External USB Hard Drive ( WD5000C032 ) is not recognized in Windows 7

This really is strange. It should work normally with Windows 7.
Are you using front USB ports or?
Try to use USB ports in the back, which are directly connected to your MBO.

So, you're saying when you connect it, it doesn't appear anywhere, not a sound of newly connected USB device?

Make sure that Windows 7 didn't turn off any of your ports in your BIOS settings.

If you're running Windows 7 Professional 64 bit the problem may be software (or firmware) related.

Do you have UAC (User Account Control) enabled in Windows 7?

Try turning it off by following these steps:
1. Go to Start > Control Panel
2. User Accounts
3. User Accounts
4. Change User Account Control settings
5. Set it to Never notify
6. Click OK and reboot your computer

Try to reinstall USB controllers. The fact that they work with different USB devices does not say anything. In Device Manager right click on USB controller - uninstall. Same for all USB.
Restart PC and connect the drive. Does it see anything? That should reinstall USB drivers.

Turning off UAC is a possibility. You might also:
   1. Plug in and turn on the external USB hard drive
   2. Right mouse click on My Computer
   3. Left click on Manage
   4. Left click on Device Manager
   5. Expand the USB list
   6. Find the USB device for your USB Hard Drive (in my case it was the one that had no description)
   7. Right mouse click - Uninstall
   8. Turn off the external USB hard drive
   9. Turn on the external USB hard drive and let it find and install the driver
  10. It should work

do you have e: drive?
if so try changing the e: drive to something else (e.g. f: or any available) and try again.
just give it a shot and post reply

Do you happen to have an NVIDIA USB EHCI chipset and at least 4GB of RAM on your PC?  If so, look here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976972

To answer some questions:

1. There is no sound notification of a new device either.
2. I've tried both the front and back USB ports with the same results.
3. User account control is already set to no notifications.
4. I don't have an E drive.
5. I had already tried the NVIDIA download, but I only have 3GB RAM and the download said that my system wasn't supported.

I will try Wolfhere's and noxcho's suggestions later tonight.

THanks!

There's a whole thread with people having problems with the WD Mybook drives and WIn7 here; many possible solutions.  (So many that it looks like there's probably several different subspecies of problems):

http://i.nconspicuo.us/2009/02/05/windows-7-not-recognizing-external-hard-drive-western-digital-mybook/

In regards to Wolfhere's suggestion, there was no listing in device manger for the drive.  That's why there isn't even a notification sound when plugging or unplugging.

I tried noxcho's suggestion to uninstall the USB controllers and restart.  Surprisingly, that did for the first time show the drive as "unknown device" in Device Manager.  The was no Western Digital option available to select a driver and I cannot locate a driver online.

At that point I realized that the Drive's button light was off, even though the drive was obviously on and spinning.  I unplugged the power cable from the drive, the Unknown device disappeared, and then I plugged it back in.  The light came back on but no new device appeared.

Now I'm back to square one. before I had reinstalled the USB Controllers.

Still at a loss.

I have already been through the link provided by akahan with no luck on any of those solutions.  This is the most odd thing I've ever seen.

Could you try to backup your data on the drive and the reformat the whole thing? Try using a full format instead of a quick format.

I would guess you need to this from your Windows XP.

I had the same problem with another WD USB  ext-drive .
All the issues you described are there....( + 1 - if the disc was
connected during boot sometimes W7 would not see it --- had to
turn it off then on).
Bottom line is : No drivers for it !
Tried other drivers with no luck.
We will just have to wait for the drivers.
So, just bear with it.....

senad, as far as I understand feelthemusic8's problem is that the drive won't even appear in the hardware manager. how could he ever load any drivers? nordtorp's suggestion would apply if the drive was somehow appearing again in the hardware manager. something's preventing it from showing up in there. I would still bet on the drive letter. it's a bug I found a few times when the drive letter first assigned to the drive is already taken. feelthemusic8, what was the first drive letter that your WD got? if you can't remember just try changing your D: to something else or e: (which if I remember correctly you said you don't have one). What about an image drive assigned as e: or the drive letter of card drive? better change the D: first to something like z: and we can see from there on. just give it a shot so we can eliminate that as the error

@ thsteph
I don't know if you meant my first or second post, but I meant he should try formatting the drive from the Windows XP machine. He were able to see the drive there.

2nd one; yes he was but as I can see he's having problems with 7 not XP. either way, let him post a reply and'll see from there on

feelthemusic8, if I remember correctly you said that it was working ok on XP right? the problem was still with 7. this means is NOT a hardware issue since it's working on an OS other than 7. is that stil the case or it stopped working on XP as well?

thsteph, Yes it worked on the XP machine both before and after the problem started, not on Win 7.  But, bypassing the MyBook hardware did solve the problem.  I'm not saying it makes sense, but it is working.  I'm still copying files at the moment.

:) at least did you try changing the drive letter?
it worths a shot!

I have a WD5000H1C8 on Windows 7. I had just built my machine and moved the drive(s) over from the old, using an Sil 3132 raid card on the new machine. I purchased a new eSata cable, plugged everything in and all was fine. Next day, I boot my machine up and of course, my WD drive does not work. Nothing recognized, no funny noise for hardware recognition. I put in a usb cable, and everything is hunky dory. I switch my eSata cable from another drive (with no problems) and Windows recognizes the drive. Back to the new eSata cable and no recognition. Its the cable. And no, I was not playing jump rope with it!

I know, yours worked in Windows XP. If it still works outside the WD case, put the drive into another enclosure and call it a day. It makes no sense, granted. Perhaps the length of cable or socket is different on the WinXP machine versus Win 7 machine. There is nothing wrong with Win 7 because you changed the hardware, like I did and it worked.

Thsteph, yes I tried the drive letter change.  I only had a C: and a D:, which I changed to R: on the Win 7 machine.  I also changed the WD drive's letter on the XP machine to O:.  That didn't change anything.  Like I said the WD drive didn't even have a letter on the Win 7 machine, so I didn't have any other options.

At thins point, I am considering just installing the drive as a second internal disc in the Win 7 machine and buying a newer backup drive.

Thanks again.

:) ok
take care

There is an issue with Windows 7 with some external hard drives, such that if the external is NOT the FIRST USB device, it does not work. Windows 7 may even want to format a perfectly good and functional drive! Once the drive is plugged into the FIRST USB port on the computer, it works fine.

Hope this helps someone out there.


Steve Parker
ABC Computing Services
http://www.abccompuserve.com