opening external hard drive

[Propman]

HP Pavilion

slimine s5-1110

How do I open my external hard drive?  When I go to "Computer" to find the device nothing opens. 

[Big_Dave]

Hi,

Please explain what you mean by nothing opens?

Do you see the external hard drive listed when you open my Computer?

[Propman]

When I move the cursor to "Computer" nothing happens.  It doesn't show the drives.  There is a stacked folder in the tray at the bottom of the screen, but when I click on that I can see a folder that says "Computer" but again, I can't open it.  I thought this might be a Windows 7 operating technique I wasn't familiar with, but have checked manuals and nothing speaks to this problem.  Would appreciate any help you can give me.  Thanks.

[Big_Dave]

Hi,

Try the following:

Right mouse click on the Start buttton and select properties.  Under the Start menu TAB select Customize.  You shold now see a selection for a number of items including Computer. If you want to see the items listed under Computer via the Start button then check the box to display this item as a menu.  I have many of my custom choices set to Display as a Menu.

[Propman]

Thanks.  That was somewhat helpful.  Now I can open the computer and find the external hard drive, but when I click on the hard drive it does nothing ... everything disappears.  I went back through the process to see if I could change the external hard drive from "link" to "menu" but I don't see a category for it.  I appreciate your expertise in this issue.

[Big_Dave · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Did your external hard drive ever work correctly on your PC?

Reboot your PC and go back to the Start button and then go to Computer.  Do you see the external hard drive? Does it still disappear?

Go to the Control Panel -- Folder Options and make sure the Show hidden files and folders is checked and also uncheck the box to hide empty drives.

Go to Administrative Tools ----> Computer Management ---> Disk Management and fully expand the screen.  Do you see the external hard drive?  Does it have a drive letter assigned to it?  If no, then you have to assign a drive letter to it.  If the external drive is band new and never formatted then you might need to format it.

[Propman]

I followed all your suggestions and still couldnt open the hard drive.  Finally decided to do a System Restore and that fixed the problem.  Thanks for all your help!