Unable to see external hard drive using boot disk
I am currently trialing TI 2014 Build 6673 and have created a boot disk through the program in Windows. However, when I boot from this boot disk, I cannot see my external hard drive.
I am running Windows 8.1 and the external drive is connected to the USB 3.0 port on the back of the tower. The drive is a WD Elements 500Gb MyPassport drive.
Is it a limitation of the Trial version that means I cannot see the external drive or have I missed a step somewhere please?

- Log in to post comments

Ah, you have put me on to something there. This is a brand new PC and I haven't loaded any specific drivers on to the machine for the hard drive itself. Perhaps that's the problem. I totally forgot about it and Windows must have had enough in it to allow me to see the drive when I was viewing it in the operating system.
If the drivers are on the operating system, do they automatically get placed on the disk when I create the boot disk? If not, I'm not sure what I need to do. I didn't alter any parameters when I created the disk.
I will take a look at this tomorrow and let you know how I get on.
Incidentally, the USB port is part of the motherboard but I can also try the USB 2.0 port tomorrow if necessary.
Thanks for your assistance.
- Log in to post comments

The TI Recovery CD will be based on Linux software so its file content is fixed. It either will or will not contain the drivers needed for usb3.
Let see what develops on usb2 before we go further. As an alternative, you can custom build a WinPE Recovery CD and add your own special drivers but that is more detailed but does offer a way for your bootable recovery CD to see your external via usb3 speeds.
- Log in to post comments

Another possibility is that the external drive was not initialized properly. Using True Image's "Add New Disk" function to reinitialize the drive should enable the bootable media to see it. This will however delete all data on the disk, so you'll want to copy important content to another drive before using the "Add New Disk" function. It is best to use this function on every new drive you plan to store Acronis backup files.
I had a couple of external hard disks that weren't recognized by the 2014 bootable media and "Add New Disk" solved the problem for me.
- Log in to post comments

Joey wrote:... "Add New Disk" function. It is best to use this function on every new drive you plan to store Acronis backup files.
Um, no.
- Log in to post comments

tuttle wrote:Um, no.
Very insightful. Thank you Tuttle.
- Log in to post comments

Sometimes advice is just so wrong that one doesn't know where to begin to refute it, so clearer just to say "no".
- Log in to post comments

Thank you for your comments so far. I've been looking into this issue further and am now noticing that sometimes the drive letter for the external drive doesn't appear in Windows. I've tried it in both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports and sometimes it appears and sometimes it doesn't and then sometimes it appears and disappears shortly afterwards.
I did manage to see Acronis once using the boot disk in a USB 2.0 port but then I couldn't see it again when I tried again.
I've checked the driver is up to date but there was an issue in device manager so I disabled and re-enabled it but it's still playing up.
I've left a support ticket with Western Digital but if any of you have any ideas I'd be pleased to hear them. Do you think I have a defunct drive?
- Log in to post comments

Try using a new usb cable.
- Log in to post comments

Hi GroverH,
This is all very strange. Both my husband and I have got new PC's. He's got the Windows 8.1 Pro machine and I've got a Windows 7 Pro 64 bit machine. We both have the same model of MyPassport drives and I'm getting exactly the same issue using my PC and my own external drive.
In addition, I'm also encountering another issue [on my Windows 7 PC] whereby the external drive will appear if I plug it in after the PC is switched on but I am getting intermittent problems otherwise.
I am seeing 'One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it.'
I went into Device Manager and uninstalled the driver when I was able to see it and re-installed it again. Everything looked fine and I rebooted, this time connecting it from the USB 2.0 to the USB 3.0 port. Again, this worked but then I rebooted it again with the drive still in the same port and the same error came up. I disconnected the cable and reinserted it into the port once more and the drive letter appeared.
I don't know if there is some significance between this problem and the Acronis boot disk problem.
As a last resort, I tried using my True Image 11 CD to boot from and strangely I can see my external hard drive but, wait for it, I can't actually see my internal hard drive with my OS on it.
Help!
Annie
- Log in to post comments

What USB device was it the malfunctioned showing in device manager? If you have some flaky device in the USB chain it can make the rest problematic. USB printers are suspect. Make certain that you have the most current drivers for all USB devices attached to or used by the PC.
Use premium cables if connecting using USB 3.0 as lesser quality cables often do not support enough bandwidth to allow the 3.0 ports to function properly.
- Log in to post comments

Hello Bob,
I'm sorry I'm not very technical but I assumed it was the external hard drive which was giving me grief. How do I identify the device if it's not this please?
I've just rebooted the PC again and the same malfunctioned error message has come up with a message saying the device driver software was not successfully installed.
I am presented with a window with a list as follows:
USB Root Hub (2 ports)
Generic USB Hub (6 ports)
Unused Port
USB Composite Device
Unused Port
Unknown Device
Unused Port
USB Composite Device
Unused Port
The device shown in bold is the one labelled Unknown Device. If I click it, I see a message saying 'Windows has stopped this device beacuse it has reported problems. (Code 43).
In Device Manager, I see the yellow exclamation mark on this same item under USB controllers. When I unplug my external drive, this item disappears.
The only other USB things in the PC are a keyboard (the mouse is in a serial port) and I presume the inbuilt card reader is connected internally via USB's although I can't confirm this.
The lead that I'm using comes with my external hard drive and has always performed OK until now. I will try it in my XP machine after rebooting once I finish typing this to see if it can be seen on that PC.
- Log in to post comments

You either have a failed device (yes, it appears to be the drive in question) or a failed device driver (either corrupt or out of date). I am attaching a link on how to attempt repair. Pay particular attention to the 2 paragraphs below the recommended fix and follow the steps outlined.
If these procedures do not resolve your problem then the drive or more likely the enclosure that houses the drive is defective. Visit the WD support site and see if you can locate a current up to date driver for the device.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc725873%28v=ws.10%29.aspx
It appears that there is a firmware update for the WD passport drives. This update may be the solution to your problem, you can download the update .zip file on the WD support downloads site. Make sure you view and print out the update instructions and follow those to the letter. Firmware updates that fail will turn the device into a brick. You will need to insure that the install procedures are followed exactly as written and that no power loss is experienced during the firmware update.
- Log in to post comments

Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone for putting their time to helping me.
Bob, I started typing the following out before your reply...
OK, I've tried it on my XP machine and the drive doesn't show on this either until I disconnect and reconnect it again. The only difference is that I didn't get a bubble giving me any errors although I didn't check the device manager on the XP machine before disconnecting.
My husband has always kept his identical external hard drive attached to his Windows 7 laptop to date and it has always shown up. Therefore I decided to see if it would be OK in my new Win 7 PC. It seems to be giving intermittent problems too but I did at least see it using the TI 2014 boot disk (although I've only tried this once) whereas I can't see my own external drive.
The next thing I did was to plug both drives into my Win 7 PC. I got the malfunctioning message for one and the other one loaded into Windows. I thought it would be my husband's drive that I could see but it turned out to be mine. Rebooted again but unplgged hubby's drive in between and my own drive is now giving the malfunctioning error. I just can't seem to get a consistent outcome - two drives and 5 computers and different symptoms all the time.
I have since tried your suggestions Bob but I'm still having the same difficulties. I uninstalled the USB thing in device manager and this didn't help so I plugged my drive in and then I could see it under Disk Drives. I uninstalled it from there and reloaded the driver, restarted the machine, the same problem. I've even downloaded the 64 bit driver from WD and it hasn't made any difference.
Agghhhh. I'm pulling my hair out. I have two other external drives which I will try tomorrow (I'm too tired to try it out tonight). They are desktop drives, a LaCie and a Maxtor, so I'll see if they work with Acronis or give the same issue.
- Log in to post comments

As you experience problems recognizing more than one drive on your PC, and have tried some driver resolution, perhaps your PC has a hardware problem.
- Log in to post comments

You should seriously consider using a shorter cable. Your description of how the drive suddenly disappears indicates a possible loss of adequate power. I would recommend a cable no longer than 1 meter in length to address any power loss issue and again a premium cable is highly recommended.
You did not say that you had tried the firmware upgrade? Upgrading the drives controller firmware would be worth the effort in any case.
- Log in to post comments

Bob, you are an absolute star. The firmware upgrade seems to have done the trick. The drive is being seen by the PC every time and I can also see it through the boot disk media.
I had hoped to transfer my old copy of version 11 to my new Win 7 PC and buy the 2014 version for hubby's 8.1. However, the version 11 boot disk can't seem to find my C drive (it sees the external drive). It's not the end of the world if I have to buy a multi-user license for the 2014 version but just wondered why it couldn't see it. Might it be because there seems to be something called System Reserved as well a C drive that is causing the hiccup with the old Acronis?
Thanks so very much for all your help everyone.
- Log in to post comments

The upgrade to TI 2014 would be your best option for both machines. 2014 is quite a bit different, has some new features and addded hardware support so worth the move up.
Really have no idea why 11 doesn't as you say see your C: drive though, that's rather strange. Shouldn't be an issue, could be machine configuration I suppose.
Glad to be of assistance.
- Log in to post comments