My computer can't find my [external] hardisk.

I use samsung hardisk. When i plug it in to my computer, in my computer, it can display the hardisk's drive. But when i open it, i can only found file name like this: "$RECYCLE.BIN ", when i paste something into it, it said: .....could not find specified file... . But before this things happens, i am surely know my hardisk isn't empty. Even SHDIAG Version 1.25(exe. that used to diagnose the hardrive) can't found it. Anyone know what is the threat?

 

"External" as in ? Is it a USB drive ?

Your drive could be corrupt. Try running chkdsk /f on it.

 

I already tried that kind of threat, but the ms-dos said : "cannot open volume for direct access.

 

You missed the text after that : Do you want to run it on boot ? Press Y & Enter. Reboot the system.

 

No, the message:" Do you want to run it on boot ? "didn't even appear, but only: "cannot open volume for direct access'. Does this mean i have to dump it into rubbish bin? And the drive is external type.

 

If you have put the HDD into the external case yourself, you need to check that the "jumpers" are set to Master (assuming it is IDE and not SATA).

If the HDD came from another computer, it may be possible that it was partitioned as an extended partition, not a primary partition.

Follow Pete's instructions and try connecting it directly to the internal port of a desktop computer. Run the SHDIAG utilities there. If there is no data that you need to salvage, remove the drives/partitions, remake them and format. I suggest you format in FAT32 unless you are going to try working with files larger than 4GB. If you use NTFS format, that may a reason why the testing utilities cannot "see" the drive over USB. Most testing utilities specify they will only work on external drives formatted in the FAT system.

Matt