# External harddrive not showing in my computer



## Mark7713

Hi, when i plug in my external harddrive via usb it doesn't show up in my computer. The harddrive is a Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB.
I am running windows 7 64bit and it doesnt have a problem with any other usb/memory hdd.

The first thing i tried was:
When i go into computer management; then disk management it shows up as disk 1 unallocated. I have tried right clicking on it to allocate a letter to itbut it doesn't give this as an option.

The second thing i tried was:
I went into control panel;Devices and printers.
This is were the harddrive shows up as USB to ATA/ATAPI Bridge but will not let me browse it.

Any help would be appreciated.


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## Mark7713

Anyone?


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## cabinfever1977

1)is it plugged in and getting power?

2)is there anything on it,has it been formatted before?


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## Mark7713

Yes its plugged in via usb and power is coming from powercord going to the wall.

The harddrive shouldnt have anything on it and i dont know if its been formatted before.
Thanks


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## strollin

Since it shows as unallocated in disk management, you will need to format it before the system will assign it a drive letter.  When you right-click on the unallocated space, one of the options there should be format.


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## Mark7713

When i right click on the unallocated space it gives me the option to "New simple volume.." , "properties" and "Help".


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## johnb35

Choose simple new volume.  At that point you can create one or more partitions.


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## Mark7713

Great that worked. Thanks for your help guys.


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