LaCie Hard Drive not recognized by Windows 7

Anonymous
2010-02-13T02:14:12+00:00

I have a LaCie external USB hard drive (formatted FAT32) that shows up as a device in the control panel but does not appear as a drive or other device in the Windows Explorer.

The drive contains my music library. Any advice on how to find/access this drive?

Thanks.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2010-02-13T23:17:38+00:00

Hi,

 Do you see any yellow\red exclamation mark in device manager?

 I would suggest you to open Disc management and check if the drive is detected there, here are the steps:

1.      1. Open Computer Management by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Security, clicking Administrative Tools, and then double-clicking Computer    Management. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

2.      2. In the left pane, click Disk Management.

If it the hard drive recognizes in the disc management and if there is no drive letter assigned, I would suggest you right click on the drive and assign a drive letter and check if it helps:

1.      1. Right-click the drive to change, and then click Change Drive Letter and Paths.

2.      2. Do one of the following:

·         To assign a drive letter if one has not already been assigned, click Add, click the letter that you want to use, and then click OK.

·         To change a drive letter, click Change, click Assign the following drive letter, click the letter that you want to use, and then click OK.

·         To remove a drive letter, click Remove, and then click Yes to confirm that you want to remove it.

Refer this link for more information:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Change-add-or-remove-a-drive-letter

Please respond back with the status of the issue and let us know if you have any issues.

Azam – Microsoft Support.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-10-08T17:00:07+00:00

    I am recently having problems with my external HD's, too. Spent hours reading posts on possible solutions the other day and the one that seemed least likely got all my front USB ports working again. It was to turn off the computer and unplug it. After restarting the computer, all the USB ports worked again. Strange. So they worked for 24hrs and now one of my external HD's is not being recognized again. Jeez. My photo downloader and my older Lacie are found but not my newer Lacie. So is it Window's 7, USB ports or the HD's. Sooo frustrating.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-10-08T17:30:59+00:00

    Just to f/u on this...I just got my computer to recognize my latest Lacie HD by plugging it into a back usb port on my tower...not into one of the front usb ports. But as I said...the front ports are still recognizing/connecting/whatevering my photo downloader and my older Lacie. Anyone understand this? Is there a fix?

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-10-25T15:00:25+00:00

    I'm having an exact problem. Any luck finding a solution?

    My computer does not give the option to assign a drive letter and the bar above "465.64GB Unallocated" is black instead of blue. I uninstalled and reinstalled the drive as few others suggested but with avail. 

    Please help me find a solution to this. Like many others, I have very important documents/files/pictures on my Lacie External HD.

    Thanks.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-11-02T19:56:00+00:00

    Hi JoeyYoo. I came back to the computer the next day. It changed again and this time the front USB panel recognized 2 Lacies and my wacom tablet but not a third Lacie. So I plugged that 3rd Lacie into the back of the tower (where it was recognized) and this has been the status of things since then. I have not tried to change things around since then. So everything is working...but this was not the first time my front USB ports have been troublesome. I remember a long while ago it would not recognize my wacom and so it was plugged into the back of the tower for the longest time. But presently, it is working in the front panel. Spooky? I have no idea what is going on.

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