I bought an external 3 terabyte Seagate HD for my Dell Desktop (3 years old).  It works great on my laptop but not on my desktop.  Both run Vista Home Premium 32-bit.

If I run Hiren's boot CD as recommended by the IA team, all is well on the desktop machine.  I can see files on the drive and copy files to it.

If I try to do that in Vista, Windows says cannot find files try retyping file name or source files don't exist and I've tried many different files.

I can see files on the external drive but .exe files won't run.  They will run on the desktop machine in Linux using Hiren's.

I tried updating the drivers in Vista (including deleting them)and reinstalling to no avail.  Windows says the device is fine and drivers are up to date.  Properties report all aspects are OK but files just cannot be copied to the drive (except in Linux).

Please help!

The drive sure works nicely with my laptop though.  I'd really like to backup my desktop too.  Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the reply.

I have tried three different ports with no difference.

The drive is self powered.

I can see the drive and it's size on the drive's graphic.  When I try to run the maker's software on the drive and I get the message from Windows that the drive is not there even though I can see it on my computer.

When I try to copy a file to the drive it says the source file is not there.  Try retyping the name correctly.

Yesterday I up graded (not virgin install) to Windows 7 and it works perfectly except for this same problem.

AND, the drive works perfectly on my Laptop which is running Vista (as the desktop was running two days ago.

It seems like some error in WIndows that also got replicated on the Win7 upgrade.  Thanks for your help.  If oyu can think of anything else, I would be VERY grateful!

thomasloch said:

I was just listening to the Internet Advisor podcast and I heard about you  and your heart attack.  I am SO glad you are getting better!!!!!!!!!  Wishing you a sound recovery!

 

As a PS to my last note and reply to your note, when I just warm boot ("Restart") the drive is not visible on My Computer.  When I cold boot ("Shut Down") it is.

 

Just another clue, I guess.

 

 

Thomasloch

Thanks for the kind words.  Yes I am getting better.  I have felt good since the first morning after the heart attack.  The after noon (Jan 9th) that I had the attack they did the balloon job and put in two stints.  That does not mean that I am 100%, but it is a slow process.

It sounds to me like you either have a hardware problem or a problem with Windows communicating with the USB Card.  One other thing is the USB ports on your computer USB 1 or USB 2?  If they are USB 1 it could be  a speed problem.

Post edited 10:16 am – January 19, 2012 by Ben Carpenter

thomasloch said:

The USB ports are 2.0

 

The strange thing about this problem  is that my laptop connects with the external drive with NO problems.  There really is no difference between the two machines other than the manufacturer's name.

Thomasloch

After having gone back and reread every thing that you have said it seems to me you have a software problem on your desk top.  You indicated that the external drive works fine on the lap top and when running Hiren's on the desk top but not when running windows on the desk top.

This tells me that the external drive is working and that the desk top hardware is working.  But something in windows on your desk top is not working.  One of your comments was that: quote:  When I try to copy a file to the drive it says the source file is not there.  Try retyping the name correctly.  This tells me that there is a problem with the file structure (or the ability of the computer to see the file structure) on you computer and it has nothing to do with the external hard drive.

Another thing you stated:  Yesterday I up graded (not virgin install) to Windows 7 and it works perfectly except for this same problem.  I have never run Vista nor up graded to Windows 7, but I am wondering if an upgrade as you indicated that you did may have keep the same problem in the computer as was there before the upgrade.  I would think that a wipe of the hard drive and a full new install might be a better solution. 

One last thought have you checked for any kind of virus or malware?  A check with only one package may not catch everything.  There are more than one recommendation listed on the IA site and it often takes more than one type of check to catch everything.

Thanks for your input again!

One new bit of info…..

I can copy files easily in safe mode from my hard drive to the external in SAFE MODE!  No problem.

But in regular windows, it does not see the drive or says the file has moved….and it has not.  Strange.

Again, I upgraded to Win 7 but it was an upgrade and not a completely "fresh" install.   I really do not want to load all that stuff again from scratch!!!