk works normally (for example, I can backup to it using Acronis True Image - True Image "sees" it just as it always has), yet Explorer can't see it.
One more thing, in case it gives a clue. Before, When everything was working normally, whenever I switched on this disk the same box came up on the screen as when putting a music CD in my CD-ROM drive - requiring me to select an action to perform (I always just clicked on "Take no action"). For the CD-ROM drive this is configurable through the 'AutoPlay' tab of 'Properties'. So it was as if the computer was seeing this hard drive as if it were a CD-ROM drive. This stopped happening at the same time as Explorer stopped seeing the USB hard drive, and these two behaviours must therefore be connected somehow.
When you go into device manager, does the drive appear under "Disk drives", and if so, does it have 5 options, these being "update driver,disable,uninstall, Scan for hardware changes, and properties?
And just to be sure (I'm sure you did it right), when you right clicked on the drive to check if it was initialized, did you click in the white section, or the grey section where it says "Disk X"?
When you go into device manager, does the drive appear under "Disk drives", and if so, does it have 5 options, these being "update driver,disable,uninstall, Scan for hardware changes, and properties?
And just to be sure (I'm sure you did it right), when you right clicked on the drive to check if it was initialized, did you click in the white section, or the grey section where it says "Disk X"?
Yes, the drive appears under 'Disk Drives'. When double-clicked, it brings up 'Device Properties', subdivided into 5 tabs - but they don't exactly correspond. They are:- 'General, Policies, Volumes, Driver and Details'. The Driver tab has buttons for 'Driver Details, Update Driver, Roll Back Driver and Uninstall'.
Quote:
did you click in the white section, or the grey section where it says "Disk X"?
I didn't know the answer to this So I retraced my steps and, yes, it was the white part I clicked in.
I am not really much help, I have not dealt much with USB disk drives.
If it was me, I would look at the information in the places Aussielids has suggested and in Device Manager (look at the drive's properties) and compare them to the same places when the drive is connected to another computer.
If you consider that there may be damage to USB system (as we sort of discussed earlier) think about getting a USB PCI card. They are quite inexpensive
nowadays. [My hardware supplier would let me test one and return it if there was no change.]
Well I don't like things to get the better of me and this fault of yours is proving difficult. So I have done some more research on possibilities as to what is causing this, and my O'Reilly Windows XP Cookbook publication has suggested that power management might be the cause. Now I know you've deleted and re-added it, but registry settings do hang around without being deleted when they should be removed. So if you feel up to it and you haven't dismembered the PC yet, follow their notes below and see how you go.
==================
Every so often, a USB device fails to be recognized and usable even though it has been connected for as long as the PC has been running.
Solution
Using the USB cable
Unplug the USB device and wait for Windows to signal the disconnect, or for 30 to 60 seconds to be sure Windows knows the device is gone.
Reconnect the USB device and wait for Windows to recognize it again.
Using a graphical user interface
Click Start, then right-click My Computer and select Properties.
Select the Hardware tab, then click Device Manager.
Locate and expand the device type of interest—Network adapters, or other.
Locate the device of interest, right-click on it, then select Properties.
If the device properties dialog includes a power management tab, click on it.
Uncheck the box next to Allow the Computer to Turn Off This Device to Save Power.
Click OK, then close Device Manager.
Discussion
Windows power management will turn off devices when the system goes into standby and may also do so when a screen saver kicks in. Some USB devices do not reset and come back to life after being told to power off and then come back on later, but they do OK if completely disconnected and reconnected. Changing the power management characteristics for a device can keep it from losing power and getting confused. This symptom can also affect built-in and PCI network adapters that support and comply with power management.
I'm most grateful for the interest and for the trouble taken. All the sadder then to be forced to report that I'm getting nowhere. I've tried everything (most things several times) but this has me absolutely beaten.
So I think I'm now going to have to reinstall WinXP (though to be frank I'm not confident that that's going to cure the problem anyway). But it's not that simple: my USB floppy drive is now no longer being detected in DOS (yes, I do have the BIOS set to recognise USB storage devices in DOS) and I'm going to need to install the SATA RAID controller off a floppy disk during Windows Setup So first I'll have to take a floppy drive out of another computer and connect it up to this one temporarily, after having reset the BIOS. Ah well...
. That only means that Windows can run the drivers, it does not mean that the drivers are working the way the manufacturer intended.
I have seen information at laptop manufacturer's websites that state you should use self-powered hubs when connecting more than one USB device. Some USB systems might be able to supply more power than others (probably more critical in laptops than desktops), but it would be wise to err on the safe side.
I don't exactly relish the thought of that but I don't see what other alternative I have, do you? I guess that any reinstal had better be a clean one (ie telling 'Setup' to format my WinXP partition first?
So I have done some more research on possibilities as to what is causing this, and my O'Reilly Windows XP Cookbook publication has suggested that power management might be the cause. Now I know you've deleted and re-added it, but registry settings do hang around without being deleted when they should be removed. So if you feel up to it and you haven't dismembered the PC yet, follow their notes below and see how you go.
