Error connecting to External Hard Drive: drive is not ready

Hi,

I have an external hard drive which has worked fine for many months, but on connecting it today I get a Windows error saying the drive is not ready; its door may be open. Please check drive \Device\Harddisk1\DR10 and make sure that a disk is inserted and that the drive door is closed.

Does anyone know why this is happening? what I can do to solve it and make sure it doesn't happen again?

thanks

 

Check the cables/connections (pull out and reseat).

If it connected directly to the computer you may need to use a self-powered USB hub. The computer's USB system may not be able to supply enough power.

I would look in Device Manager and uninstall any reference to the drive, shutdown and disconnect the drive. Boot into Windows and shutdown again without connecting it. Try connecting it after the next startup.

Still no luck, look for utilities to test the drive at the manufacturer's website. There will probably be a webpage for that model. Apart from the utilities, see if there are Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for the drive and if they may relate to the problem.

If you exhaust self-help, you can always try emailing their Support (they will have a webpage for submitting queries). If it is less than 1 year old it will be covered by Warranty, let them know this.

Matt