Can't see external hard drive in My Computer

[High1]

Hello

A friend of mine has a Western Digital external hard drive on her XP computer which stores a lot of her photos. From what I can gather, she used to be able to access the photos until a virus scan was done on her computer. Now she can't see the external drive and has lost access to her photos.

If I click on My Computer the external hard drive does not appear, but it is listed in Device Manager and Windows says that she has the latest drivers.

What would be the best way for her to access her photos and for her to be able to see the drive in My Computer?

Many thanks.

Steve

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

First I would check to see if it works on another computer.

If it doesn't work on other computers, does it show up in Disk Management?
(Right Click My Computer and click on Manage. Then click Disk Management)

[killerb255]

Follow-up to Carbon Dudeoxide's post:

In Disk Management, assign it a drive letter.  Then it'll show up in My Computer.

[High1]

Many thanks to you both.

No, in My Computer it doesn't show on another laptop and nor does it show in Computer Management.

The USB cable from the extrenal hard drive does work as the same cable works fine with a digital camera.

This seems to imply a faulty extrenal hard drive, which is odd as it was only bought fairly recently and did work.

Cheers

Steve

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

If it doesn't work on other computers, I would see if you can get it replaced. (Have your receipt handy)

I wonder....Is it under warranty?

[ALAN_BR]

Is it possible the anti-virus might have detected a virus on the external drive and some-how quarantined / crippled the whole drive ?

Please bear with me - I often ask strange questions, but sometimes it pays off.

Regards
Alan

[rebel214]

Can you take out that drive from its enclosure and connect it to other computer as a Slave? See if your drive can be recognized from there.........