It might be helpful to provide the model of your Dell.
Is this a recent problem or have you always been unable to access external storage devices? Do you have any USB devices that work? Do you see any errors or problems in device manager?
The computer is a brand new Vostro desktop (i believe its a Vostro 230, but I'm not sure). I have never had the problem on any other computer, but it has been there on this one since I bought it. Other usb devices do work, like the keyboard and mouse, and I'm almost positive its not the usb ports because the computer knows there is something plugged in (it has a bubble pop up saying new drivers installed and new mass storage device discovered) but I can't access the device from anywhere. It doesn't physically show up on the computer. What exactly do you mean by errors in device manager?
No question mark. I see the device in device manager, but I can't access it from anywhere else to actually use it. The computer is running windows 7 home premium.
Have you checked downloads for updated chipset drivers?
The other place to look for external storage devices is disk management. Have you tried that?
Oh, one more thing I should mention. I prefer to disable autoplay for all devices. However, I've noticed that my external hard drive does take quite a while to show up under its designated drive letter in explorer. Sometimes a couple of minutes. It's kind of a minor inconvenience for me.
All the drivers are completely up-to-date, and the disk actually shows up in disk management, but I can't do anything with it except delete it. It says its healthy, but doesn't give it a letter name or even let me open it.
Then are 3 rows of what I believe is my usb flash drive plugged in, with no name. (I don't know why there are 3)
layout: all simple Type: all basic File System: there's nothing there Status: Healthy (EFI System Partition), Healthy (OEM Partition), Healthy (Primary partition) Capacity: 200 MB, 39 MB, 7.47 GB Free Space: 200 MB, 39 MB, 7.47 GB %Free: 100%, 100%, 100% Fault Tolerance: No, No, No Overhead: 0%, 0%, 0%
Here's the problem though, it says there's nothing on each of those partitions but that makes no sense because I had files on it, and it comes with software drivers installed on it anyway I think.
Ok, that's not bad. If the file system said RAW, then you'd have trouble.
Take a look at this thread from another forum. There are instructions for deleting the upper and lower filters for USB devices. That may help. And there is also a posted solution.
I deleted the upper filters, there were no lower filters there, but nothing happened. It still doesn't recognize either my hard drive or usb flash drive. Does this have anything to do with the fact that they are formatted for my mac? I don't think it should because they worked on my old pc with windows xp.
I tried everything on that site. Nothing worked. The file system's not fat32, it's mac osx extended, but it is able to work on my other pc so i don't understand why its not working for this one.
osprey4
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34.2K Posts
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June 22nd, 2010 16:00
Hi Vaultinguitar38,
It might be helpful to provide the model of your Dell.
Is this a recent problem or have you always been unable to access external storage devices? Do you have any USB devices that work? Do you see any errors or problems in device manager?
vaultinguitar38
9 Posts
0
June 22nd, 2010 17:00
Hi, Osprey4.
The computer is a brand new Vostro desktop (i believe its a Vostro 230, but I'm not sure). I have never had the problem on any other computer, but it has been there on this one since I bought it. Other usb devices do work, like the keyboard and mouse, and I'm almost positive its not the usb ports because the computer knows there is something plugged in (it has a bubble pop up saying new drivers installed and new mass storage device discovered) but I can't access the device from anywhere. It doesn't physically show up on the computer. What exactly do you mean by errors in device manager?
osprey4
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June 23rd, 2010 18:00
If you look in device manager, do you see any devices with a question mark or exclamation point? What operating system do you have?
vaultinguitar38
9 Posts
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June 23rd, 2010 19:00
No question mark. I see the device in device manager, but I can't access it from anywhere else to actually use it. The computer is running windows 7 home premium.
osprey4
4 Operator
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34.2K Posts
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June 25th, 2010 11:00
Have you checked downloads for updated chipset drivers?
The other place to look for external storage devices is disk management. Have you tried that?
Oh, one more thing I should mention. I prefer to disable autoplay for all devices. However, I've noticed that my external hard drive does take quite a while to show up under its designated drive letter in explorer. Sometimes a couple of minutes. It's kind of a minor inconvenience for me.
vaultinguitar38
9 Posts
0
June 25th, 2010 12:00
All the drivers are completely up-to-date, and the disk actually shows up in disk management, but I can't do anything with it except delete it. It says its healthy, but doesn't give it a letter name or even let me open it.
osprey4
4 Operator
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34.2K Posts
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June 25th, 2010 18:00
Tell me what disk management shows under each column for your external drive (layout, type, file system, etc.).
vaultinguitar38
9 Posts
0
June 25th, 2010 18:00
the first two rows are a recovery partition and the main hard drive:
layout: simple, simple type:basic, basic file system: NTFS, NTFS Status: Healthy(system, active, primary partition), Healthy (Boot, page file, crash dump, primary partition) Capacity: 8.12 GB, 289.93 GB Free Space: 4.13 GB, 243.47 GB %Free: 51%, 84% Fault Tolerance: No, No Overhead: 0%
Then are 3 rows of what I believe is my usb flash drive plugged in, with no name. (I don't know why there are 3)
layout: all simple Type: all basic File System: there's nothing there Status: Healthy (EFI System Partition), Healthy (OEM Partition), Healthy (Primary partition) Capacity: 200 MB, 39 MB, 7.47 GB Free Space: 200 MB, 39 MB, 7.47 GB %Free: 100%, 100%, 100% Fault Tolerance: No, No, No Overhead: 0%, 0%, 0%
Here's the problem though, it says there's nothing on each of those partitions but that makes no sense because I had files on it, and it comes with software drivers installed on it anyway I think.
thanks so much for helping
osprey4
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34.2K Posts
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June 26th, 2010 05:00
Ok, that's not bad. If the file system said RAW, then you'd have trouble.
Take a look at this thread from another forum. There are instructions for deleting the upper and lower filters for USB devices. That may help. And there is also a posted solution.
vaultinguitar38
9 Posts
0
June 26th, 2010 11:00
The link didn't work, it said that page couldn't be found. I'm gonna try searching for a guide to deleting upper and lower filters.
vaultinguitar38
9 Posts
0
June 26th, 2010 12:00
I deleted the upper filters, there were no lower filters there, but nothing happened. It still doesn't recognize either my hard drive or usb flash drive. Does this have anything to do with the fact that they are formatted for my mac? I don't think it should because they worked on my old pc with windows xp.
osprey4
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June 27th, 2010 06:00
The file system should be FAT32. Can you check that on another system?
Here's that link: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itprohardware/thread/dd9cd509-f9ac-4295-a75b-863f92f5595f
vaultinguitar38
9 Posts
0
June 27th, 2010 15:00
I tried everything on that site. Nothing worked. The file system's not fat32, it's mac osx extended, but it is able to work on my other pc so i don't understand why its not working for this one.
osprey4
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34.2K Posts
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June 27th, 2010 17:00
Did you have MacDrive installed on the other PC?
vaultinguitar38
9 Posts
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June 29th, 2010 22:00
no i don't think so