"You need to format the disk in drive J: before you can use it"

A quick summarization of all the suggestions in the thread:

A. User:

Download, install, and run the free Easeus Partition Master http://www.partition-tool.com/personal.htm and see if the Partition Recovery Wizard option can access and move your files somewhere else while you deal with the problems with the device by reformatting and/or repartitioning the drive (and giving yourself full rights and ownership of the new drive/partition). Then you should be able to move your data back to the drives and access it normally (unless there is a problem with the drive or with the drivers, firmware, or software required to run it - but I think you'll run into that problem much earlier if it's the case and then we may have to deal with that before we can do anything else).

AlexQuiteGuy:

I had same problem.

And I have an solution for you... The problem is that when you plug in your HD first time, Windows 7 install your HD and associate it to only this USB port (let it be USB port "4") than if you wanna to use it (HD) again, you need to plug it, in the same USB port (USB port "4") where it was installed first time. It is Stupid!!!! But that's how it worked with my HD.

Just try all USB ports that you have on your PC.

Good luck.

Hope it was helpful. :D

PS: the same problem is with all divices you plug in to your pc.

muhammad mohideen pathusha:

I had the same problem with my seagate usb drive (NTFS).  i tried connecting to different usb ports on my laptop. no use. Surprisingly one simple step resolved it in a minute. I just did a chkdsk <usb drive letter:> and then bang it opened ... no more message ..no content lost .. no waste of time....truly it worked for my problem .. but i'm not sure about the bigger picture ... i did not tweak any registries or anyother s/ws to fix it..

just a fluke try ..thats it.. not sure it will help everyone else's problem but may be you can give it a shot..

Cheers....

dlorde:

Ouch, this just happened to me. This problem can happen with any USB system device that changes its USB port. I've also had it happen with a mouse!

You don't need to reformat your USB drive.

The best way to fix it is to 'Safely remove and eject' the drive (click on the USB device icon in the taskbar drop-down)

Go to the Device Manager in the Control Panel (or you can find it via Administrative Tools then Computer Management).

Find the 'Universal Serial Bus controllers' entry, right click on it, and select 'Scan for hardware changes'. This will scan all the USB ports and refresh their status.

When that has finished, reconnect your disk to the USB port to want it to run on. The system should then reload the device drivers and assign it to that USB port.

Note: It may not be necessary to remove and eject the disk before scanning for hardware changes, but it seems like a sensible precaution.

CDW77:

To stop the issue from ocurring all a user needs to do is go to START-CONTROL PANEL-AUTOPLAY and then uncheck the box at the top that says...Use Auto Play For All Media And Devices. This has worked on over 200 computers that I have worked on. I can immediatly recreat the issue by re-checking the box. A restart is not required. All of the users files and folders are still on the drive and there is no corruption on the drive.

CNfan21:

Last Time I had this problem, I Boot My Computer on the Ubuntu Live CD and then I copy all my files on my computer

and then I Format the USB/External HD in NTFS

It might be worth your time looking over the thread in case I missed out on any other suggestions or tips that might help resolve your issue.  *If none of the above help, it is probably best for you to create your own thread.*Not only will a new thread give your question more attention to the community, but it will allow you to control which suggestions are marked as answers. 

Be sure to include all necessary information that will help with diagnosing your particular issue, including but not limited to: PC make & model, PC specifications, OS type, a description of what led to the problem you are facing, what steps you have taken in trying to resolve the issue, etc. .  The more specific and detailed you can be, the better it will help with providing you valuable suggestions for troubleshooting your conundrum.

I am going ahead and locking this thread.  Thanks to all of those who helped out with their suggestions!

I had the same problem with my seagate usb drive (NTFS).  i tried connecting to different usb ports on my laptop. no use. Surprisingly one simple step resolved it in a minute. I just did a chkdsk <usb drive letter:> and then bang it opened ... no more message ..no content lost .. no waste of time....truly it worked for my problem .. but i'm not sure about the bigger picture ... i did not tweak any registries or anyother s/ws to fix it..

just a fluke try ..thats it.. not sure it will help everyone else's problem but may be you can give it a shot..

Cheers....

I have same problem,i have about 3 years of my life on my memorystick,i dont want to format

disk management says:(H:) 7,53 GB RAW Healthy (Active, Primary Partition)

All my drives are formated in NTFS,i allways format them in NTFS.

I tried the memorystick in 2 coputers,but both have win 7 and same problem in them.

I am facing the same problem. I've done the above check and my situation is of the same as Michelle Smith. However, it states that there is 100% free space but i am certain that there were 10 over GB of data in there the last time. How should i go about?