Pulled out the USB on my external hard drive without first ejecting - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Sticky · 10-19-2008, 09:27 AM

I (someone in my family) pulled out the usb wire from our external hard drive from the laptop without ejecting (turning off the device) first.

The drive is no longer recognized by Windows.
Is there anything I can do?

Baraka_Guru · 10-19-2008, 09:29 AM

Sorry, it has to be asked: Did you reboot?

Zweiblumen · 10-19-2008, 03:15 PM

It's not recomended practise but you should get away with it. If the drive is not recognized the next time you hook it up, then open up the Disk Management and assign a letter to the drive.

Best of luck.
Yours Zweiblumen

dlish · 10-20-2008, 08:39 AM

ive done it a few times and gotten away with it. did you take it out as the transfer was in progress?

have you tried some file recovery software that you can download.
have you tried to do a scandisk on it?

Cynthetiq · 10-20-2008, 09:46 AM

have you tried any of the advice in this thread? particularly the MS article?
http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/tilted-...ain-ports.html

telekinetic · 10-20-2008, 11:47 AM

You have to eject USB drives? I've never done this, ever, to any of my 5 external hard drives and 3 or 4 thumbdrives. I just make sure nothing is writing to it before I disconnect it.

Martian · 10-20-2008, 12:54 PM

Before removing a hard drive from the system, it must be unmounted. Windows provides a simple graphical interface to perform this.

The drive is recoverable. The procedure and difficulty varies from one OS to the other; Windows XP and/or Vista is surprisingly robust in handling these situations, and 95% of the time will be able to automatically re-mount the device the next time it's connected.

Follow the advice provided above, then report back.

Yakk · 10-20-2008, 02:48 PM

You can tell windows to cache writes to an external drive, or ... never cache writes to an external drive.

If you are caching writes, you get faster performance -- but your data integrity can be screwed if you remove the media before ejecting.

Sticky · 10-22-2008, 07:08 PM

I am going to try the advice and get back to you.
-----Added 23/10/2008 at 12 : 28 : 49-----
***UPDATE
I can see the device in the Device Manager and it says that it is working fine.
I can't see the device in Disk Management.
I can't see the device in Windows Explorer (which was the original problem).

I tried:
- Uninstalling the driver and letting Windows install it the next time I plugged it into the USB drive. The funny thing is that Widows finds it and recognizes it when I plug it into the USB. It shows up in the device manager.
- Ejecting/disabling it.
- Restarting after everything I tried

It still does not show up in Windows Explorer.

Lasereth · 10-23-2008, 04:19 AM

Are you absolutely sure it's not in disk management? This sounds verbatim like a drive letter conflict that can be resolved there. Windows knows it's there, device manager sees it, but it's not in Explorer. If it is in disk management it will be odd looking; the only way to tell if it's the disk is by looking at the size.

Sticky · 10-23-2008, 07:18 AM

When I am back at that computer I will try and grab some screen shots or at least provide more information about what I see.

Sticky · 10-24-2008, 06:11 AM

Here are the screen shots.

My Computer - The external USB mass storage device is not listed

Device Manager - The device manager shows the device

Device Manager Properties - The Device Manager says that the device is "working properly"

I don't see the USB mass storage Device in Disk Management

Computer Management Media

Computer Management Disk Management

Cynthetiq · 10-24-2008, 06:15 AM

have a friend that you can plug it into their PC? just to rule out that the USB drive didn't get fried in some manner?

laudanum · 10-24-2008, 06:38 AM

Do you have any other interfaces for the drive such as firewire 400 or 800 ports? It may be that its only the USB port that's bad.

Sticky · 10-24-2008, 10:02 AM

I am going to try to plug it into my work laptop to see what happens.

As far as the port itself is concerned, it works. The device is recognized by Windows.

Cynthetiq · 10-24-2008, 10:06 AM

i'd not call that a 100% indicator. If you have any other USB devices would say that port works well, I don't trust Windows HAL to know if something works or not.

Sticky · 10-24-2008, 11:20 AM

I tried it in multiple USB ports that work properly for other USB devices (e.e. my mouse).

Lasereth · 10-24-2008, 12:45 PM

Disk MGMT looks fine. Try a different cable and on a different PC.

Sticky · 10-25-2008, 06:29 PM

I just tried it on a different machine. Same result. wondows recognizes it when the USB connects but you can see it in Windows Explorer.

I am going to see if I have another cable.

Yakk · 10-28-2008, 09:33 AM

I know this is a question that is an obvious yes, but...

Did you shut the computer down completely, then restart it?

Sticky · 11-06-2008, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yakk

I know this is a question that is an obvious yes, but...

Did you shut the computer down completely, then restart it?

Yes.

biznatch · 11-15-2008, 03:50 PM

HDD regenerator ? you burn it as a bootable disk, and boot from it. And then find your disc through it, and it should fix it. The trial version only fixes the first bad sector it finds, but it might help anyway.

10-19-2008, 09:29 AM	#2 (permalink)
Baraka_Guru warrior bodhisattva Super Moderator Location: East-central Canada	Sorry, it has to be asked: Did you reboot? __________________ Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

10-19-2008, 03:15 PM	#3 (permalink)
Zweiblumen Insane Location: at home	It's not recomended practise but you should get away with it. If the drive is not recognized the next time you hook it up, then open up the Disk Management and assign a letter to the drive. Best of luck. Yours Zweiblumen __________________ Sodomy non sapiens. : I'm buggered if I know

10-20-2008, 08:39 AM	#4 (permalink)
dlish Currently sour but formerly Dlishs Super Moderator Location: Australia/UAE	ive done it a few times and gotten away with it. did you take it out as the transfer was in progress? have you tried some file recovery software that you can download. have you tried to do a scandisk on it? __________________ An injustice anywhere, is an injustice everywhere I always sign my facebook comments with ()()===========(}. Does that make me gay? - Filthy

10-20-2008, 09:46 AM	#5 (permalink)
Cynthetiq Tilted Cat Head Administrator Location: Manhattan, NY	have you tried any of the advice in this thread? particularly the MS article? http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/tilted-...ain-ports.html __________________ I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. What's the best nation in the world? DO-NATION!

10-20-2008, 12:54 PM	#7 (permalink)
Martian Young Crumudgeon Location: Canada	Before removing a hard drive from the system, it must be unmounted. Windows provides a simple graphical interface to perform this. The drive is recoverable. The procedure and difficulty varies from one OS to the other; Windows XP and/or Vista is surprisingly robust in handling these situations, and 95% of the time will be able to automatically re-mount the device the next time it's connected. Follow the advice provided above, then report back. __________________ I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said - Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

10-19-2008, 09:27 AM	#1 (permalink)
Sticky	Pulled out the USB on my external hard drive without first ejecting I (someone in my family) pulled out the usb wire from our external hard drive from the laptop without ejecting (turning off the device) first. The drive is no longer recognized by Windows. Is there anything I can do? __________________ Sticky The Stickman

10-20-2008, 11:47 AM	#6 (permalink)
telekinetic zomgomgomgomgomgomg Location: Fauxenix, Azerona	You have to eject USB drives? I've never done this, ever, to any of my 5 external hard drives and 3 or 4 thumbdrives. I just make sure nothing is writing to it before I disconnect it.

10-20-2008, 02:48 PM	#8 (permalink)
Yakk Wehret Den Anfängen! Location: Ontario, Canada	You can tell windows to cache writes to an external drive, or ... never cache writes to an external drive. If you are caching writes, you get faster performance -- but your data integrity can be screwed if you remove the media before ejecting. __________________ Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.

10-22-2008, 07:08 PM	#9 (permalink)
Sticky	I am going to try the advice and get back to you. -----Added 23/10/2008 at 12 : 28 : 49----- **UPDATE I can see the device in the Device Manager and it says that it is working fine. I can't see the device in Disk Management. I can't see the device in Windows Explorer (which was the original problem). I tried: - Uninstalling the driver and letting Windows install it the next time I plugged it into the USB drive. The funny thing is that Widows finds it and recognizes it when I plug it into the USB. It shows up in the device manager. - Ejecting/disabling it. - Restarting after everything I tried It still does not show up in Windows Explorer. __________________ Sticky The Stickman Last edited by Sticky; 10-22-2008 at 08:28 PM.. Reason: Automerged Doublepost*

10-23-2008, 04:19 AM	#10 (permalink)
Lasereth Knight of the Old Republic Location: Winston-Salem, NC	Are you absolutely sure it's not in disk management? This sounds verbatim like a drive letter conflict that can be resolved there. Windows knows it's there, device manager sees it, but it's not in Explorer. If it is in disk management it will be odd looking; the only way to tell if it's the disk is by looking at the size.

10-23-2008, 07:18 AM	#11 (permalink)
Sticky	When I am back at that computer I will try and grab some screen shots or at least provide more information about what I see. __________________ Sticky The Stickman

10-24-2008, 06:11 AM	#12 (permalink)
Sticky	Here are the screen shots. My Computer - The external USB mass storage device is not listed Device Manager - The device manager shows the device Device Manager Properties - The Device Manager says that the device is "working properly" I don't see the USB mass storage Device in Disk Management Computer Management Media Computer Management Disk Management __________________ Sticky The Stickman

10-24-2008, 06:15 AM	#13 (permalink)
Cynthetiq Tilted Cat Head Administrator Location: Manhattan, NY	have a friend that you can plug it into their PC? just to rule out that the USB drive didn't get fried in some manner? __________________ I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. What's the best nation in the world? DO-NATION!

10-24-2008, 06:38 AM	#14 (permalink)
laudanum Upright Location: nyc	Do you have any other interfaces for the drive such as firewire 400 or 800 ports? It may be that its only the USB port that's bad.

10-24-2008, 10:02 AM	#15 (permalink)
Sticky	I am going to try to plug it into my work laptop to see what happens. As far as the port itself is concerned, it works. The device is recognized by Windows. __________________ Sticky The Stickman

10-24-2008, 10:06 AM	#16 (permalink)
Cynthetiq Tilted Cat Head Administrator Location: Manhattan, NY	i'd not call that a 100% indicator. If you have any other USB devices would say that port works well, I don't trust Windows HAL to know if something works or not. __________________ I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. What's the best nation in the world? DO-NATION!

10-24-2008, 11:20 AM	#17 (permalink)
Sticky	I tried it in multiple USB ports that work properly for other USB devices (e.e. my mouse). __________________ Sticky The Stickman

10-24-2008, 12:45 PM	#18 (permalink)
Lasereth Knight of the Old Republic Location: Winston-Salem, NC	Disk MGMT looks fine. Try a different cable and on a different PC.

10-25-2008, 06:29 PM	#19 (permalink)
Sticky	I just tried it on a different machine. Same result. wondows recognizes it when the USB connects but you can see it in Windows Explorer. I am going to see if I have another cable. __________________ Sticky The Stickman

10-28-2008, 09:33 AM	#20 (permalink)
Yakk Wehret Den Anfängen! Location: Ontario, Canada	I know this is a question that is an obvious yes, but... Did you shut the computer down completely, then restart it? __________________ Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.

11-15-2008, 03:50 PM	#22 (permalink)
biznatch Junkie Location: France	HDD regenerator ? you burn it as a bootable disk, and boot from it. And then find your disc through it, and it should fix it. The trial version only fixes the first bad sector it finds, but it might help anyway. __________________ Check it out: The Open Source/Freeware/Gratis Software Thread