# Acom Data external hard drive problem



## Hermit (Nov 23, 2004)

I'm having trouble with an external hard drive I've got. 

It's 80gb.

I used to be able to turn on my computer, turn on the external hard drive, and plug in the USB and the computer would recognize it after a second or two. I could then open the drive in "My Comptuer" and see all my files.

Now, the computer doesn't recognize it when I plug in the USB.

I've done a search on the comptuer for the driver, and I can't find it anywhere.

I have the CD that came with it. It has several files, one of which is an .exe

But, when I try to open that file, nothing happens. I've tried to "Run" the CD from the start menu too, and it won't open. 

I've tried every conceivable sequence of turning on the comptuer 1st, then turning on the already connected external drive, turning on the external drive, then turning on the comptuer . . . no luck.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Hermit said:


> Now, the computer doesn't recognize it when I plug in the USB.
> 
> I've done a search on the comptuer for the driver, and I can't find it anywhere.
> 
> ...


It sounds like your operating system has dropped the driver for some reason, although you should still see the drive being detected when you plug it in. I suggest you check your Device Manager to see if there is an error with that device.

To do that, with the USB drive plugged-in, Right-click in the My Computer icon and select Properties. Select the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button. Look around in that menu tree for the USB device to see if there is an error.

There's a lot you aren't telling us though. You didn't say what operating system you use, and you didn't say which model of drive you have. However, I had no difficulty locating the AcomData website, and the driver download page:

http://www.acomdata.com/hdp/fs.html

Your driver CD is your best bet, but I don't know what you're doing wrong. You didn't say what the name of the exe file was, and I'm not sure why you didn't want to say. I don't even know how to "run" a CD from the Start Menu. I suggest you navigate to the CD with Windows Explorer and attempt to launch the installation from there.

It's also possible that your drive has gone bad and can no longer identify itself to your operating system.


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## WindowOrMirror (Jan 10, 2005)

yes, the more likely issue is that the USB shim on the drive enclosure backplane is "hosed" (technical term meaning: very unlikely to be resurrected).

You have anything else to test the drive in (plug it in internally somewhere?)

R


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