External hard drives letter won't appear...

Hello,
Im tired to search for the same problem as mine in other threads. So this mine:
Im leave my external connect with my laptop, and sleep..(i don know if this relate..)
the next day i found it still connect but the drive f for my x hd didnt appear.
I check at disk manager,still there..
i check at disk management, not there..
I try testdisk and first it shows..when it do quick search, it didn't show..
So what im gonna do?
All my assignment r there waiting for me to finish it...

 

what kind of external drive is it? USB? Firewire?

some more info (system specs, type of external hard drive, etc.) would be nice

 

I use xp sp2, it usb external hard drive but forgot the type...but it shows the 'safely remove hardware' icon...

 

does it show up in my computer?

also, do you have another computer available to test it on?

 

It not show up in my computer and ive test on my friends com. but it the same result..know what, i already put the external in my locker. It make me stress...

 

What drives show up in My Computer? I run into this problem frequently at work, we have network drives starting at F so if a computer has 2 hard drives, or a card reader built into the computer or printer, the USB drive tries to become F, but it's already taken.

To solve this, right click on "My Computer" and select "Manage". Under "Storage" select "Disk Management" and look for your USB drive on the right side of the screen, I can't remember if you'll find it in the top frame or the bottom frame. Once you find it, right click on it and select "Change Drive Letter and Paths", select a drive letter that is not in use and you should be able to access it now.

 

Thanks for it adam, but now i cant find the usb at disk mangement and the icon 'safely remove hardware' not appear anymore..

 

hmm, unplug the usb cable, and then plug it back in....one question, because i have the same problem sometimes with an external dvdrom...it's plugged into a usb hub built into my monitor and when my monitor is shut off, the hub is shut off too, and sometimes when i turn it back on not all the devices come back on without some fiddling.

 

thanks, i'll try...

 

Ive tried. USB not appear in disk management also im my com. But now the icon 'safely remove...' appear. Ive run avg scan and the status state 'partition table(MBR)-change' and 'hosts-change' before that 'system32 blablabla...sometin like that change'. Is this relate to this problem or some sort of virus?

 

If the safe to remove icon is no longer showing up, it sounds like you may have a problem with the USB port, have you tried another port, or do you have another usb device, maybe a mouse, that you can connect to that port to test it?

 

The icon 'safely remove...'appear now..and else, still like before..