I have a Western Digital external 160 gig Hd drive connected to my PC through a USB2 port. I'm running WinXP Home. For over a year the drive's been working fine. Recently for some unknown reason, the drive no longer appears in Windows under MY COMPUTER nor it is listed in the Windows Explorer so I can't access any of the files on it. I've checked the Control Panel under SYSTEM/HARDWARE for any disabilities under the USB controllers, but they're all working fine. The particular entry where the Ext. HD is listed tells me the device is working properly. Yet, it isn't recognized in MY COMPUTER where all the other drives show up. I've checked: all the other devices connected to the USB ports, switched them around, changed cables, uninstalled and reinstalled the device's driver, removed all the other devices in case there was a USB power problem, but still nothing helps.

Can anyone suggest a solution or anything else I should try? Thanks, John

The only time I had add the same problem is when I installed a utility, I think it was TweakUI, where you can put a checkmark beside the drive letters that you allow on your computer. When I added a hard drive I couldn't see it because I had not allowed a F: to be seen due to that utility; once unchecked (actually I believe I uninstalled the utility later) I was OK.

I also have an external hard drive and this occasionally happens. First I reboot. Usually that fixes it. If it doesn't, I'll unplug the cables from the drive, shut down, then replug them in and reboot. Sometimes I have to do this a couple of times.

Did you try the drive on another PC to see if it works there? Try rebooting with the drive unplugged, then shut down and plug it back in and reboot.