USB hdd not recognized.(SOLVED)

[Snapshot]

I'm trying to get a USB hdd that belongs to my wife to be recognized again. Yesterday we had a brief power "blink" and after that her Windows 7 usb drive is not being recognized. I've tried to "see" it using PCLOS, Win 7 on VBox and she's tried on her Win 7 box. The drive is a 500 GB Cavalry. This drive has been plugged in to every usb port and is not recognized at all. My guess is that it was hit by a power surge but that's only speculation. If I can read the data I can recover it but therein lies the problem, how to get it recognized.

Thanks.

[Vorteggs]

Is it seen by BIOS?

[Snapshot]

i didn't think to look at the bios. Is it possible to do this without re-booting? My understanding of the bios is that you can only do this on boot-up, correct?

[Vorteggs]

You are right and my question is a bit misleading.
Sorry I didn't think when answering.

[djohnston]

External USB hard drives are either PATA or SATA interface hard drives connected to a USB adapter circuit. Open the enclosure and you should see whether it's PATA or SATA. If you have a spare slot on one of your computers, along with an appropriate hard drive cable, you can connect the hard drive directly, via the cable, after you've taken the drive out of the USB enclosure. That will help you determine whether the enclosure's USB adapter has gone bad.

[Snapshot]

External USB hard drives are either PATA or SATA interface hard drives connected to a USB adapter circuit. Open the enclosure and you should see whether it's PATA or SATA. If you have a spare slot on one of your computers, along with an appropriate hard drive cable, you can connect the hard drive directly, via the cable, after you've taken the drive out of the USB enclosure. That will help you determine whether the enclosure's USB adapter has gone bad.

This drive appears to be sealed with the exception of one small screw on the bottom. Should I remove that screw to access the drive? I'm reasonably sure this is a SATA drive and I do have a cable. OTOH if it's a PATA then there is no way as I don't have a cable.

[djohnston]

This drive appears to be sealed with the exception of one small screw on the bottom. Should I remove that screw to access the drive? I'm reasonably sure this is a SATA drive and I do have a cable. OTOH if it's a PATA then there is no way as I don't have a cable.

I don't know. Can't tell if you have this one or this one. Did you get a manual with the drive?

[T6]

some of those cases are not designed to be opened again

if it is a 2.5" drive it should be a mini sat connector, mini pata is less common this days

open it the way yo u want it to do doesn't sure you to recover anything

if it is a 3.5" unit, it is possible that you have a normal sata drive, just open the unit and plug it to the pc, the sata to usb controller could b e dead and the drive could be still working normally

does this drive requires a external power adapter?

[Snapshot]

This drive appears to be sealed with the exception of one small screw on the bottom. Should I remove that screw to access the drive? I'm reasonably sure this is a SATA drive and I do have a cable. OTOH if it's a PATA then there is no way as I don't have a cable.

I don't know. Can't tell if you have this one or this one. Did you get a manual with the drive?

CAU3G25500B. Neither of the two you suggested. It's a USB 3.0 backwards compatible to USB 2.0 and appears to be USB only, not PATA or SATA.

[Snapshot]

some of those cases are not designed to be opened again

if it is a 2.5" drive it should be a mini sat connector, mini pata is less common this days

open it the way yo u want it to do doesn't sure you to recover anything

if it is a 3.5" unit, it is possible that you have a normal sata drive, just open the unit and plug it to the pc, the sata to usb controller could b e dead and the drive could be still working normally

does this drive requires a external power adapter?

No power adapter required and it does power up and I can feel the platter spinning but it isn't recognized.

[Snapshot]

I tried opening it up by removing the only screw but the case is as tight as if were glued together.

[AS]

I tried opening it up by removing the only screw but the case is as tight as if were glued together.

sometimes there can be others screw hidden under some label ...

[T6]

that and/or lots of glue

[Snapshot]

I tried opening it up by removing the only screw but the case is as tight as if were glued together.

sometimes there can be others screw hidden under some label ...

I have some good news. Somehow for some reason the drive is now recognized. After repeatedly plugging it in and then trying to access it it is finally recognized again. I'll mark this thread accordingly and than you all for your input.

Problem solved.

Bob

[T6]

that sounds like you are having problems with the usb cable