Western Digital External Drive wont show up on my computer

[infundibulum]

Hello,

I just bought a Western Digital 160GB portable external hard drive and it will not show up on my computer. I know that it is compatible, but i need the hard drive to back up my computer tonight. Can someone please help my computer recognize the new external drive I bought?

Thanks.

 

[Twe Foju]

did you backed it up for Time Machine already?

because if you do, then there is no way your PC can recognize it because its already in a different format

 

[infundibulum]

I am on an older mac with tiger. I bought the computer 2 years ago, so I don't have time machine yet.

 

[Twe Foju]

ok, here's what you do

try plug it in your MAC

and use disk utility to partition your HD and use FAT for the Windows partition ( if you have anything in the HD, dont forget to back it up, because it will be deleted during the process )

the size is up to you

after you're done with the partition, then try connect it again in your PC

if it's still not recognize, then im afraid there is something wrong with your USB port

or maybe you can reinstall the driver of the USB

good luck mate

 

[e12a]

is this through USB or firewire? What computer is this?

make sure the connection is good. I had a friend with a firewire WD drive and was too afraid to put a little more effort into pushing the connectors for fear of breaking it. It should be snug and not loose, and the drive worked.

as stated above, plug it in. open up Disk Utility and check if its there. If it isnt, make sure its powered on and recheck connections.

If you're only using this for OS X then do not format with FAT. I repeat, do not use FAT. Format with the HFS file system. The downside of FAT is that its old technology. You cannot store a single file larger than around 4gb (DVD image, a zip file, etc.), its just the way it is. There are more downsides, but I dont know the specifics.

if it still doesnt work, call WD support.

 

[Twe Foju]

^
i was saying FAT incase if the TS used bootcamp for windows

because even if you're on OSX, you can still access the HD

but if you use NTFS, you can't access it while u're in OSX

but if you dont want to install Windows on your MAC and plan on using your desktop PC or laptop PC, then use NTFS

 

[e12a]

He said he's going to back up his computer. You really dont need a windows partition for that. FAT is more prone to disk errors. Why would you want to back up on that? And again, if he has any files over 4gb, you'll have to take the time to span it into smaller files.

 

[kkelly]

Problems with Western Digital Ext HD on Mac

We have had lots of problems with the Western Digital Ext HD (500 GB) with our two Mac laptops. It did boot reasonably quickly on first backup, but got progressively slower (10, 15, 30 minutes to mount) and finally stopped mounting altogether, after only 5 or 6 backups. The backups themselves take hours to complete, for one laptop only, so we had to do them overnight. The reviews at C|Net were good, and led me to believe it was a good purchase. The Mac sites show that they may not be so good. We are stuck with an external HD that I wouldn't wish on anyone else and having to buy another solution.

 

[windowpain]

If you have just bought it and it isnt showing up it could be DOA.

Try using it with another computer (if you can) and see if it appears.

other than that, just keep it plugged in, open disk utility, open finder, reboot a few times.. sometimes they just make an appearance..

if you can get it to mount then use disc utility to check that its ok.