Dam External HardDrive

[TheVtrKid]

I got this few weeks ago, i was running low on space on my C:
I had a couple problems installing it, well it installed ok, but then i had to restart comp, so i did, then it didnt recognise it. Anyways i managed to get it going. I transferred all my music on to it, which had a good few gig, and a few other programs. It was fine, then this morning, booted up my computer, said in bottom right corner in the bubble thing "New Hardware Found" Unknown device, but thought nowt of it, just went to try open my music and the harddrive isn't there when i double click my computer. I Unplugged it and put it back in (USB) And it says "this device has malfunctioned, to see more details on how to fix this problem click here" or something like that, in a yellow box in the bottom right corner, I clicked on the bubble and it comes up in device manager. It says there are no drivers installed for it. But i try updating driver or installing it, but it can't find one. I didn't get a disc with it or anything with one on.
Please don't say i've lost all my music. Whys it done this?

[Mystic]

Dodgy wire/ connections it sounds like to me. Unplug the wire from both the PC & Hard drive & restart the Pc then plug it all back in again.

What brand is the portable drive?

[TheVtrKid]

Its a Philips one. I just created a system restore point, uninstalled the driver for it, unplugged it, then put it back in, and its ok for now, so while i can im transferring my music back to my C: incase this happens again. If it does i will try what you said with the leads. But how can it run with no driver if i've uninstalled it? Strange

[Mystic]

Most USB devices are capable of being automatically detected by the operating system.

Hard Drives are one of those such devices otherwise you'd have tol carry its drivers disc with you everywhere the hard drive goes ;)

All i meant with the cable was just to uplug them and plug them back in to renew the connections at either end. Sometimes if you wiggle the usb cable on its way in to the PC/put it in squint the PC just kicks up a fuss and says the drives malfunctioned.

I wouldnt worry about moving all your stuff back just yet ;)

[davidandrews5343]

ive had this before, sounds like the external drive is fucked

[TheVtrKid]

ye i thought that when i first got it, but then i got it working, so thought maybe its not F****D lol.
Anyways all my music is safe, which is all that matters at the moment. I'll keep the cable wiggling in mind :) Thanks guys