win 10 PC will not find my USB powered external HDD.

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  1. Posts : 6
    win 10
       #1

    win 10 PC will not find my USB powered external HDD.


    G'day to all, I recently bought a new PC with win 10 on board. I now find that I want to retrieve some data from my old PC which is unserviceable.
    I purchased a 22 pin sata to usb cable. When plugged in I find the Device manager will not find this new drive. The led's on the cable light up but the drive is not running.
    The old HDD is a 3.5" unit which ran on win 7. the old drive is a Samsung HD502HJ/b (part No.) and is in working condition.
    I am wondering if it requires a driver of its own? Or something a more diverse problem like a usb 2.0 or 3.0 conflict, maybe.
    I am quite elderly and would appreciate any help from a kind person willing to help.
    Thanking you in anticipation, MaurieT.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 2,834
    Windows 11 Home (x64) Version 21H1 (build 19043.1202)
       #2

    If you go into the folder where your photos music is stored and click on this pc does it show up in there if it does then try and open it by right clicking it as that is how I do it on my laptop with an old hard drive I have that I use as backup.
    Please let me know how you get on as I am a senior citizen myself but been helping and running computer for a number of years
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 3,367
    W10 Pro x64/W7 Ultimate x64 dual boot main - W11 Triple Boot Pending
       #3

    Hello there! MaurieT Welcome to the Ten Forums!

    As I understand you bought a USB to Sate type cable that lights up but the drive doesn't do anything? Did you connect any power cable like the 12v 15pin Sata power connector from an external power supply for example? If you only connected a data conversion cable the drive itself isn't powered up in order to be detected properly.

    You have two options for seeing this solved quickly. You can either buy a regular self contained external enclosure powered directly by usb or having a separate ac adapter or see the drive installed internally on the new machine where you then simply connect a data cable you added in along with using one of the connectors from the power supply.

    Once the drive is receiving power your next step will be to right click on the Start button to select the "Disk Management" option. Once the screen for that finishes loading up you go upto the menu bar and click on the "Actions" optoin to select the "rescan disks" if not finding the new volume displayed.

    This will refresh the total number of drives shown where you then need to see the new drive initialized. You may have to click on the square block at the left side next to the drive's volume while simply right clicking on it to use the "Change drive letter" option should be enough for that. Since optical drives usually take up the D and E drive letters and second OS drives like F and G you can easily assign H often used by flash drives or virtual cd rom drives, J or K are good since those are rarely taken!
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 2,799
    Linux Mint 20.1 Win10Prox64
       #4

    The cable you bought 22 Pin to Sata cable only works with 2.5" HD/SSD which draw the 5V DC from the USB port. Your Samsung HD is a 3.5" which requires both 5V & 12V. You'll need to get a cable with an external power adapter such as the one shown below:
    Amazon.com: AnkerĀ® USB 3.0 to SATA 3ft Converter Adapter Cable for 2.5 inch/3.5 inch Hard Drive Disk HDD and SSD, Power Adapter included: Electronics
    NOTE: For 2.5" HD/SSD. You don't need to use the external power adapter & this converter is backward compatible with USB 2.0
    win 10 PC will not find my USB powered external HDD.-61rhujvpvkl._sl1200_.jpg
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 609
    W10
       #5

    I agree this most likely is a problem with power supply. If the disc as you say is not spinning up, then Windows most likely does not identify it. I don't know, what type of cable you bought exactly - however, some case manufacturers solve this problem by selling their cases with a Y-cable: One connection for the drive on the one end and two connections for two USB ports on the other. Should the drive not get enough power to spin up, if you connect one of the USB ports, then you also connect the second.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 318
    windows 10
       #6

    me too. I concur with the others. This sounds to me as well like its power supply issue rather than with the drive itself. Especially if it worked just fine under windows 7. I would try and get what topgun above suggested to get and see if something like that resolves the issue.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 3,367
    W10 Pro x64/W7 Ultimate x64 dual boot main - W11 Triple Boot Pending
       #7

    I've had a USB 2.0 USB/Firewire IDE/SATA external enclosure in used now for several years. It takes EIDE as well as Sata II+III drives having the connectors for each type and offers an on/off switch as well as self contained. That model is still available in black however while I got in blue.

    win 10 PC will not find my USB powered external HDD.-acomdata-external-hd-enclosure.jpg

    Amazon.com: Acomdata Samba USB 2.0 3.5-Inch IDE/SATA Hard Drive Enclosure SMBXXXU2E-BLK (Black): Electronics

    I wish I had seen the Sambient enclosure however since is fan cooled since that also takes IDE drives I need to access from old cases at times. That offers eSata as well as usb there.

    win 10 PC will not find my USB powered external HDD.-sambient-external-esata-usb-enclosure.jpg

    Amazon.com: Sabrent USB 2.0/ESATA TO 3.5 Inch IDE or SATA/SATA II Aluminum Hard Drive Enclosure Case with Cooling Fan (EC-UEIS7): Electronics

    You might prefer something like this over simply having the wires hanging around with the drive itself simply laying around loose and unprotected.
      My Computers


  8. Posts : 6
    win 10
    Thread Starter
       #8

    topgundcp said:
    The cable you bought 22 Pin to Sata cable only works with 2.5" HD/SSD which draw the 5V DC from the USB port. Your Samsung HD is a 3.5" which requires both 5V & 12V. You'll need to get a cable with an external power adapter such as the one shown below:
    Amazon.com: AnkerĀ® USB 3.0 to SATA 3ft Converter Adapter Cable for 2.5 inch/3.5 inch Hard Drive Disk HDD and SSD, Power Adapter included: Electronics
    NOTE: For 2.5" HD/SSD. You don't need to use the external power adapter & this converter is backward compatible with USB 2.0
    win 10 PC will not find my USB powered external HDD.-61rhujvpvkl._sl1200_.jpg
    Hi Topgundcp, thx for your reply. I tried to buy one of these cables but Amazon will not send to Australia. I understand all you stated and think this is the answer. Can you think of anyone or anywhere else I can but this cable as it doesn't seem to be available on AU. I found one site but it only took me back to Amazon. Thanks again, cheers and beers, MaurieT
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 3,367
    W10 Pro x64/W7 Ultimate x64 dual boot main - W11 Triple Boot Pending
       #9

    You'll have to go by what the vendors where you are carry as a rule or who can ship to you. It would best to look to see who has what available. All we can do is make suggestions for you to consider.
      My Computers


  10. Posts : 2,799
    Linux Mint 20.1 Win10Prox64
       #10

    Too bad you could not get one shipped to AUS. FYI, not all the USB - Sata interfaces are the same. I like this one because it supports high capacity HD (4TB) and the power adapter is small compared to the others.
    Using an enclosure is OK for occasional use, not for continous use because there is not enough air flow inside the enclosure and hence will shorten the life of the HD. In addition, if you have more than one HD's, you'd have to open the enclosure to swap it.

    However, The simpliest way for you now is just open the case. Look for an extra power connector from the PSU, I am sure there's couple extras in there then use a Sata cable to connect the HD to the Mother board. Boot up the PC and it should find the HD and automatically installs the driver for it. Here's an example from youtube on how to do it:
    NOTE: You need not to have the HD installed in the bay, just leave it hanging outside is OK unless you want to permanently install the drive as a spare in you PC.
    Last edited by topgundcp; 01 Oct 2015 at 22:15. Reason: Fix error
      My Computer


 

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