USB Device Not Recognized (External Hard Drive)

Well, here's my problem:

I just bought a Western Digital 60gb Passport II 2.5" Hard Drive this past week at Black Friday. Took it home, worked wonderfully. It was formatted as FAT32, so I reformatted it to NTFS, still no problems.

So, I bring it to my other computer, and I get "USB Device Not Recognized". My other computer detects any other USB device just fine, just not my hard drive.

I've searched all over the internet, including Western Digital's own support site, but to no avail. If anyone could give me a solution, I'd be more than grateful.

The one most common solution put forward is to power down your computer, unplug it from the wall. Wait at least an hour before plugging it back in. If it is a laptop; remove the battery.

I'll try that, but I don't think it'll work. I've seen similar solutions but pretty much all that does is force the usb drive to power on; but that's not the problem since other usb devices work.

Assuming that both computers have Windows XP installed, both have USB 2.0 compliant USB ports and are desktop systems...

From the Western Digital FAQ page (in case the link does not work);



Could this be the problem?

As I stated before, it worked on one of my computers.

My problem computer actually has a better psu (350 as opposed to 250), and I have tried plugging it in the back, etc.

Anyone suspect my formatting it to NTFS has anything to do with my problems?

Read the quote again. It is not necessarily related to the power supply, but to how much power is available to the USB ports by the motherboard's design to run external devices without the need for an external power source. This is a function of the motherboard and it's USB ports.

If the first computer is USB 2.0 compliant and provides sufficient power to the USB ports to run the device, then that's fine.

If the second system does not provide enough power to the ports and/or is not USB 2.0 compliant (which the passport drive is made for) then this may be why you are having the issue.

I just don't see how a 2 year old computer would be able to provide more power than the computer I built a few months ago.

You did not mention that fact in your first post. What make and exact model number is the motherboard that you are having the issue with?

Often, motherboards can have two sets (or more) of USB ports, one set USB 1 and the other USB 2.0. What does the motherboard manual say about the USB ports and the power supplied to them?

Also, look at the Passport faq page here and see if there are some other clues on what might be the issue.

No clue about the motherboard manual of the older computer, it was built by HP.

The motherboard for my newer computer supports USB2.0 all around.

But I think I figured out the problem. (Or at least, overshot one.) The USB hard drive does not work on my old computer anymore, either. I think I have a few options now:

1.) Try to reformat it back to FAT32
2.) Call Western Digital and try to get it detected again
3.) Ask Western Digital to replace it

All of which may cause loss of the files I have on the hard drive, which I'd like to keep. What should I do?

Have you been connecting and disconnecting the drive correctly in Windows XP?



Reference

Computer 101? Yes, I did that before I brought the drive to my other computer.

Since then well...obviously if the device is not detected there won't be an option to stop it.

Well, I called WD and after they ran me through everything I already tried in the past few weeks, they told me I'd need to get a new hard drive.

Thanks for trying anyways, guys.

I can not get this Power boster Cable in Israel.
Does somebody knows what is the cable internal connection?
Is there any additional "electronic" in this cable?
Best
Elisha

I hope this will help someone; I bought a WD Essential 500 GB external hard drive and when I plugged it in I got the message “USB device not recognized”. After about 2 hours of fooling with this thing I pick it up to look at it and it started working, come to find out where the USB plugs in to the back of the hard drive has a loose connection, I laid it on its side and it worked perfectly.

Hey, just to add that the workaround that Richie2066 mentioned has worked for me as well!! Crazy to finish up doing this after having been in IT for 10 years...

I've got the same exact problem with my WD Passport. Which side did you lay it on to get it working? I even bought the power supply that Western Digital sells on their website, but Windows still does not recognize the drive (on any of my 3 computers). The other USB ports work just fine for other devices. I'd rather not reformat the drive.

QUICK FIX!!!!

Ok I have had the same problem with this WD Passport USB Drive but just fixed it. My GF's computer runs it fine and it is crappy and older than my desktop. I was getting the "device not recognized" error. I always use a USB extender cable for my USB devices so I don't have to go behind my computer every time. EVERYTHING works on it except this WD passport for some reason.

I plugged the HD directly into the USB port on the back of my computer and it worked fine. There must be something odd about the USB cable that comes with the device. These problems tend to be caused by the connection. Maybe a new cable will help people out. I don't know for sure but something seems janky with these cables since a LOT of people have this problem.

POSSIBLE CURE
--------------------------

I know it is rather late in the day for this thread, but as I have just been battling to get my Passport 250 to be recognised, I thought I'd share a possible cure which worked for me.

Simply use the SHORT WD supplied USB lead.

I have a number of USB2 leads, including one bought today, but it is only the original short one that worked.

My Passport worked fine with a longer lead as well - but then for some reason the WD 250 GB Passport failed to connect again - despite working pefectly on 4 PC's including an old pentium 3 model.

It seemed to have this happen after the last Windows XP update - but I honestly doubt if that's the reason.

I know this is a bit simple, but it surprised me! So I hope this thread is of some help to someone else!

Regards


Ann
---

Western digital Passport failed to be recognized
WD 250 GB Passport failed to be recognised
WD 250 GB Passport failed to be recognized
WD Passport failed to be recognised
Western digital Passport failed to start
Cannot access Western digital Passport

Ugggh. I just got the WD Passport 250 drive home and it XP Pro SP2 won't recognize it... tried short and long cables, back and front ports... another computer running linux sees it just fine, so it definitely works... i did just get a windows update last night... ugggh.

Windows does three very quick "dongs" and that's it, when I plug it in... the hardware manager just says theres no driver for it.

Most likely the problem with this unit, is just what the manufacturer says (see my earlier posts), either the motherboard does not supply enough power to run the drive, or, like in Richie2066's case, he found a faulty/loose cable connection.

Also, USB external hubs can be a problem for Windows. Kinda a catch 22. But, WD notes that they have an external poer supply that may solve the problem. Prearve also was told that he had a faulty drive by WD. He did not post if this solved the problem, but it could also be possible.

I had one external drive that came with a dual USB cable. If plugged into the system with just one, the unit would not be recognized. If I used both and the unit was seen correctly by Windows. So, an issue with having enough power through the USB ports was the issue in this case.

I have also seen an issue with front mounted USB (aux. ports) on some systems. Use the USB ports on the back of the computer (the ones directly connected to the motherboard) and the unit works. Also a power issue.

Tried both front and back. Once my KDE 4.0 download finishes I'll be able to tell for sure that it is not a hardware issue... but I am guessing that isn't the problem... I have a fairly high-end (for it's day) MSI board, high-end power supply... not some wal-mart throw-away system.

Tried other cables. Turned off the printer. Did everything but toss it against the wall.

The point of my post was to generate a little discussion about the Windows patch that came through the other day, since someone else thought that might have started trouble for them.


(can't-stop-with-the-hyphens-for-some-reason)

Understood, but the point was as the Western Digital faq page noted for the product;



My point was that itś the power that the motherboard passes to the USB ports, not if it is an inexpensive system.

A Google search will reveal that many have this problem.

So, they admit that the product needs more power passed to the USB port than what many motherboards generally allow. They suggest that if Windows does not see the device properly, then this may be the issue. Hence, they suggest buying their external power supply for the drive.

Also, since this thread started over a year ago, with other postings with the same problem before the patch you mentioned, it seemed to point toward a hardware issue.

But, see what you find out and post any solutions. There are many nasty USB posts on this forum with windows XP.

I JUST started having this problem with my SimpleTech 320GB external USB hard drive, yesterday. Ever since I bought it my computer recognized it immediately and im running XP. I have an alienware with plenty of power supply for the USB ports, and obviously since it has worked perfectly fine for the last 3 weeks that wouldn't be the problem. When I plug the drive into the AC Power Supply and turn the switch on in the back of the drive it powers on (ie.. Red light goes on) and you can hear the drive spinning, however, there are 4 blue lights on top of the drive that should be lighting up when plugged into the computer but are no longer doing so. The drive worked fine untill about 5 pm CST last night. I bought a sony DVD-RW drive external yesterday (since my internal NEC model that came with my computer i THINK burnt out on me, it still plays dvds but is incapable of reading a DVD-R)...I unplugged the Harddrive and plugged in the DVD-RW drive then unplugged the Dvd-RW drive and re plugged in the Hard Drive, immediatly following that, the Hard Drive stopped working.

When I start up my computer, it states that it is reading the USB Mass Storage device. But no USB Connection tab comes up at the bottom and there is nothing in My Computer.

Any thoughts???

What is this "Google" you speak of?

Seriously dude, if you want to say RTFM, then just say it. Don't pretend like you're being helpful.

I SEARCHED THE WEB. I READ THIS THREAD. SOMEONE MENTIONED THE WINDOWS PATCH FROM THE OTHER NIGHT AND IT CAUGHT MY EYE BECAUSE OF THIS ISSUE AND A COUPLE OTHER QUIRKS THAT POPPED UP. OK?

Sorry if you took my posts the wrong way. Good luck.

Thank you. Sorry.

What WD says may sound believeable, but it is a load of c**p!!I have an 80gb passport that has been used continuously without any problems on 3 different desktop pcs, a laptop and a standalone DVD player with a USB port for almost 11 months. However, 10 days ago, I pluged it in my desktop pc USB port and I got the "unrecognized USB device" error message. After that all the above devices (including the DVD player) would completely ignore it, although the blue led would light up when connected. I was still within warranty so I took it to the local dealer of WD and a few days later I went back certain that it would be replaced but to my surprise, they told me that no problem was found. I asked them to see for myself and the technician connected it to his computer, through a USB hub using my cable and the drive would show up fine (making me look like a newb :(). Seriously pissed off, I went back to test the drive on 2 of the computers mentioned above, only to find that the drive was not recognized at all !! I tried then to connect it directly to the USB ports and not through the USB extension cables THAT I HAVE BEEN USING ALL THIS TIME WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS and guess what.. I could see the drive just fine !! I really don't know what conclusions to draw from this, besides the fact that I'm never going to buy a WD external harddrive ever again!!

i had the same issues, worked for months on various computers using different cables. worked yesterday before i left the house came back to find it had decided not to work, nothing had changed. same cable, same system, no movement, no updates and yet it packed in on its own. tried all sorts of updates on usb power allocation, striped the unit down and checked the pcb, full works. almost gave up until i spotted an overlooked post on this forum of a fix using the short usb cable the unit was supplied with. now it works (dont ask). If you haven't tried this already then give it a bash. From what i can gather this is most likely a cable only issue, possibly a completely random uncontrollable malfunction, fingers crossed in the future.

as spyros7 stated might be better to aviod WD external (specifically usb powered) hard drives.

Hi all,

I had exactly the problem with WD passport 300GB after I'd changed from FAT32 to NTSF.
No solutions provided here solved my problem.
But my WD is back and running great and here is how.

go to control panel - adm. tools - services

Scroll down to find WD Drive Manager Service

Look at 'Startup Type' in the middle to see if its "Disabled"

If it is, turn it back to "Automatic"

Then the buttons under 'Service status' will be activated.

Press 'Start'

And then 'Apply'.

Disconnect your ext. HD from USB port and reconnect.

Magically there I saw the lights back on and device recognized.

I hope this will help for those who r biting nails with fear of losing precious data.

Hi, i spent a good few hours trying to sort out the usb device not recognized problem, and none of the all over the forum fixed worked for me, as all trace of the device just disapeared.
This worked for for iomega 500gb external, gave it a go because my warranty seals were already broken.

So yea, tried all the sensible options, replugging everything, device managering like a mother-bit ch, my computer . management etc.
So then i took out all the casing screws to give it a look. If you do this, i fond that pulling out the usb adapter card on the inside leaves you with, in my case, a nice internal sata drive, which when put in internally, works totally fine.
Yea, you no onger have the externalosity, but at least you have all your data...and dont have to take a shit load of copywritten/confidential material to a shop for a fix.

Hope this helps someone

Ric

Hi. I would just like to say that this is probably one of the most useful threads for tis problem that I have found, and I think it has helped me solve my 'usb device not recognized' issue.

I have a Western Digital 250gb hard drive which has served me very well for a year up until a few day ago. I started getting the 'usb device not recognized' malfunction error. After reading serveral posts I decided it was a power issue (although the error did not specifically say so), and decided to buy a USB booster cable (usb lead with 2 usb heads for twice the power).

I was going to order a Lindy cable off amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/LINDY-USB-Cable-Dual-Power/dp/B000FKP7XK) but the one and only reviewer of the product, it seemed, had exactly the same problem as me and upon trying the cable found it did not work. He instead advised to buy a usb powered hub, which I did.

I received the hub today, tryed it, and guess what, didn't work. That's when I searched and found this thread. I have been using the usb cable supplied with the hard drive. Some people in this thread seemded to have been using a different cable, got the error, tryed the orignal supplied WD cable, and the HD has magically worked.

I on the other hand, like a few other people in this thread, have been using the supplied WD usb cable from the start. I decided, after reading this thread, to try a different cable. I managed to find a usb cable of the same sort that came with my brother's Sony mp3 player, have just tryed it, and Eureka!

So I kinda wish I'd bought the Lindy two head usb adaptor after all, as it was a lot cheaper than the hub I don't even need.

So my advice it to try a diffrent cable, maybe even the Lindy one, or maybe a hub would work for you?

Who knows.

I think people saying that you need a new HD and that the data has gone is rubbish. The data must still be on there, after all nothing has happened to it. I think it's just easier for Western Digital support to say 'you need a new hd' than it is to troubleshoot.

I was considering opening the casing up and just retrieving the hard drive and giving it to someone who would know how to re-case it. If it goes again maybe I will have to. For the time being though it seems to be ok. And I hope everyone else manages to fix theirs.

yeehhhaaaaa....... thanks to the person who said "use the shorter cable that comes with the Western Digital drive". IT WORKS!!

Symptom: Blue LED turns on, drive just clicks but does not spin, laptop says "USB device not recognized". Picked it up and shook it, drive spins but still USB Device not recognized. It was connected with a 4 feet USB cable. But it works on my office laptop. Puzzled I seek Google's help (as usual), end up in this forum and then use the smaller (6 inches) cable and boom, the WD 160 GB is recognized right away.

Thanks once again.
Surprized though, the 2006 solution works in 2009 also!! WD learn something plzzzzzzzzzz.

Andromeda9's solution of using the original USB cord that WD sends you worked for me. Thanks Andromeda9!

Hi. My 160GB WD Passport also suddenly quit working over the weekend. It had previously worked on both my home machine and my Dell laptop, and now is not recognized on either these machines, or any of the others I've tried.

Unfortunately, I have tried the vast majority of these solutions. I am using the original cable; I tried using other cables, including a similar short one from someone else’s USB device that looked like the one that came with my HD; tried using other computers; tried downloading a driver (for which I could find none); tried going through disk manager and device manager and admin tools/services (as suggested by jaywannahelp in Oct...WD is not even listed); tried plugging it into every single USB port on the laptop and the computer both front/back and I even tried the one in the docking station; tried laying the drive on its side, upside down, and vertically; tried giggling the connections and wire…

Only solutions not tried, taking the case apart and plugging the hard drive directly into the motherboard, using a USB-powered hub or a USB booster cable, plugging it into a machine running Vista or Linux or into a Mac, and lastly, taking it to a computer shop and begging for help.

The drive does not click, the blue light is on, and it appears to be functional. It is just not being recognized.

Anyway...I have to stop at Best Buy later tonight to pick up the booster cable and hub to attempt those, and I'm trying to locate a friend with Vista, Linux, or a Mac.

Other than that...I'm out of ideas.

Glad to hear that others have at least had some success!

I own a 60GB Passport and had the same problem. My computer would not recognize my Passport drive and other devices.

After trying several computers, cables, usb ports I finally ordered an Ultra USB 2.0 all in 1 card reader/usb hub.

In my opinion the problem with the Passport is that its voltage requirement is on the high end of what a regular usb port can provide.

Mine would work intermitently, depending on how many devices I had plugged into my usb bus.

By purchasing a USB hub that has its own power supply I finally got consistent performance out of my Passport.

I have to say that my WD ext. hard drive JUST did this to me this morning. I about had a heart attack! I tried two computers, nothing. It powers up, but isnt recognized and nothing popped up to say it was recognized on either computer.

Come to find out, it was the cable. I had the wrong cable. Same type of plug, the light on the hard drive works, but nothing would open. I found another cable that worked. After reading all these replies, I am now backing up my HD to another hard drive and DVD's/CD's.

Good luck to you all that may have problems. Back up! That is my suggestion. Always back up!

Try it in a different USB slot it works for me as my belkin adapter is set to a certain USB slot if i plug it into a different 1 it wont recognise

Interesting how many different ways this device can cause problems. In my case, my 250G passport was not accessible after the first time I used it. It appeared in the Disk Manager (as active) but had no drive letter and I could not assign one to it (the error message said it was inactive).

It turned out that it somehow was associated with something called a "general volume" (generic? my system is in Swedish...) which was inactivated but appeared in the Device Manager. When I activated that, my Passport suddenly acquired a drive letter and could be accessed.

This "general volume" seems to be the same that sometimes appears when using the Safe Removal feature (and it cannot be stopped...). I have now changed the setting for the Passport so that it does not use a cache and can be removed without using Safe Removal. And so far no problems.

hello evryone
plz solve my prob
i bought a kingston pen drive (2gb) in this nov..
bt now my pz is not recognizing it
plz help me out

Had similar problem with my Passport 350gb

read this and noticed someone posted Western Digitals recommendations.

"Cause:
There may not be enough power currently supplied to the machine's USB port. Most computer systems only supply 500mA of power through USB ports. The WD Passport hard drive requires a little over 1000mA of power at spin up."


Turns out I used a different USB cable second time I plugged it in. Went and got my original cable and worked fine. Other cable was obviously thinner and not as powerful. Good to note, hope others learn from this too.

Hi,

Many thanks to Richie66 for his post.

Western Digital drives can be a pain in the neck - my two externals just vanished and became 'Unknown Devices' to Vista.

After searching here I put them on their sides, replugged them and hey presto - there they were! A bit of switch cleaner in the sockets and they now seem fine again.

I had a My Book World which was such a pain I ended up taking the hard drive out and installing it internally.

Time WD got their act together!

Cheers,

Barryt

Well everyone I have been fighting with my WD Dual-Option External USB Harddrive for ye...ars that is since about 2006 I bought it in 2005 so it did work until just after the one year warantee. Low and behold I am obsessed with finding the problem of this thing. I took the cable out of my printer and stuck the cable from the HD into the printer to see if the cable and the USB was working -which they were so I decided to try the "Richie2066 Method" that is I turned my Hard-drive to where it would lay flat (wd readable up)
it didn't work so I turned it over to the other side upside down and it didn't work (now it's plugged in this whole time) and then I turned it back over and laid it flat so I could get the hammer to it. And what.da.ya.know the three bongs sounded and WD Button mangager appeared and Wow the unit is now working for the first time in 3 months. Don't know how long it will last but we will see. I think maybe it might have to do with the docking of the Hard Drive's scan. Maybe it was stuck and I popped it back in, anyway now all I have to do is find out where I can get a copy of the original software to reload the Dantz Retrospect for WD & the WD button manager, both of these need to be reinstalled on this new internal HD. I've heard of a lot of things Richie but this one needs to be in the List of Weird computer fixes. Hey you think this calls for a class action suit for a recall and replacement of all of our WD Ext HDrives

I was having the same issue with my WD ext drive. Drove me crazy. Then I took a second look at my USB cord. I was using the wrong one. It was a very thin cable. I found another one, probably the original, which was thicker. Plug it in and it worked. So, make sure you have the correct USB cable. I assume that different ones have different power or something like that.

DJ

wassup all...

my first time ever posting on any forum...i'm doing this cause i got a lot of good info from this site that helped me out quite a bit...
so i had the same "usb device not recognized" error, shortly after i tried to use a 4 port usb hub...that screwed everything up...
anyways i read instructions posted on this site by ross_aveling it was a good effort but it worked only half way...
i did restart my system in safe mode and take out the usb devices in device manager and add/remove programs...but that alone didn't help....but when i SYSTEM RESTORED to a date before i used the crummy 4 port USB hub and then switched back to normal mode....it corrected itself....hope this helps....i'm not very IT help inclined but i really hope this helps someone who was feeling like smashing a few things like i did when this happened...