So let's say I have an external hard drive connected to my computer. If I eject it, is there any way I can get my computer to see it again without disconnecting the hard drive and reconnecting it?
I think if you unplug the hard drive's power & then plug it back in again it would do the trick (for Windows XP & Vista), although that's sort of the same thing. I'm guessing the USB or Firewire ports you're using for the drive are difficult to get to.
That's what I'm trying to avoid - I've been just turning it on and off but I was wondering if there was something I could do just on the computer to say 'hey, check out this hard drive again'.
In XP, I think going to the control panel and selecting "Add New Hardware" might do the trick, but I'm not sure. Vista is a bit different, if memory serves (my Laptop loaded with Vista is currently out of commission until my new power adapter arrives, so I can't test it for you). Either way, I imagine asking the computer to "scan for hardware" might make it recognize the drive again.
If you're on a PC, you can probably get the disk to re-mount if you go into the Device Manager (right-click on My Computer, click 'properties', click the 'hardware' tab on the properties box, then click where it say Device Manager), right-click any item in the device manager list and click "scan for hardware changes". That should get the computer to re-find the disk, assuming it's still plugged in.
If you're on a mac...don't quote me, I haven't had a working mac since 2005...I think you can do something similar in the system profiler.
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If you're on a PC, you can probably get the disk to re-mount if you go into the Device Manager (right-click on My Computer, click 'properties', click the 'hardware' tab on the properties box, then click where it say Device Manager), right-click any item in the device manager list and click "scan for hardware changes". That should get the computer to re-find the disk, assuming it's still plugged in.
If you're on a mac...don't quote me, I haven't had a working mac since 2005...I think you can do something similar in the system profiler.
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