Macbook pro no longer recognizes external hard drive

Hi everyone,
My Macbook Pro (2013) running OS X 10.8.5 will no longer recognize my external hard drive.
The hard drive, a Maxtor OneTouch 4, is granted quite old (c. 5 years) but has been working fine with my Macbook pro since I bought it 2 years ago. It is too full to do time machine backups but I just need to get some files off of it. It doesn't appear in Finder or in Disk Utility when connected and turned on.
Since it's only stopped working recently I suspect some software update may have rendered it obsolete. I have also noticed some glitchiness with my USB ports, but some things work fine.
If anyone has any suggestions of what to try, I would really appreciate it! I really need to access those files.
Thanks very much in advance!

Ari343 wrote:
No, the external hard drive does not show up on Disk Utility. I don't have another computer to try it on.
Perform a PRAM reset:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379
Have you tried all the ports?
Have you tried with a different cable?
Have you tested all the ports with other devices to see that they are functioning?
Ciao.

Similar Messages

  • Macbook Pro i5 no longer recognize external hard drive...

    Hi folks,
    I have a 2.5" Hard Disk Box Mini USB 3.0 from conceptronic.
    Since yesterday my macbook no longer recognize it.
    Two days ago I've used it to restore a back up. But , stupid me, I forgot to copy a couple of documents.
    Those document are on my external harddrive.
    But my macbook just won't recognize the external hard drive...
    Someone any ideas?!

    Okay, second question: How does this forum software work? According to the thread list, someone named MacWizard has replied to this thread, but I can't see it.
    MacWizard, if you could email your reply to spearbrave at gmail point c0m so I can read it there, I'd appreciate it.
    15" MacBook Pro C2D Mac OS X (10.4.8)

  • Macbook No Longer Recognizes External Hard Drive

    Recently I bought an external hard drive (Toshiba Automatic Backup Portable Hard Drive) to backup my Macbook (Mac OS X 10.6.8). I found that in order to have my Mac recognize the hard drive, I needed to partition it by formating it to MS-DOS (FAT). I had no problems after that and began to back up my computer. However, the next day, I plugged my external hard drive back in and the icon no longer shows up. I went to Disk Utilities and found it there, but it said that it was not mounted. Then I went to System Profiler to see if it was under "USB" but it did not show up. I have tried shutting down and restarting my computer a few times but each time is no different. I even added a USB 2.0 Hub but even that didn't work. Is there anything else that I could do? I have files already on there and some I do not really want to lose. Is there any uncomplicated way that I could be able to make my mac recognize my hard drive again?

    ellybook7,
    In OS X you can read from an NTFS disk but not write to it - at least not without thrid-party software such as Paragon's NTFS for Mac.
    I'm not sure what was working FINE in Mountain Lion that wouldn't work in Mavericks.
    Clinton

  • Imac no longer recognizes external hard drive

    my iMac no longer recognizes my external hard drive. An icon used to be on my desktop, at times it would disappear and come back, but it has remained elusive for the past couple of months and is NOWHERE to be found. It doesn't even show up in the Disk Utiity. I need my files!

    Please Google, "Intel iMac SMC Reset" and follow the instructions. If the drive is OK this may solve it.

  • How do I back up my macbook pro information to an external hard drive.  I was told you just plug it in to the computer and because it is set up to work automatically, it should just do it automatically.  However, the clock is just circling top right?

    How do I back up informtion on my Macbook pro to an external hard drive?  I was told all you need to do is plug in the hard drive to the computer, and it will back up automatically, which it is set to do.  But all that is happening is the clock a the upper right of the page is revolving and the clock by my vault on the left is revolving, but there is no information as to mega or giga being copied.

    See Here for using Time Machine to Backup
    TM 101
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427

  • New To MacBook Pro. Question re: External Hard Drive

    I just purchased a Macbook Pro today. I used to have a Dell Inspiron on which I used a Western Digital 500GB My Book external hard drive to store my pictures and iTunes files.
    My question is is that hard drive compatible with my new MacBook? I know the hard drive works with Macs, but I'm wondering if I can just plug it into the MacBook and have it work without having to reformat it and lose my data.

    Wrt exFAT. The newest Macs ship with an exFAT driver included. This driver will probably also be part of the upcoming OS X 10.6.5 update.
    For more info, see this article on a Dutch Apple website. (translation)

  • Lion no longer recognizes external hard drive.

    I've had Lion since the first day it was out.  All of a sudden, as of Sunday July 31, it is no longer recognizing my external hard drive, prevoiusly used for time machine.  I can see the disk in disk utility (disk repair does not fix the issure); however, it does not show up in the finder.  Anyone know how to fix this?

    Since you haven't provided any helpful information all I can suggest is this:
    Open Disk Utility in the Utilities folder. If the drive does not appear in DU's sidebar listing, then it most likely has died and needs to be replaced. Take it into Apple for service.

  • Macbook pro slow with 1tb external hard drive not fully utilized

    I have a 13" macbook pro (late 2011 model) 8GB ram (1333mhz) and 500gb sata drive. I use photoshop CS6 and Lightroom quite frequently and all my images are stored on a 1tb external seagate drive. The drive is 70% full but the macbook is not able to open folders. The drive does show up in the finder but seems blank though all the files are on it. I do not keep much on my internal hard drive so the computer is not inundated with data in anyway. Please let me know how I can fix this

    Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
    { diskutil list; echo; diskutil cs list; } | open -ef
    Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.
    Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
    Paste into the Terminal window by pressing the key combination command-V. I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.
    Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear.
    A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command. If the command produced no output, the window will be empty. Post the contents of the TextEdit window (not the Terminal window), if any — the text, please, not a screenshot. The title of the window doesn't matter, and you don't need to post that.
    If any personal information appears in the output, anonymize before posting, but don’t remove the context.

  • How do I move pictures from my MacBook Pro to a USB/External Hard drive?

    I can't figure out how to trasfer pictures and files from my MacBook Pro to my USB hard drive. Help please?

    We could use a little more information, are you trying to move from a folder to an external drive? Or are you moving from IPhoto.
    Either way should be able to select the pictures you want and drag them to your external.
    If you have not used the drive before you may need to format the external drive with Disk Utility. You will need to choose a catalog method and what you choose should depend on if you plan to use a Mac only, or Mac and PC.

  • I just got my first MacBook pro and dedicated an external hard drive for time capsule. I also have a WD 3TB hard drive with all my old files, photos and movies (mostly from a pc). My Mac book pro would not allow me to add or delete any files from this har

    This hard drive so I copies all the files (400gb worth) to my time capsule hard drive (WD 3 TB but set up by the Mac book pro). Now I am not sure what I need to do. I wiped the other WD hard drive cleAn on my pc and want to set it up in a way that I can access the files on both a pc and a Mac. If I partition it on my MacBook pro will this work? If I do it do I need to save the file twice on both the pc and Mac partitions or simply by partitioning it the hard drive will ave files in both formats regardless of if it's from a pc or a Mac. X
    Thanks

    Mac 101: File Sharing
    Mac OS X 10.7 Help: Transfer files between two Mac computers
    Mac OS X 10.7 Help: Set up a Windows computer to share files with Mac users
    Mac OS X 10.7 Help: Use iDisk to share files
    Mac OS X: Sharing your files with non-Apple computers
    How to share a Mac's files with a PC and vice versa.

  • IMac G5 no longer recognizes external hard drive

    I have a Western Digital 250GB external USB drive. Yesterday, my G5 no longer recognizes it. I've restarted the computer, restarted the drive, unplugged and replugged the USB cord etc...
    It's like it no longer exists ! Please help

    Does the drive turn on? Is the power brick working? Have you tried plugging it into another computer or another USB port? I know you have plugged and unplugged it, but do it several times in a row. Unplug, turn it off, plug it in, turn it on and unplug etc etc, repeat the sequence several times.
    BTW, is it an iMac you have, or a G5 tower?

  • I have a macbook pro with only 128gb of hard drive. I have lightroom installed and all my photos on an external hard drive. Can I store my lightroom library on the external hard drive too?

    I have a macbook pro with only 128gb of hard drive. I have lightroom installed and all my photos on an external hard drive. Can I store my lightroom library on the external hard drive too?

    Yes. Find the LR catalog file by looking in Edit/Catalog Settings/General. Close LR and navigate to that spot. The catalog file is the one that ends in .lrcat - move it to wherever you want. Next to the .lrcat file is a subfolder called Previews.lrdata. You can move that over as well, but if you don't LR will generate new previews. Double-click on the .lrcat file in its new home and LR will open with that catalog. Set Preferences to When Starting Up Use Most Recent Catalog.

  • I have a 500 gig time capsule.  I have used with a Macbook.  The Macbook has a 500 gig hard drive which is about 3/4 full.   Now we just purchased a new MacBook pro with a 1 TB hard drive.   Do I need to buy a larger Time Capsule?

    I have a 500 gig time capsule.  I have used with a Macbook.  The Macbook has a 500 gig hard drive which is about 3/4 full.   Now we just purchased a new MacBook pro with a 1 TB hard drive.   Do I need to buy a larger Time Capsule?

    Do I need to buy a larger Time Capsule?
    Probably yes. You might be able to get the full backup of the new MacBook Pro on the Time Capsule, but it will not be long before the Time Capsule is out of space.
    Better to add a new Time Capsule and backup the new MacBook Pro to the new Time Capsule, and keep the old MacBook backing up to the old Time Capsule.
    If you do not want to add a new Time Capsule, another option would be to erase the Time Capsule disk and start over again with new backups of both Macs and move forward.

  • How to install an SSD in a MacBook Pro and keep the original hard drive

    Step by step instructions on how to install a Crucial SSD as the primary drive in a MacBook Pro and use the original hard drive as a second drive in place of the optical drive.
    Apart from the time needed to back up your data and clone the original drive to the new SSD, you should be able complete this in less than an hour. 

    Verifying
    Install the SSD in the HDD slot
    Install the HDD in the optical slot
    Boot to the HDD and format the SSD
    Boot using Command R and restore the operating system from Time machine to the SSD
    Reformat the HDD and restore the data files to it.

  • I have backed my Mac Book pro up to my external hard drive using time machine. My iPhoto now does not show any images, even when I upload from my iPhone

    I have backed my Mac Book pro up to my external hard drive using time machine. My iPhoto now does not show any images, even when I upload from my iPhone

    Mac 101: File Sharing
    Mac OS X 10.7 Help: Transfer files between two Mac computers
    Mac OS X 10.7 Help: Set up a Windows computer to share files with Mac users
    Mac OS X 10.7 Help: Use iDisk to share files
    Mac OS X: Sharing your files with non-Apple computers
    How to share a Mac's files with a PC and vice versa.

Maybe you are looking for

  • Profit Center design by plant wise

    Hi Experts, My client is having central procurement unit and having 8 branches(warehouses) and they transfer the goods from head office to branch later on for their sale.And the legal requirement here is that cost is same across all warehouses and we

  • Standard Fucntion module error

    Hi, I need to calculate the standard deviation.  For this there is a function module RRT_MATH_STDDEV exist. But this standard function module is not working. It is giving error as 'Error generating the test frame' when executing. I tried by calling t

  • Can't locate template location - application support missing/empty

    I am trying to install a keynote template that I have downloaded from the internet. Keynote tells me: Keynote can't save the theme because the disk is full or you do not have permission to write to this disk. I followed some instructions about search

  • Use Of Dictionary Based search help in adobe interactive form

    Hi friends,    I wanted to export the search help value into corresponding field of Adobe interactive form.   I am using dictionary type search help in WD context attribute property.  I am able to get the search help popup with right data on form. Bu

  • BI 7.0/BW3.5 (RSA1) on SAP NetWeaver 7.01 ABAP Trial Version Software.

    Dear Experts, I have installed and could able to run ABAP on SAP NetWeaver 7.01 ABAP Trial Version. I could not able run BI 7.0 or BW 3.5. When I run RSA1 Tcode I am getting error message as You can only work in client 000 if I sign in with 001 and v